Can not Delete a file????

[Guest]

I got a few 'trial games' downloaded and I now I can't delete the .exe used
to install them. I am being told that
The action can't be completed because the file is open by another program.
Close the file and try again.

This is a load of crap. The programs (one of them is a .mov video clip too)
are NOT open, I only ran them once and my computer has been restarted several
times since then. the Task Manager does not show these processes running
either.

WTH???

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Boot into "Safe Mode" and then uninstall the offending program(s).

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------

:

I got a few 'trial games' downloaded and I now I can't delete the .exe used
to install them. I am being told that
The action can't be completed because the file is open by another program.
Close the file and try again.

This is a load of crap. The programs (one of them is a .mov video clip too)
are NOT open, I only ran them once and my computer has been restarted several
times since then. the Task Manager does not show these processes running
either.

WTH???

 

[Michael Solomon]

I got a few 'trial games' downloaded and I now I can't delete the .exe used
to install them. I am being told that
The action can't be completed because the file is open by another program.
Close the file and try again.

This is a load of crap. The programs (one of them is a .mov video clip too)
are NOT open, I only ran them once and my computer has been restarted several
times since then. the Task Manager does not show these processes running
either.

WTH???

Try deleting it in Safe Mode. Boot the system, start tapping F8, at the
menu, choose Safe Mode.

 

[Saran]

Boot into "Safe Mode" and then uninstall the offending program(s).

This is yet another deficiency of Vista. I know I've said it before and
I guess I'll say it again: There is just no excuse for these problems in
an OS that promised ot solve so many problems and considering how long
it was in developement, things like this are just laughable. "Longhorn"
was in dev at least since 2001 when I first read about it. This is
supposedly the same people who broguh us XP, so what excuse is there for
all these ridiculous problems? XP never had so many problems as I'm
seeing with Vista - both in this group and customers that come to us.
I've been in line of work since 1996 so I can honestly say Vista has had
the most problems of any Windows I can remember, and there is no excuse
for it.

-saran

 

[Steve K.]

Try deleting it in Safe Mode. Boot the system, start tapping F8, at
the menu, choose Safe Mode.

This is got the be the most fuggered up way to delete a file. I don't
think i've ever had to reboot just to do that, unless there was soem
serious IO snafu that resulted in a zombie process, but clearly that is
not the case as the OP said he rebooted and it persisted. Makes you
wonder why Vista is keeping tabs on certain files... and some of you
think theres no privacy concerns in Vista.

Theres no reason for that sort of behavior; it is unacceptable imho.

-saran

 

[Guest]

Where is the file located? Is it on the desktop? I found this happened when
the folder was open. I solved this by moving the file to a empty folder and
then deleting the folder (without opening it).

By the way I have seen this problem in XP as well.

Turn off the Preview Pane also. Vista displays a lot of "info' about the
file if it is highlighted so it thinks it is "open".

Cheers,
Lara

 

[Saran]

Where is the file located? Is it on the desktop? I found this
happened when the folder was open. I solved this by moving the file
to a empty folder and then deleting the folder (without opening it).

By the way I have seen this problem in XP as well.

Yes a similar problem used to be in XP (though I haven't seen it for
quite some time), but it didn't persist between reboots. Again, seeing
as this was a known problem in XP (seemingly before an update was
released, which would imply there was a solution) I find it inexcusable
that it remains, ever worse, in Vista.

-saran

 

[Guest]

It was when the preview pane was open. I can still recreate the error in XP
so it wasn't fixed. I have been a network tech (Mac and PC) for almost 20
years so I have seen a lot of changes that are more drastic than Vista.
Personally the change from Mac's OS 9 to OSX was far worse as OSX just didn't
let you install any software that wasn't written for it and crashed
constantly.

Vista has taken me awhile to get used to and I wish they would put back the
functionality that they removed from it (File Types, Font Security settings,
Photo Import Manager etc) but it has some added features that are handy and I
am slowly learning.

I just see no point in getting too upset about it because it is here to
stay. The real challenge for me will be when I have to integrate it into my
network because it doesn't support any backwards compatability with regards
to profiles or group policies. But hey - keeps my life interesting.

 

[Saran]

It was when the preview pane was open. I can still recreate the error
in XP so it wasn't fixed.

I haven't run into this problem in well over a year, nor can I reproduce
it like I used to be able, so I can only say this must of come about
from one of the updates.

I have been a network tech (Mac and PC)
for almost 20 years so I have seen a lot of changes that are more
drastic than Vista. Personally the change from Mac's OS 9 to OSX was
far worse as OSX just didn't let you install any software that wasn't
written for it and crashed constantly.

That actually does sound like Vista in certain respects; it does have a
habit of crashing on certain softwares... hell it even crashes on some
programs that -are- written for it... go figure. Given how long
Microsoft claiemd thye worked on it, these problems are just
unacceptable imho.

