Help deleting a file that is "Being used by another pro

Positron · Post by **Positron** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:03 pm

I accidently created a .exe program when attempting to rename a .txt file. It now can not be deleted, renamed, etc. even after rebooting. I also tried a couple of programs that said they were developed to delete used programs. I am not sure exactly what is causing it to be used by another program as it is not listed in the task manager.

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Post by **lifeisbetterwithketchup** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:06 pm

Try booting into safe mode; maybe you can delete/modify it then.

Positron · Post by **Positron** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:41 pm

I found a website that told me to do that and I can't seem to do it. Is there something special I need to done once in SafeMode? The file that I accidently renamed is 0kb in size. I did not type anything into the document when I renamed it. Could it be an error with the computer trying to read something that technically takes up no space?

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:44 pm

Here is the answer to your question, move on boot!

http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/moveonboot.html

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:05 pm

http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php

'Nuff said.

kasar · Post by **kasar** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:44 am

click on start, run write cmd

now write:

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erase /F "the file"

for example:

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erase /F "c:\program files\my crap\uneraseablecrap.exe"

the " " are important, you also can drag the file to the window to get the path automatly without write it manually.

after get ready the command, hit ctrl+alt+supr and go to the task manager, now kill explorer.exe (right click, on explorer.exe , terminate process) close also any other user process you think it is using the process,then go back to the cmd window, and hit enter to run the comand, when the file is erased, go again to task manager, click on new task, and write

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explorer

this works for most of the stupid files resist to be erased, and no need third party stuff

zzattack · Post by **zzattack** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:05 am

I've found the unlocker utility pretty nice, it only pops up if you're trying to delete a file in use and has the ability to free the file's handles so you can delete the file just fine
here's the website: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Positron · Post by **Positron** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:47 pm

Thank you all for the advice. In the end I decided to use Kasar's method and that worked excellently. Thanks again.