Unlock files and folders locked by Explorer

[Dario de Judicibus]

When I work with Explorer, I often experience the following scenario:

I explore a folder, remove and/or move all files inside, and then decide to
remove folder. When I try to remove it, my WinXP complains that folder is
used by another process and that it cannot delete it. Looking for the owner
of lock I realize that it is Explorer itself. Often the file is locked by
SEVERAL instances of Explorer even if I have only one running, or at least
only one Explorer window open.

It looks like there is bug in Explorer, a "lock lack", that is, Explorer
forgets to release locks!

Is any way to prevent this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Dario de Judicibus - Italy (EU)
Site: http://www.dejudicibus.it/
Blog: http://lindipendente.splinder.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Dario de Judicibus]

P.S. Of course I know I can close/reopen Explorer, but it is not a "clean"
way to proceed.

 

[george]

When I work with Explorer, I often experience the following scenario:

I explore a folder, remove and/or move all files inside, and then decide
to
remove folder. When I try to remove it, my WinXP complains that folder is
used by another process and that it cannot delete it. Looking for the
owner
of lock I realize that it is Explorer itself. Often the file is locked by
SEVERAL instances of Explorer even if I have only one running, or at least
only one Explorer window open.

It looks like there is bug in Explorer, a "lock lack", that is, Explorer
forgets to release locks!

Is any way to prevent this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Dario de Judicibus - Italy (EU)
Site: http://www.dejudicibus.it/
Blog: http://lindipendente.splinder.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you happen to still have a copy of the old NT Winfile, use that.
It doesn't look it, but at least it doesn't lock stuff the way Explorer
does.
Alternatively, you could try (fee for non-commercial use) ExplorerXP at
http://www.explorerxp.com/
Havent tried it, but it looks all right.
Don't know about 'locking' with this one.

hth

george

 

[Sharon F]

P.S. Of course I know I can close/reopen Explorer, but it is not a "clean"
way to proceed.

Still not elegant but a little more workable is to click off of the folder
by clicking on a different folder. One folder up in the directory tree
works well. Then right click on the target folder and select Delete. Have
also found less resistance deleting from the right pane instead of from the
left pane.

The lock can be due to anything from System Restore (recording changes for
monitored file types and folders) to file handlers assigned to various file
types. Example: Great difficulty or flat out failure to delete *.avi files
using the default file handler settings (preview function) for this file
type.

 

[Dario de Judicibus]

Still not elegant but a little more workable is to click off of the
folder by clicking on a different folder. One folder up in the
directory tree works well. Then right click on the target folder and
select Delete. Have also found less resistance deleting from the
right pane instead of from the left pane.

Well, I tried, but it does NOT work for me. And the only locker is Explorer.
No other PID's.

The lock can be due to anything from System Restore (recording
changes for monitored file types and folders) to file handlers
assigned to various file types. Example: Great difficulty or flat out
failure to delete *.avi files using the default file handler settings
(preview function) for this file type.

Well, I have the problem mostly with folders (no rename, no delete).
Whatever is the cause, I think is bad programming maintaining a lock when no
more necessary. MS developers should fix this one.

DdJ

 

[Sharon F]

Well, I have the problem mostly with folders (no rename, no delete).
Whatever is the cause, I think is bad programming maintaining a lock when no
more necessary. MS developers should fix this one.

I agree. Some of the problem is a side effect of new features.
Unfortunately those features break functionality. Not consistently but
enough to be a headache.