-saran

 

[Guest]

Really - Well in 6 months it hasn't crashed for me yet except with IE 7 once
in awhile if I have over 20 tabs open.

I run all sorts of old and 3rd party software including tons of older
children's software and it all runs fine. For everything that isn't Vista
certified, I just run in compatibility mode and it runs without issue.

I have a new machine with an OEM copy. I never ever do upgrades as my
experience is that they are never stable. I always do a clean install and
migrate settings.

Cheers,
Lara

 

[Saran]

Really - Well in 6 months it hasn't crashed for me yet except with IE
7 once in awhile if I have over 20 tabs open.

I've seen IE7 crash randomly and refuse to start for no reason at all.
I'm sorry but I have little faith in that browser, especially when I can
sue something like Maxthon that uses the IE rendering core. On a system
with IE6, I cna have several dozen tabs open with out a problem.

I run all sorts of old and 3rd party software including tons of older
children's software and it all runs fine. For everything that isn't
Vista certified, I just run in compatibility mode and it runs without
issue.

Most general programs seem to run ok for the most part. Theres many that
don't, however. Like certain Tax and inventory and some AV "suites" for
starters.

I have a new machine with an OEM copy. I never ever do upgrades as my
experience is that they are never stable. I always do a clean
install and migrate settings.

True. I'm glad it's working well for you. Clean install seems to be best
with Vista, but I find it curious, that, given how advanced Vista is
supposed to be, why does it have so many problems with "upgrade"
installs? This was not what Microsoft can't telling us the years leading
to Vista's release.

-saran

 

[Ian Betts]

I've seen IE7 crash randomly and refuse to start for no reason at all. I'm
sorry but I have little faith in that browser, especially when I can sue
something like Maxthon that uses the IE rendering core. On a system with
IE6, I cna have several dozen tabs open with out a problem.


Most general programs seem to run ok for the most part. Theres many that
don't, however. Like certain Tax and inventory and some AV "suites" for
starters.


True. I'm glad it's working well for you. Clean install seems to be best
with Vista, but I find it curious, that, given how advanced Vista is
supposed to be, why does it have so many problems with "upgrade" installs?
This was not what Microsoft can't telling us the years leading to Vista's
release.

-saran

Well I have used Vista without once having it crash and I use 2000 software
and download every update automatically without one giving trouble. I just
do not recognize your constant catalogue of disasters. I have also updated
XP to Vista with only the need for update printer drivers for an older
Epson.

I still ask why you use the system but you just cannot answer.



--
Ian

With patience there is always a way.

Please Reply to Newsgroup so all can read.
Requests for assistance by email can not and will be deleted.

 

[Saran]

Well I have used Vista without once having it crash and I use 2000
software and download every update automatically without one giving
trouble. I just do not recognize your constant catalogue of
disasters. I have also updated XP to Vista with only the need for
update printer drivers for an older Epson.

Then you are lucky. Many people are not so fortunate. I suspect Vista
tends to run more properly on what seem like a hand full of hard ware
(and perhaps loaded up software) combinations. I still find it
inexcusable that Vista is so fragile that it falls apart on so many
combinations. You just happen to have a good one, so feel free to get a
cookie at the door.

I still ask why you use the system but you just cannot answer.

I don't recall you ever asking me that, but if you read many of my
posts, you would not need to ask. If you refer to Vista, we service many
systems, many Vista now a days, intermixed with XP and older. At home I
have Vista in a VM Ware image. We have also ran various "side by side"
tests between Vista and XP/2000 and other OS's, with different configs.
That, and many of the customer's systems's end up being a test of sorts
too. Half of the Vista machines with problems are brand new out of the
box HPs/Compaqs/Dells/etc that crash for no reason or some other
problem, so when I say there's just a lot of problems with Vista, I'm
not saying it out of thin air.

-saran

 

[Ian Betts]

Then you are lucky. Many people are not so fortunate. I suspect Vista
tends to run more properly on what seem like a hand full of hard ware (and
perhaps loaded up software) combinations. I still find it inexcusable that
Vista is so fragile that it falls apart on so many combinations. You just
happen to have a good one, so feel free to get a cookie at the door.


I don't recall you ever asking me that, but if you read many of my posts,
you would not need to ask. If you refer to Vista, we service many systems,
many Vista now a days, intermixed with XP and older. At home I have Vista
in a VM Ware image. We have also ran various "side by side" tests between
Vista and XP/2000 and other OS's, with different configs. That, and many
of the customer's systems's end up being a test of sorts too. Half of the
Vista machines with problems are brand new out of the box
HPs/Compaqs/Dells/etc that crash for no reason or some other problem, so
when I say there's just a lot of problems with Vista, I'm not saying it
out of thin air.

-saran

I teach and repair computers and see lots of Vista machines and few give the
problems you keep harping about. This NG is just a flea bite of problems
against the millions of Vista users that never seek advice.

HP and Compaqs give the problems not Vista, they are about the worst ready
to use that PC World sell.

