"CANNOT DELETE (...demo.exe file). It is being used by another person or program"

[Guest]

I started downloading a game demo with GetRight, but canceled immediately; the empty file (warofthering_demo.exe - 0 KB) appears in C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos, and is "0" KB (zero KB). When I try to delete the file, an error appears and states: "Cannot delete warofthering_demo.exe. It is in use by another program or person. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.". I've shut down EVERYTHING but the services absolutely necessary to operate my system, but it made no difference, the file could not be deleted, renamed, or moved. There cannot be another program or person using this file - I also restarted my system to make certain nothing was running, but still got the same error. I also tried moving, and then renaming the file, but was not allowed to do either for the same reason - "in use by another program or person...

If I try to delete the file, the error states: "cannot delete... in use by another program or person".

If I try to open the file, the error states: "... is not a valid Win32 application".

I also tried re-downloading the file, and it appeared as if this would work - the window stating: "... file already exists. Would you like to replace it with..." appeared - I clicked "OK", and the download began and continued, but at the very end (99%), another variation of the "... is in use by another program or person" error appeared, and the download could not be completed.

If anyone can tell me how to remove this file, it would be very much appreciated. My system specs are listed below - thank you, and have a great week.

Dell Dimension 8200 desktop - basic components:

1.8 GHz Pentium 4 CP
Dell motherboard with Intel 850 chipse
BIOS - Dell Computer Corp., SMBIOS Version A03 12/07/2001 (v. Dell - 8)
512 MB PC800 RDRAM (non-ECC
80GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive (Maxtor 6L080L4
48X Samsung CD-ROM Drive (SC-148C B100
3 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive (TEAC
GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB DDR AGP car
SB Live! Value sound car
19" Dell M991 Monito

Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000 4.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
(had recent sound problem and changed speakers to troubleshoot - temporarily
using Altec Lansing model ACS340 2.1 system - 2 speakers and subwoofer

CNet PRO200WL PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
Conexant HSF V92 56K PCI Modem (RTAD Speakerphone
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical Mous
Dell Enhanced QuietKey Keyboard PS2
Windows XP Home Edition (5.1.2600 SP1
NTFS File Syste
Internet Explorer 6 (Version 6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.030422-1633SP1 - Update Versions: SP1, Q818529, Q330994
SystemWorks 2002 Pro Edition (Norton Anti-Virus 2002 v.8.07.17C
Windows XP built-in firewall
Adelphia PowerLink Cable - Terayon modem (Model TJ 715X)

BTW, I'M THE ADMINISTRATOR AND ONLY USER OF MY PC.

 

[DL]

you could try safe mode, then delete

I started downloading a game demo with GetRight, but canceled immediately;

the empty file (warofthering_demo.exe - 0 KB) appears in C:\Documents and
Settings\Daniel\My Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos, and is "0" KB (zero
KB). When I try to delete the file, an error appears and states: "Cannot
delete warofthering_demo.exe. It is in use by another program or person.
Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.". I've shut
down EVERYTHING but the services absolutely necessary to operate my system,
but it made no difference, the file could not be deleted, renamed, or moved.
There cannot be another program or person using this file - I also restarted
my system to make certain nothing was running, but still got the same error.
I also tried moving, and then renaming the file, but was not allowed to do
either for the same reason - "in use by another program or person..."

If I try to delete the file, the error states: "cannot delete... in use by another program or person".

If I try to open the file, the error states: "... is not a valid Win32 application".

I also tried re-downloading the file, and it appeared as if this would

work - the window stating: "... file already exists. Would you like to
replace it with..." appeared - I clicked "OK", and the download began and
continued, but at the very end (99%), another variation of the "... is in
use by another program or person" error appeared, and the download could not
be completed.

If anyone can tell me how to remove this file, it would be very much

appreciated. My system specs are listed below - thank you, and have a great
week.

