Cannot delele or rename folders - Explorer trips over itself

[Masserin]

I'm sure this has been posted many times, but I haven't seen the solution I'm looking for, so ...

I am a leftover W98 user, however, I've been using someone's WinXP Pro SP2 machine for work for almost a month now and
am going nuts trying to delete or rename folders. Too often I get the error messages:

Error Deleting File or Folder
Cannot delete x...x: It is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and
try again.

or

Error Renaming File or Folder

Cannot rename x...x: Access is Denied
Make sure the disk is not full or write protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Though some other users keep a list and put up with rebooting or killing explorer and restarting it to delete folders I
think this is nonsense so I installed Process Explorer to see who was keeping the folders open. Too my amazement, every
time, Explorer was the only task with open file handles to the folder I wanted to delete. Lately I've just closed the
handles in Process Explorer, but frequently there are four or more open handles so even this method is a ridiculous
solution.

I've use other people's laptops with WinXP Home and never seen this annoying Explorer behavior.

My question - how can I tell Explorer to stop opening handles or to close them when the folder is now longer selected or
something to change this irritation behavior. I have no qualms about digging through and editing the registry (will
restore pc to "as received" condition when I no longer need it).

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[Road_Runner]

Hi ... Have you try deleting whatever it might be in " Safe Mode " ?

 

[Masserin]

Thanks for the reply, but I simply want explorer to delete folders that are not in use. To delete in safe move would
mean restarting XP (yes?) which would be even more annoying that just closing the open handles in Process Explorer.

I cannot fathom why a core program such as explorer behaves (was programmed to operate) so poorly = incompetently and
why MS doesn't care enough to either document how the behavior can be changed or fix such short comings.