Cannot deletesome folders and files-heip!

[bm]

I was asked by a friend to help clean up her files and folders because she
had got into a muddle. She has XP installed
When I opened Windows Explorer I found that the standard 'My documents' had
been used but she had also introduced another folder called 'My own
documents' and because she had not a clear idea where she was saving her
documents she had used both in an indiscrimative manner
I set about transferring files to folders in 'My documents' but I was left
with three folders , My own Documents, Letters and Business which I could
not delete. Every time I tried I got the message 'Cannot delete, being used
by another person or programme'.
I made sure that all other programmes were closed and also looked at
security settings for files but still cannot delete
Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
Blair

 

[heintz.larry]

I was asked by a friend to help clean up her files and folders because she
had got into a muddle. She has XP installed
When I opened Windows Explorer I found that the standard 'My documents' had
been used but she had also introduced another folder called 'My own
documents' and because she had not a clear idea where she was saving her
documents she had used both in an indiscrimative manner
I set about transferring files to folders in 'My documents' but I was left
with three folders , My own Documents, Letters and Business which I could
not delete. Every time I tried I got the message 'Cannot delete, being used
by another person or programme'.
I made sure that all other programmes were closed and also looked at
security settings for files but still cannot delete
Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
Blair

Blair,

Reboot widows and hit the f8 key a few times when the machine is
at the BIOS screen to get into Safe Mode. You should be able to
deleted the folders this way. If you are still unable to delete these
files in safe mode, reboot the machine and run a Anti-Virus scan on
the machine and see if it finds anything. If it finds any virus let
the AV software do what it needs to do then try to delete the folders
again.

Larry

 

[bm]

I was asked by a friend to help clean up her files and folders because she
had got into a muddle. She has XP installed
When I opened Windows Explorer I found that the standard 'My documents'
had
been used but she had also introduced another folder called 'My own
documents' and because she had not a clear idea where she was saving her
documents she had used both in an indiscrimative manner
I set about transferring files to folders in 'My documents' but I was left
with three folders , My own Documents, Letters and Business which I could
not delete. Every time I tried I got the message 'Cannot delete, being
used
by another person or programme'.
I made sure that all other programmes were closed and also looked at
security settings for files but still cannot delete
Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
Blair

Blair,

Reboot widows and hit the f8 key a few times when the machine is
at the BIOS screen to get into Safe Mode. You should be able to
deleted the folders this way. If you are still unable to delete these
files in safe mode, reboot the machine and run a Anti-Virus scan on
the machine and see if it finds anything. If it finds any virus let
the AV software do what it needs to do then try to delete the folders
again.

Larry
Thanks for your help. I will try on my next visit
Blair

 

[bm]

I was asked by a friend to help clean up her files and folders because she
had got into a muddle. She has XP installed
When I opened Windows Explorer I found that the standard 'My documents'
had
been used but she had also introduced another folder called 'My own
documents' and because she had not a clear idea where she was saving her
documents she had used both in an indiscrimative manner
I set about transferring files to folders in 'My documents' but I was left
with three folders , My own Documents, Letters and Business which I could
not delete. Every time I tried I got the message 'Cannot delete, being
used
by another person or programme'.
I made sure that all other programmes were closed and also looked at
security settings for files but still cannot delete
Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
Blair

Blair,

Reboot widows and hit the f8 key a few times when the machine is
at the BIOS screen to get into Safe Mode. You should be able to
deleted the folders this way. If you are still unable to delete these
files in safe mode, reboot the machine and run a Anti-Virus scan on
the machine and see if it finds anything. If it finds any virus let
the AV software do what it needs to do then try to delete the folders
again.

Larry
Safe mode worked perfectly! Thanks.
I am now faced with a new problem that her own Data is contained under 'My
documents' which is shown outwith 'disk C' and when I look at 'diskC' it
contains a file called 'Susan's Documents' and the contents are identical to
the ones in 'My Documents'
If I delete in either group it deletes the other automatically
It would seem that Microsoft have arranged for a file on the desktop to hold
all documents and in addition are held in disk 'C'
Can you make head or tail of this one please?
Blair

 

[throwitout]

Safe mode worked perfectly! Thanks.
I am now faced with a new problem that her own Data is contained under 'My
documents' which is shown outwith 'disk C' and when I look at 'diskC' it
contains a file called 'Susan's Documents' and the contents are identical to
the ones in 'My Documents'
If I delete in either group it deletes the other automatically
It would seem that Microsoft have arranged for a file on the desktop to hold
all documents and in addition are held in disk 'C'
Can you make head or tail of this one please?
Blair

"My documents" as seen on the desktop, is really just a symbolic link.

On the hard drive, it is usually actually stored in "C:\Documents and
settings\username\my documents"

When you log in, the "My documents" folder that appears in open / save
dialogs, Windows explorer, etc is actually a link that points to the
current user's documents and settings folder.

Now your new issue, if I'm understanding it correctly, is in Explorer,
or my computer, or My computer from an open/save dialog is listing
"Susan's documents" underneath the listing for c: drive.

EG:
"
3.5 Floppy (A
Local Disk (C
DVD Drive (D
Susan's documents
"

If more than one account existed on the computer it would list the
other users' documents as well. This is just a link to the documents
and settings folder. I don't know right off how to disable this if
desired.

 

[bm]

"My documents" as seen on the desktop, is really just a symbolic link.

On the hard drive, it is usually actually stored in "C:\Documents and
settings\username\my documents"

When you log in, the "My documents" folder that appears in open / save
dialogs, Windows explorer, etc is actually a link that points to the
current user's documents and settings folder.

Now your new issue, if I'm understanding it correctly, is in Explorer,
or my computer, or My computer from an open/save dialog is listing
"Susan's documents" underneath the listing for c: drive.

EG:
"
3.5 Floppy (A
Local Disk (C
DVD Drive (D
Susan's documents
"

If more than one account existed on the computer it would list the
other users' documents as well. This is just a link to the documents
and settings folder. I don't know right off how to disable this if
desired.

Thanks you have given me a good lead so I can investigate further
Will let you know
Blair