Dell Dimension 8200 desktop - basic components:

1.8 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Dell motherboard with Intel 850 chipset
BIOS - Dell Computer Corp., SMBIOS Version A03 12/07/2001 (v. Dell - 8)
512 MB PC800 RDRAM (non-ECC)
80GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive (Maxtor 6L080L4)
48X Samsung CD-ROM Drive (SC-148C B100)
3 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive (TEAC)
GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB DDR AGP card
SB Live! Value sound card
19" Dell M991 Monitor

Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000 4.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
(had recent sound problem and changed speakers to troubleshoot - temporarily
using Altec Lansing model ACS340 2.1 system - 2 speakers and subwoofer)

CNet PRO200WL PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
Conexant HSF V92 56K PCI Modem (RTAD Speakerphone)
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical Mouse
Dell Enhanced QuietKey Keyboard PS2
Windows XP Home Edition (5.1.2600 SP1)
NTFS File System
Internet Explorer 6 (Version 6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.030422-1633SP1 - Update

Versions: SP1, Q818529, Q330994)

 

[Guest]

hit f8 when you start your comp go to command promp type cd\ enter then deltree C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos

 

[Guest]

Hello Shanara,

Could you be a bit more specific - when exactly during restart ("start your comp") do I tap F8, and HOW do I go to command prompt?

Once I'm at the command prompt, I type "cd\" (without the quotes), and then hit "Enter" - correct

Then type "deltree C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos" (again, without quotes), and then hit "Enter" again? The above folder will then open, and I can try to delete the demo file, yes? Sorry to be so dense, but I got into PCs very late in life, and the minute you go beyond Windows basics, I'm lost (command prompt)... thank you.

Daniel D
Santa Monica, CA

 

[Guest]

Hello DL,

Tried Safe Mode, but nothing changed and I got the same "cannot delete..." error - thank you for taking time to make the suggestion - sounded good to me too...

Daniel D
Santa Monica, CA

 

[Lance Joiner]

Hello Shanara,

Could you be a bit more specific - when exactly during restart ("start

your comp") do I tap F8, and HOW do I go to command prompt?

Once I'm at the command prompt, I type "cd\" (without the quotes), and then hit "Enter" - correct?

Then type "deltree C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My

Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos" (again, without quotes), and then hit
"Enter" again? The above folder will then open, and I can try to delete the
demo file, yes? Sorry to be so dense, but I got into PCs very late in life,
and the minute you go beyond Windows basics, I'm lost (command prompt)...
thank you.

Daniel D.
Santa Monica, CA

Maybe something here will help..
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_d.htm#del

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This is *not* a Microsoft Word problem, so why did you cross-post to
microsoft.public.word.newusers?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

I started downloading a game demo with GetRight, but canceled immediately;

the empty file (warofthering_demo.exe - 0 KB) appears in C:\Documents and
Settings\Daniel\My Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos, and is "0" KB (zero
KB). When I try to delete the file, an error appears and states: "Cannot
delete warofthering_demo.exe. It is in use by another program or person.
Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.". I've shut
down EVERYTHING but the services absolutely necessary to operate my system,
but it made no difference, the file could not be deleted, renamed, or moved.
There cannot be another program or person using this file - I also restarted
my system to make certain nothing was running, but still got the same error.
I also tried moving, and then renaming the file, but was not allowed to do
either for the same reason - "in use by another program or person..."

If I try to delete the file, the error states: "cannot delete... in use by another program or person".

If I try to open the file, the error states: "... is not a valid Win32 application".

I also tried re-downloading the file, and it appeared as if this would

work - the window stating: "... file already exists. Would you like to
replace it with..." appeared - I clicked "OK", and the download began and
continued, but at the very end (99%), another variation of the "... is in
use by another program or person" error appeared, and the download could not
be completed.

If anyone can tell me how to remove this file, it would be very much

appreciated. My system specs are listed below - thank you, and have a great
week.

Dell Dimension 8200 desktop - basic components:

1.8 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Dell motherboard with Intel 850 chipset
BIOS - Dell Computer Corp., SMBIOS Version A03 12/07/2001 (v. Dell - 8)
512 MB PC800 RDRAM (non-ECC)
80GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive (Maxtor 6L080L4)
48X Samsung CD-ROM Drive (SC-148C B100)
3 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive (TEAC)
GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB DDR AGP card
SB Live! Value sound card
19" Dell M991 Monitor

Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000 4.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
(had recent sound problem and changed speakers to troubleshoot - temporarily
using Altec Lansing model ACS340 2.1 system - 2 speakers and subwoofer)

