File will not delete--error says it is in use

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pat
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Pat

When trying to delete a video file, I get an error that
it can not delete because it is in use by another person
or program. I am not on a network, using Windows XP Home,
and am the only account on the computer. Have tryed
Norton anti virus scan, rebooting, and starting in safe
mode to try to delete. Is there a way to find what is
using the file or to override the error to delete the
file?
 
Restart your computer and try to delete the file again. That often does the
trick.

Rocky
 
Clear your Temporary Internet Files, then restart.

Rocky

Pat said:
I have restarted several times and powered it down a couple of times with
Click to expand...
no change. That's why I can't figure out why any program that was using the
file would not be stopped by the power down.
 
| "Pat" <[email protected]>
| wrote in message | When trying to delete a video file, I get an error that
| it can not delete because it is in use by another person
| or program. I am not on a network, using Windows XP Home,
| and am the only account on the computer. Have tryed
| Norton anti virus scan, rebooting, and starting in safe
| mode to try to delete. Is there a way to find what is
| using the file or to override the error to delete the
| file?

If you are using the Windows Explorer view to "Show common
tasks in folders" maybe Windows Explorer is locking and reading
the file to populate the Details window of the Show Common
Tasks folder view. If that is the problem perhaps temporarily
disabling the 'common tasks' feature would allow you to delete
the files. To do that:

Close all running Windows Explorer programs (that have a button
on the taskbar).

Disable the "Show common tasks in folders" feature by clicking
Start, and then clicking Control Panel.

If you use Category View for the Control Panel click Appearance
and Themes, then click Folder Options.

If you use Classic View in Control Panel click Folder Options.

On the General tab, under Tasks, click "Use Windows classic
folders." Then click Apply then OK.

Now run Windows Explorer, navigate to My Documents, and
try to delete the video file.

For more information about "Common Tasks: Folder Options" search
Windows XP Professional Help and Support Center for the words
in double-quotes (with the quotes) and read the Suggested Topic by
that title.

And for some other errors that may occur when using the "Show
common tasks in folders" view, see the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article:

KB830903 - A file in a network folder opens as read-only or
returns an error message that the file type cannot be recognized
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?Product=winxp&scid=kb;en-us;830903
 
I did as you suggested , but the folder was already set To "use windows classic folders". Thanks for the try, but still not able to delete the file.
 
No luck with deleating temp internet files and deleting all cookies also. Hope someone has another idea.
 
||| "Pat" <[email protected]>
||| wrote in message ||| When trying to delete a video file, I get an error that
||| it can not delete because it is in use by another person
||| or program. I am not on a network, using Windows XP Home,
||| and am the only account on the computer. Have tryed
||| Norton anti virus scan, rebooting, and starting in safe
||| mode to try to delete. Is there a way to find what is
||| using the file or to override the error to delete the
||| file?

|| "Carrie Garth" <[email protected]>
|| wrote in message || If you are using the Windows Explorer view to "Show common
|| tasks in folders" maybe Windows Explorer is locking and reading
|| the file to populate the Details window of the Show Common
|| Tasks folder view. If that is the problem perhaps temporarily
|| disabling the 'common tasks' feature would allow you to delete
|| the files. To do that: <SNIP>

| "pat" <[email protected]>
| wrote in message | I did as you suggested , but the folder was already set To "use
| windows classic folders". Thanks for the try, but still not able to
| delete the file.

Maybe the Sysinternals utility named FileMon, which "monitors and
displays file system activity on a system in real-time" can help you
determine what process is locking the file. And once you determine
the name of the process, maybe you could close the offending
application, or "End Process" on it, and then delete the video file.

For more information about FileMon see the following Web Site:

Sysinternals Freeware
Utilities for Windows NT and Windows 2000 - FileMon
Copyright © 1996-2004 Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell
Last Updated: March 18, 2004 v6.1
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/filemon.shtml

BTW, you may want to use the filter feature in FileMon to select what
data will be shown in the list view. For example, if the "video file" is a
file with the extension .avi enter the following for a filter: *avi*.

And what you are looking for in the FileMon column named Result is
the phrase "NOT GRANTED". Once you find that look in the
FileMon column named Process (on the same line as "NOT
GRANTED") to find out the name of the process.

And to "End Process" on a running process, right-click a blank area
of the taskbar, click Task Manager, and click the Processes tab.
Then highlight the offending application and click the "End Process"
button.
 
Thank You !!! That found another Explorer running, which I deleted and was then able to delete the video file.
 
||||| "Pat" <[email protected]>
||||| wrote in message ||||| When trying to delete a video file, I get an error that
||||| it can not delete because it is in use <SNIP>

|||| "Carrie Garth" <[email protected]>
|||| wrote in message |||| <SNIP> perhaps temporarily disabling the 'common tasks' feature
|||| would allow you to delete the files. To do that: <SNIP>

||| "pat" <[email protected]>
||| wrote in message ||| I did as you suggested , but the folder was already set To "use
||| windows classic folders". Thanks for the try, but still not able to
||| delete the file.

|| "Carrie Garth" <[email protected]>
|| wrote in message || Maybe<SNIP> FileMon <SNIP> can help you determine what
|| process is locking the file. And once you determine the name
|| of the process, maybe you could close the offending application,
|| or "End Process" on it, and then delete the video file. <SNIP>

| "Pat" <[email protected]>
| wrote in message | Thank You !!! That found another Explorer running, which I
| deleted and was then able to delete the video file.

Glad to read the FileMon helped you resolve the problem. And thanks
for posting the resolution.
 
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