"Cannot delete file being used by other person...etc" Message

[Nixonus]

Have tried all suggestions on how to delete a movie file - safe mode, renaming, it won't open properties info and once I try to delete it (with the cannot delete message), it slows explorer down as well..help! What other solutions are there to deleting a file which is said to be being used by another person or program eventhough that is not the case...?

XP Home

[s7p9a2m4]

Look for the dr delete zip download link.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...ware~mode=flat

[Nixonus]

Sorry didn't work - froze up DrDelete when I located file and clicked on the delete tab...

[john66]

if it is in a folder - remove all other items - and delete the entire folder (without the movie in right window view)

or try to put it in a folder

also- open task manager- ctrl\alt\del - goto processes - mark explorer.exe - end process. then file - new task - type explorer.exe, ok
delete folder\file

[Manilow]

Change folder view to icons and old windows view..its that simple.

[paranoidxe]

Try this MSKB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;826722

[ESALADUANE]

How To Delete "Undeletable" Files And Folders In XP:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_d.htm#del
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;320081
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;298345
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;319368


or, if you find it in your Task Manager, do an "End Process" and then delete.

[Jamie]

I know it is extreme but if nothing else works. Delete it from the registry.

This has worked for me in the past. Just make sure that no other program is using that file.(very very important)

start>run>regedit>edit>find.....type the name of the file

[nriordan]

"Cannot delete. It is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again."
If you just want to delete that file, create a new file in notepad or such, and save it using the exact same file location, name, and file extension as your problem file. Answer yes to "__ file already exists, do you want to replace it?". You can now just delete the new file you saved.
Hope this works for you as easily as it did for me.

[Maximized]

Originally posted by nriordan
"Cannot delete. It is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again."
If you just want to delete that file, create a new file in notepad or such, and save it using the exact same file location, name, and file extension as your problem file. Answer yes to "__ file already exists, do you want to replace it?". You can now just delete the new file you saved.
Hope this works for you as easily as it did for me.

This worked great for me. Thanks for the easy solution, nriordan!

[ESALADUANE]

Here's a utility that will show you what program has a file open.

Process Explorer
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/fr.../procexp.shtml

[Zamees]

Thanx for the "Simple Solution"

Open notepad file, do a save as file type "all files" and just rewrite, piece of cake to delete.

[Grimakus]

Hrm. I've had your problem before, but with .exe files. Typically, the proggie causing all the bruhaha is explorer.exe.

Now, a simple solution is to open up ask Manager and end the explorer.exe process. You'll lose your desktop, but that's easily remedied, since your task manager will stay open (and you can repeatedly open Task Manager even if you close it.)

Your next step is to go to File > New Task (Run...) in Task Manager and run cmd.exe. This should bring up the good old command prompt.

From here, cd to the directory where the offending file is stored and run the delete command on it. It should be gone the moment you delete it, but run a dir command just to make sure the file is no longer listed in that directory.

Now that your file is deleted, you need to bring up Task Manager again. Go to File > New Task (Run...) and run explorer.exe. At this point your desktop should come back up.

This has helped me with just about every issue I've had similar to the one you're having now, so it should work.

[rebecca07]

nriordan, your suggestion worked perfectly. Thank you so much, I've been trying to get rid of this avi file (that never even worked properly) for a long time. It's finally gone, easy as saving over it in notepad.

[SuperFreak]

Originally posted by Grimakus
Hrm. I've had your problem before, but with .exe files. Typically, the proggie causing all the bruhaha is explorer.exe.

Now, a simple solution is to open up ask Manager and end the explorer.exe process...

Simple? Oh, those old DOS commands kicked my ass.
But thanx anyway, none of the above suggestions except yours helped me out of deleting an unfinished Bit Torrent *.exe file.
Cheers,