Can't get rid of file

Hi there

I have a sllight problem.

I have installed a demo of Warcraft 2 on my notebook but I cannot remove it, when I try to delete it I get an error box appear that says Cannot delete war2demo it is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.

I haven't got any other programs open and no-one else is using the file so please could someone advise me on how to get rid of the file.

Thanx in advance for any help/advice.

Apologies in advance if I have posted this in the wrong place, I am new to the forums and couldn't find anywhere to post this.

 

When you boot up, hit F8 and go into Windows Safe Mode. Try deleting it then through the Add/Remove Programs dialog in the Control Panel.

 

Thanx I'll try that but the file/program isn't even showing in the Add/Remove Programs dialog?

 

How were you deleting then? An item within the start menu? There should be an uninstaller for it...somewhere.

 

In safe mode just delete the folder.

uninstalling W2

 

I've tried that, Keeps coming up with same message in my OP.

It's just the war2demo application file that is sitting on my desktop (in the desktop folder) that won't delete

Edit: Correction - I've just been able to move the file from the desktop to the C:\ root, but it still won't delete

 

Did you try disabling the UAC first? It may be preventing the file from being removed. Vista is funny that way.

Either that, or disable UAC, reboot, rename the offending file, reboot again, and then try to delete it.


EDIT: You may also want to look at Night's thread, as he may have found another solution that can work

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=121152

 

Thanx for the advice R4000 but I'm running XP home not vista. Could you explain what UAC is and how I disable it - I'm new to pc's as a whole.

I'll have a look at night's thread as well see if that helps, thanx for the link.

 

UAC is User Account Control which is a Vista-only security application. If you're truely running XP you don't have to worry about it. With that disclaimer, you can read about UAC here.

 

Try running Blizzard's own uninstall program, located in the Warcraft 2 demo folder. You may have to do this via command line (Win+R, type "cmd"). If that doesn't work or you can't find it, just wipe out the folder by deleting it. I don't believe WC2 makes any registry entries, so it'll be clean.

 

Thanx for the help guys.

I had to get medieval on my notebook, well actually it forced me too vgaoem.sys became corrupted and I've ended up having to re-install XP home.

Now I've done that I've been able to get rid of the offending file, but I now have the original user folder in C:documents and settings that contained the few files I had placed in there coming up as access denied. I've posted in the windows and os forum for help so if anyone reading this could take a look at my post there I'd be really grateful.