CNet PRO200WL PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
Conexant HSF V92 56K PCI Modem (RTAD Speakerphone)
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical Mouse
Dell Enhanced QuietKey Keyboard PS2
Windows XP Home Edition (5.1.2600 SP1)
NTFS File System
Internet Explorer 6 (Version 6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.030422-1633SP1 - Update

Versions: SP1, Q818529, Q330994)

 

[Plato]

If I try to delete the file, the error states: "cannot delete... in use by another program or person".

http://www.bootdisk.com/xptop10.htm#8

 

[roger]

Hi,


Try this pictorial "Delete A File That Is Seemingly Undeletable"
http://www.theeldergeek.com/delete_undeletable_file.htm

Also try opening a command prompt (Start > Run > cmd) change
directories to 'the parent folder, open Task manager and end
explorer.exe from there, and then type:
del file_name

Then open explorer.exe by opening a new task in task manager.

Or go to Kelly's site

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

and scroll down to line 39 'Delete an undeletable file on Windows XP'

Hope this helps

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 12:06:07 -0800, "daniel7c7d"

I started downloading a game demo with GetRight, but canceled immediately;
the empty file (warofthering_demo.exe - 0 KB) appears in C:\Documents and
Settings\Daniel\My Documents\Downloads\Games & Demos, and is "0" KB
(zero KB). When I try to delete the file, an error appears and states: "Cannot
delete warofthering_demo.exe. It is in use by another program or person. Close
any programs that might be using the file and try again.".

Does this persist across Windows sessions? Have you made sure
GetRight isn't running at all when you try to delete it?

If I try to delete the file, the error states: "cannot delete... in use by another program or person".

If I try to open the file, the error states: "... is not a valid Win32 application".

That's true; there's no MZ header bytes, for starters.

I also tried re-downloading the file, and it appeared as if this would work - the
window stating: "... file already exists. Would you like to replace it with..."
appeared - I clicked "OK", and the download began and continued, but
at the very end (99%), another variation of the "... is in use by another
program or person" error appeared, and the download could not be completed.

It can't be *running*, so it's one of:
- referenced by something else that is running
- another file of that name elsewhere on the system is running

The last is because Windows can be a bit "lazy" when it comes to
location awareness; something that invites malware exploitation.

If anyone can tell me how to remove this file, it would be very much appreciated.

Safe mode, or maintenance OS. For XP on NTFS, that's Recovery
Console, or some sort of third-party environment (bootable Linux CD,
Bart's PE Builder, DOS mode with NTFS drivers etc.). For XP on FATxx,
you can add all the usual DOS mode tools, as long as your DOS mode
respects LFNs (it won't understand them) and reads FAT32 if it's FAT32

BTW, I'M THE ADMINISTRATOR AND ONLY USER OF MY PC.

Good point - I always forget all those "user identity" and NTFS
security" reasons why things may not work

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

Running Windows-based av to kill active malware is like striking
a match to see if what you are standing in is water or petrol.

 

[JT]

I'm having this problem repeatedly too and it's getting annoying and I
want to know why. It has something to do with permissions, I'm sure of
it. All other files behave normally and under security they have
permissions for SYSTEM, USERS, EVERYONE, and ADMINISTRATORS but they
files I can't modify also have MY account name JOHN there too. We all
have full permissions and they were inhereted from parent objects, but I
feel there is some reason for the error in that the file has my name
from when I logged into the network and wrote that file from a different
machine! I think it wants me to only modify that file from the other
computer. Also, it won't let me delete the JOHN account. I can go into
safe mode/administrator and fix all of this but I want to know what is
going on.

 

[Guest]

I have exactly the same problem with 3 demo.exe's, they are driving me crazy
,can,t delete in safe mode either.

 

[Joe]

This happened to me also but figured it out.

1. Open Task manager
2. Click Processes Tab.
3. Click on Explorer.exe
4. End Process
5. Click File, New Task
6. Click browse
7. Double Click Desktop folder
8. Look for offending *.Exe
9 Right Click, Delete.
Should have deleted it
10. go back to task manger, open new task under file menu again.
11. type explorer
12 everything should be fine again. Except your system try objects will be
gone. just log out or reboot. they will reappear.

13. Hope it worked for u