rogue file refuses to be deleted

I've got this video file that changes it's format each time I get a new media player.
If I so much as click on it, my resources get eaten up by explorer.exe. If I try to delete it, it says that it's being used by another program and won't let me delete it.

What is going on, why can't I get rid of it? any suggestions?

 

have you tried restarting and then deleting it? that sometimes works for me when it says that it is being used by something else

 

I've lost track of how many times I've tried that.

any other suggestions?

 

open up task manager on processes tab and look for the file? keep it open and click the file and see what takes up all your resources?

 

Safe mode?

 

What's taking up the resources is Windows trying to make a thumbnail of some sort for it (that left hand preview pane). If you close that, it won't take up tons of resources when you click on it. Then you should be able to delete it. If you restart in Safe Mode like WackyT said, you should be able to delete it there. Otherwise, you can always start up a command prompt, navigate to that directory and use the "del" command, which is usually faster and more reliable than deleting through Windows exploder.

 

Sometimes a file in Windows is just undead, when that happens the only way to remove it is to do it on a separate OS. This is one of the advantages of dual booting OS's, and I can get rid of stubborn non-system files in this manner safely. If you don't feel like doing that, you can also just boot from a Linux LiveCD, mount the Windows partition within Linux, and delete it.

 

I once had a 0-byte text file I created that had that issue. Deleted just fine from the command line.

 

Here's what's worked for me in the same situation:

Boot into safe mode.
Rename the file and change the extension to .txt.

You should be able to delete it then reboot into regular mode and it will be gone.

 

how do I go about closing that left hand pane?

 

Sorry, Phillip. I'm not sure what you mean by "left hand pane". Where/how is it showing up? After you boot into safe mode? When you try renaming the file?

You can try renaming the file in regular mode - it works sometimes. But it's always worked for me in safe mode. I've never seen a pane of any kind in XP.

 

OK. I think I see what you mean. On your desktop, click on My Computer.

Go to Tools Folder Options and select "Use Windows Classic folders". That gets rid of the preview pane on the left.

You can switch back afterward.

 

ok the tuning off the left hand pane didn't allowmeto delete the file. I'll try safe mode tomorrow. bed for now.

 

Hi jack this will let you remove file on reboot too

under open misc tools
then del file on reboot

http://www.merijn.org/

 

Here are two other alternatives:
1. Download the free Process Explorer by SysInternals from any of a variety of sources, for example, http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,23780-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html. It has many uses. You can use it to search for the handle for the in-use file, delete it, then delete the file.
2. A simpler alternative: download Unlocker ( http://www.download.com/Unlocker/3000-2248_4-10493998.html), which allows you to delete the locked file through the right-click context menu.

 

OK, let me clear some things up, If I want to delete/deactivate/turnoff the process that is trying to run when I click on the file is explorer.exe. this is the process that runs all open windows that don't have a .exe extension. this means that simply turning off the proccess is not an option.

could somebody walk me through a command line deletion. it's been years since I've used dos so I'm a little rusty on the commands.

 

to add to the list of processes that don't work:
starting up in safe mode doesn't work since safe mode hides the file in question from the view of the user.

 

Sorry to hear this is being a nightmare. Here are some other options I found, including this one which has instructions on closing explorer.exe and deleting from the command line in WinXP:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/delete_undeletable_file.htm

This site has some info and recommendations on apps that can help:

http://filext.com/faq/delete_or_rename_stubborn_file.php

 

If you cannot access the file in safe mode. Move the folder that the file is in to a place where you can access it (like the desktop). Then go into safe mode and delete the folder. This should get rid of that little bugger.

Hope it helps.

 

the file is unmoveable so that won't work
I'll try the steps in that website you posted Brent and I'll report back later the results.

once again, thanks for the help people, and I hope that I can get rid of this pesky file.

 

I won't repeat my post from above, but I urge you to consider those alternatives. I've deleted many undeletable files by means of Process Explorer, though lately I've used Unlocker because of its simplicity.

 

I'll try process explorer but unocker doesn't work.

 

@sprucebeach
care to explain how to use process explorer

 

Another nice utility is WhoLockMe. Install it and right click the undeletable file and see which process is locking it up. explorer.exe will obviously be one of the process accessing it, but stop any other processes that are locking the file and then try deleting. I would think that if all that refuses to work, a command line delete in safe mode (if there was a process that was locking up the file and it started in Safe mode as well, stop that process) should get rid of the file. It might just be an unrelenting antivirus, who knows Good Luck!

 

After starting Process Explorer: Find > Find Handle, then in the search window type in a word from the name of the undeletable file and click on Search. The bottom of the search window will report in-use files meeting your search criteria. If you click on a file entry the main Process Explorer screen will show the application using the file in the top half and the file and pathname in the bottom. Right-click on the pathname and select Close Handle. You should then be able to delete the file in the normal manner (unless some rogue app immediately opens it again!)
Good luck.

 

will it show that it's searching or will it just randomly appear on the screen?

I did a search and the list was blank after I clicked on it.

 

That's bad news. The search is almost instantaneous. The hourglass cursor appears briefly as it occurs. PE isn't finding the handle. I have a vague recollection of that happening to me in the past. I believe I fixed it by opening a DOS window in the containing folder and using the del command there to delete it.

