Can't delete icon

[William B. Lurie]

XP Home/SP2 ...
I have an icon on my desktop "LaunchU3.exe" that is
left over from a USB flash drive that I was using.
I am unable to delete it.....I get an "in use" message.

Search doesn't show that anywhere on the drive.

My Windows Explorer shows a Z-drive, a Removable Drive
that I guess was related to the USB Flash Drive.
I can't delete that, either. It asks me to insert something
into that drive. I just want it gone.

Are there keys in the Registry that are vestigial, or what?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

XP Home/SP2 ...
I have an icon on my desktop "LaunchU3.exe" that is
left over from a USB flash drive that I was using.
I am unable to delete it.....I get an "in use" message.

Search doesn't show that anywhere on the drive.

My Windows Explorer shows a Z-drive, a Removable Drive
that I guess was related to the USB Flash Drive.
I can't delete that, either. It asks me to insert something
into that drive. I just want it gone.

Are there keys in the Registry that are vestigial, or what?

Get, install, use "Unlocker"...
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

 

[Shenan Stanley]

XP Home/SP2 ...
I have an icon on my desktop "LaunchU3.exe" that is
left over from a USB flash drive that I was using.
I am unable to delete it.....I get an "in use" message.

Search doesn't show that anywhere on the drive.

My Windows Explorer shows a Z-drive, a Removable Drive
that I guess was related to the USB Flash Drive.
I can't delete that, either. It asks me to insert something
into that drive. I just want it gone.

Are there keys in the Registry that are vestigial, or what?

Get, install, use "Unlocker"...
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

As for the Z: drive - it should not exist if you have removed the drive and
rebooted after removing it *if* that is related to the U3-based USB thumb
drive in any way...

Could be something else. Z: is an unusual drive letter to be chosen...

Could be something else you installed (virtual CD drive, part of a CD/DVD
writing application, printer memory stick port, monitor memory stick port,
etc.)

 

[Don Phillipson]

XP Home/SP2 ...
I have an icon on my desktop "LaunchU3.exe" that is
left over from a USB flash drive that I was using.
I am unable to delete it.....I get an "in use" message.

Can you Delete/Remove this as normal in Safe Mode?

 

[Alec S.]

William B. Lurie wrote (in

I have an icon on my desktop "LaunchU3.exe" that is
left over from a USB flash drive that I was using.
I am unable to delete it.....I get an "in use" message.

Look in the notification area. Is the U3 logo there? If so, right-click it and
exit, then delete the shortcut.

If not, press Ctrl+Shift+Escape and check the Task Manager to see if
LaunchU3.exe is in the Processes tab. If so, right-click it and select End
Process (and Yes), then delete the shortcut.

If not, Run MSCONFIG and look in the Startup tab. Is there an entry for U3? If
so, uncheck it, reboot, then delete the shortcut.

If not, then something else is going on and will require a little more digging.

 

[William B. Lurie]

William B. Lurie wrote (in



Look in the notification area. Is the U3 logo there? If so, right-click it and
exit, then delete the shortcut.

If not, press Ctrl+Shift+Escape and check the Task Manager to see if
LaunchU3.exe is in the Processes tab. If so, right-click it and select End
Process (and Yes), then delete the shortcut.

If not, Run MSCONFIG and look in the Startup tab. Is there an entry for U3? If
so, uncheck it, reboot, then delete the shortcut.

If not, then something else is going on and will require a little more digging.

Thanks for the several intelligent and helpful suggestions.
I promptly followed the "unlocker" link, installed it and
it removed the offending icon. But I suspect it will be back
if I use that USB storage plug-in again, and I'll be ready.

 

[Alec S.]

William B. Lurie wrote (in

Thanks for the several intelligent and helpful suggestions.
I promptly followed the "unlocker" link, installed it and
it removed the offending icon.

But I suspect it will be back if I use that USB storage plug-in again, and

I'll be ready.

Aha! Take that!

Actually, Unlocker is great and has helped me on countless occasions (literally,
I have long since lost track of how many times I’ve used it). However you should
be aware that it forcibly closes the handle to the file, which will leave the
program that has the open handle in an unstable state because as far as it’s
concerned, it still has that handle, so if it tries to access it, it will likely
crash and possibly lose data. It is an effective resort, but often the last one.
You will usually want to properly close the program that has the handle
(especially for things like this where the program is specifically about a
drive/file management).

Use the MSCONFIG method to stop the program from autostarting if it’s there. If
it’s not, then you’ll have to disable AutoPlay to stop it in the future which
you can do easily with TweakUI.

 

[JS]

Have you rebooted after using Unlocker?

JS

Thanks for the several intelligent and helpful suggestions.
I promptly followed the "unlocker" link, installed it and
it removed the offending icon. But I suspect it will be back
if I use that USB storage plug-in again, and I'll be ready.

 

[William B. Lurie]

William B. Lurie wrote (in

I'll be ready.

Aha! Take that!

Actually, Unlocker is great and has helped me on countless occasions (literally,
I have long since lost track of how many times I’ve used it). However you should
be aware that it forcibly closes the handle to the file, which will leave the
program that has the open handle in an unstable state because as far as it’s
concerned, it still has that handle, so if it tries to access it, it will likely
crash and possibly lose data. It is an effective resort, but often the last one.
You will usually want to properly close the program that has the handle
(especially for things like this where the program is specifically about a
drive/file management).

Use the MSCONFIG method to stop the program from autostarting if it’s there. If
it’s not, then you’ll have to disable AutoPlay to stop it in the future which
you can do easily with TweakUI.

Thanks again. I couldn't find the program that was locked
and caused the icon to be un-deletable. Nothing I could
recognize in msconfig/startup, not in Task Manager. I suspect that
it is onboard the Kingston 1GB DataTraveler, and will show
up again if I use that temporary storage drive.

 

[Alec S.]

William B. Lurie wrote (in

Thanks again. I couldn't find the program that was locked
and caused the icon to be un-deletable. Nothing I could
recognize in msconfig/startup, not in Task Manager. I suspect that
it is onboard the Kingston 1GB DataTraveler, and will show
up again if I use that temporary storage drive.

If the file is not actually on your system, then there won’t be a locked handle,
and the shortcut can be erased. If it is in-use, then there must be a program
running. When you use Unlocker, it will display the program that has the open
handle. Look at the Process column in Unlocker and search for that filename.