Unwanted file on the desktop.

[Guest]

A file has appeared on my desktop, that to my knowledege, I did not create or
put there. It is called; CAX90NN5. , I have tried to delete it but it says;
"Cannot delete file: Cannot Read from the source file or the disk."
It also won't move to anywhere else, or open with any program. When I try
and open it with a program, the program says that it doesn't exist. It's
properties says it's 0 bytes.

Is there anyway in which i can delete this file? Any ideas how it got there?

Any help would be much appreciated,

Thanks

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Try the following free utility:

Unlocker v1.8.1
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/#download

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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:

| A file has appeared on my desktop, that to my knowledege, I did not create or
| put there. It is called; CAX90NN5. , I have tried to delete it but it says;
| "Cannot delete file: Cannot Read from the source file or the disk."
| It also won't move to anywhere else, or open with any program. When I try
| and open it with a program, the program says that it doesn't exist. It's
| properties says it's 0 bytes.
|
| Is there anyway in which i can delete this file? Any ideas how it got there?
|
| Any help would be much appreciated,
|
| Thanks

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Reboot to Safe Mode:
Reboot tapping F8 each second.
Select Safe Mode at the menu.
Then attempt to delete it.
You may need to Take Ownership, #9 on this link:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/adsecurity.htm

Also check for viruses, spyware and other malware, Yellow section on this
link:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

 

[Guest]

Thanks that sorted the problem!

 

[PopS]

Hi Carey,

That's an interesting little tool and I can see its usefulness.

Being the analytical and generally curious type though, I was
disappointed to see very little detail about what was going on
with it and the why/how of using it. As in, "why" are those
messages appearing in the first place, "what" am I doing when I
use Unlocker, And "How" do I know it's not going to run off and
do things I'm not aware of, and, what are the downsides, if any,
to ending such a locked task with that particular program?

Would you happen to know of any info a non-guru but computer
literate like myself might be able to gain enough comfort to use
such a program with confidence? I don't like the idea of just
"using" something without knowing more about what it's all about.

TIA,

Pop

 

[Sharon F]

Hi Carey,

That's an interesting little tool and I can see its usefulness.

Being the analytical and generally curious type though, I was
disappointed to see very little detail about what was going on
with it and the why/how of using it. As in, "why" are those
messages appearing in the first place, "what" am I doing when I
use Unlocker, And "How" do I know it's not going to run off and
do things I'm not aware of, and, what are the downsides, if any,
to ending such a locked task with that particular program?

Would you happen to know of any info a non-guru but computer
literate like myself might be able to gain enough comfort to use
such a program with confidence? I don't like the idea of just
"using" something without knowing more about what it's all about.

TIA,

Pop

I imagine most of these questions could be answered by the program's help
documents?

General explanation:There are some situations where there is a "lock" on a
file - a user or program has opened the file and it is not regarded as
"released" when the delete operation is requested. Also there are a few
file types that cause explorer to give a "lock" message. In particular, AVI
files in conjunction with Explorer's thumbnail views give the "in use"
message if you're trying to clean up your AVI collection.

There are several utilities available that will schedule a file (chosen by
the user) to be deleted on the next restart. The hope is that the delete
will happen at a point of Windows startup where the "lock" is not already
enforced. Since the target file or folder is chosen by the user, there
should be no deletes without user input.

 

[Guest]

HI , Never knew this tool existed it was helpful for me. Thanks.