You clearly have a limited knowledge of the early days of 95, 98 and XP,
They all gave update difficulties because they were at the time advanced.

I run XP, Ubuntu and Vista and find Vista compares well.



--
Ian

With patience there is always a way.

Please Reply to Newsgroup so all can read.
Requests for assistance by email can not and will be deleted.

 

[Saran]

I teach and repair computers and see lots of Vista machines and few
give the problems you keep harping about. This NG is just a flea bite
of problems against the millions of Vista users that never seek
advice.

I don't think you've really spent al lthat much time with Vista if you
haen't seen too many problems, or like I said, you've just been lucky.

HP and Compaqs give the problems not Vista, they are about the worst
ready to use that PC World sell.

Agreed. I just expect a lot more adaptability from an OS that was hyped
so long to be so "advanced"...

You clearly have a limited knowledge of the early days of 95, 98 and
XP, They all gave update difficulties because they were at the time
advanced.

On the contrary, I've been around "PC"'s since the 8088 touting IBM
5150's (my first x86 system, if you will.) I've had ever system in that
family over the years, and worked on many directly. I've used every
version of Windows quite thoroughly since 1.0. I've seen just about
every type of problem out there, including down right weird hardware
incompatibilities and other anomalies. I hold a BS and not only help run
a computer service shop but I also do various consulting and am pretty
well off.

So please don't tell me I have a limited knowledge. I remember the pains
in Win 95 quite well. Not really something easily forgotten, not in my
line of work I actually try to learn from the past, unlike Microsoft
it sometimes seems.

I run XP, Ubuntu and Vista and find Vista compares well.

Please describe the systems you run each on and what state each one is
in. Every time I see someoen saya Vista runs as good or better than XP,
they never give much information about how old/healthy the XP vs the
Vista system is. Any realatively healthy Vista system will run better
than a sick XP, or one that's got too much junk on it.

In out experience, XP of equal or better cleanlyness vitually always out
performs Vista. Many magazines have also pointed this out. I don't think
thye would just lie about it. From our own in house tests, as well as
all the customer's system's we've worked on, Vista generally ranks lower
than it's predeccors. Vista is not what the hype and promises said it
would be.

-saran

 

[Philip Hornsey]

You've probably resolved this but I am replying in case someone else searches this.

The issue is almost certainly Quicktime. I just went through this nightmare for a whole weekend as I was trying to consolidate data from several old hard drives. Quicktime CODEC's access *every damn time* you touch the file *IN ANY WAY*. This means that if you have a corrupt codec or an issue with Quicktime it will prevent you from deleting the file OR DIRECTORY that a .MOV file is in. Remove Quicktime, iTunes and any other Apple product that might use the CODEC from your system and you will be okay. You can then reinstall them fresh (remember to save your registration codes before you uninstall).

EggHeadCafe - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com

 

[Brian L Johnson]

You've probably resolved this but I am replying in case someone else
searches this.

The issue is almost certainly Quicktime. I just went through this
nightmare for a whole weekend as I was trying to consolidate data from
several old hard drives. Quicktime CODEC's access *every damn time* you
touch the file *IN ANY WAY*. This means that if you have a corrupt codec
or an issue with Quicktime it will prevent you from deleting the file OR
DIRECTORY that a .MOV file is in. Remove Quicktime, iTunes and any other
Apple product that might use the CODEC from your system and you will be
okay. You can then reinstall them fresh (remember to save your
registration codes before you uninstall).

You're correct, except for that final step... <g>

I agree with removing Apple's QuickTime to solve problems with MOV files
("It's the only way to be certain.") but I DISagree with re-installing it
again to ensure an uncorrupted installation. As soon as you install QT
again (I've been struggling with QT 7.2) you'll have your problems with
MOV files back again.

QuickTime itself is the problem -- not a corrupted version of it.

If you want to prevent problems with MOV files, and still be able to view
them, you need to install QuickTime Alternative.

Sadly, Apple has used bully-boy tactics to pressure QTA's publishers into
removing QTA from their website and ceasing developement of it.

However... the last version produced (v1.81) is still hosted on many other
sites[1] and is *definitely* worth getting.

Lastly, QTA's original developers have produced a "QT Lite" product which
is supposed to be an alternative for QT Alternative (presumably, this only
contains non-Apple-copyrighted material) but I haven't tested that yet, so
can't comment on whether it works with all variants of MOV files.


Footnote

 

[Opinicus]

If you want to prevent problems with MOV files, and still be able to view
them, you need to install QuickTime Alternative.

Another strategy is to allow QT on your system but strictly isolate and
never actually use it. Any time I have a MOV file that I want to view/keep,
I first convert it to MPEG or AVI. (Boilsoft makes an excellent converter.)
Then I convert it to DIVX and delete the MOV.

So far I've never had a problem with a MOV file misbehaving: They don't hang
around long enough to...