 

that's what I was going to do, but I'm not 100% on the file path.

 

You mean you don't know where the file is located?

 

I mean, Im a little hazy on how to type the path of the file in command prompt.

 

OK. Here's an example:

Let's assume the file is AAAA.XXX and that it's in a folder called Containing Folder, which is itself in a folder called Temp folder, which is in the root directory of the C: drive.

Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt will bring up a DOS prompt.
Type this command
del "c:\temp folder\containing folder\aaaa.xxx"
You need to type the double quotes but capital letters aren't needed.

I hope this example is helpful.

 

yes it is most helpful. the example I found on some of the websites I was looking at gave wierd examples such as:
del C:\bad file
but "bad file could have been anywhere on the c drive which made me wonder how DOS would know where to look.

anyways I'll try it soon and report back after.

 

C:\Documents and Setting\9999>

this is what I get when I call up the command promt.

should I just type del C:\ blah blah whatever, or do I have to change something first?

 

No, you don't have to do anything except type the appropriate delete command containing the full path to the file. If the command prompt is already in the correct directory (as indicated by the path to the left of the >) you can issue the del command without the full path. I assumed that you didn't know how to navigate within DOS to the right directory or how to open the prompt in the right directory to begin with, so I gave you an example that would work regardless of where the prompt was open.

 

no, I more or less know how to navagate DOS.

here goes nothing.

 

just to be sure, if I type My documents\bad file after C:\Documents and Setting\9999>, I won't be deleting anything besides the bad file? I've had more than my fair share of accidental deletions because I type the path wrong.

 

Unless you're typing asterisks or question marks that could serve as wild cards you should be OK. Ultimately you'll have to take responsibility for what you actually type. If you're concerned and since you know how, why don't you navigate to the containing directory and issue the command using only the filename and extension. If the name is < 9 letters long and contains no spaces or punctuation you can omit the quotes.

 

How is the del command more reliable and faster than deleting through Explorer (not moving to the Recycle Bin)? If the file is being used by another process none of these actions will be able to delete the file without first killing said process.

 

Unless the process trying to access the file IS explorer. Explorer is notorious for doing that with AVI's since you get thumbnail previews. That's why someone suggested before to turn that feature off. By deleting through the command line, you avoid having explorer accessing the file while you're trying to delete it.

 

could someone give me the exact path for me to type to delete this bad file. apparently I'm typing a space or upper/lower case where I shouldn't because it's not working.
I have no alternative but to start with C:\Documents and Setting\9999>. for some reason or another I can't back it up to just C:\. the file can be accessed by click my documents. once there you can simply click the bad file.

 

Then it could be in C:\Documents and Setting\9999\My Documents and the command would be
del "C:\Documents and Setting\9999\My Documents\badfile.xxx"
but if there are multiple users if could be somewhere else. Do a Windows search for the file and determine where it is.

If you're giving the full path in the delete command it doesn't matter which directory the DOS prompt shows, but you can go to the root directory with
cd c:\

 

WTH! it's still giving me error messages.
BTW what is the file extension for Winamp?

 

I suggest you let Geeksquad or some other computer repair service deal with your problem.

 

They'll tell you it was a fish stuck in the computer.

Get a clue fry! Reformat that pc!

BTW, have you tried deleting it with... certain programs? Seeing if it comes back?

Their are other proggys that can delete instantly.

But your problem may be a user using the file.

I'd suggest a reformat.

 

I'd suggest not. This is the kind of answer you get from first-level Gateway tech support when they don't have a real answer. Say he reformats and takes a week to bring Windows up to date and get all his applications reinstalled and have everything running the way it was before. What happens when he creates the same file again by doing whatever he did before? Reformat again? Phillip needs to figure out how to delete these files.

 

Have you tried my suggestion on pg. 1 Phillip?

It is usually necessary to remove the file from a separate OS when this happens. You should look into a Linux Live CD and do so from there.

 

I Know exactly how I created this file, and let me tell you, it will never happen again.
I could reformat, yes, but why, sure It is long overdue, but I don't exactly have time to redo everything.
I will try you suggestion later when I actually have my Ubuntu Disk with me Gator.

And the GeekSquad will never come within 100ft of my laptop. I've had too many bad experiences with them botching things up to let them have another try.

as for why it's not working, could it be that I'm not using the correct.xxx extension when typing the command?
If I'm not mistaken, it was origninally a .avi, then Winamp was installed and now it's a Winamp Media File(I think)
Does anyone know what the .xxx is for Winamp?

 

Now I understand what you meant by that question. Installing Winamp didn't change the file's extension (i.e., the .xxx) but it registered itself as the application for opening files of a number of different types. Your file is probably still an avi. To find out you need to tell Windows Explorer to show the file's extension.

In an Explorer window go to Tools > Folder Options and click on the View tab. At the bottom of the first little screen you'll see Hide extensions for known file types. Uncheck the box and OK out. Now the Name column will show the extensions and you can see what your mystery file is.

 

Sounds like a classic example of PEBKAM to me.

 

PEBKAM?, what's that?
BTW, it's still showing Winamp Media File.