BleepingComputer.com: Cannot Delete File: Access Is Denied

Hi All:

How often have we seen Windows messages such as the following:

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure that the file is not currently in use.

It seems that everyone, from time to time, runs into a pesky file or folder that just refuses to be renamed, moved, deleted, or wiped out.

Here are a few programs that will empower you to do what you want to do:

UNLOCKER http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

This is the most useful for general purposes. Just right-click the folder or file and select Unlocker to rename, move, or delete.

It works almost every time, but for really tough cases you may need to fire up some sort of 'Move on Boot' program. These all seem to work the same way. You mark the file or folder for deletion and after a reboot - unless you are very unlucky - it will be gone.

Three such programs I know of are:

ADVANCED FILE REMOVER http://www.excessive-software.eu.tt/

DELETE DOCTOR http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/

GiPo MOVE ON BOOT http://www.gibinsoft.net/gipoutils/fileutil/index.htm

As for a program that will smash to bits and wipe out forever any file that you don't feel happy about having around, the best I've found is ERASER, a program that will overwrite any pesky file either 1, 3, 7 or 35 times and beyond all possibility of recovery: http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/

Revenge is sweet, all of these programs are free, so have fun!

Cheers,

scratcher.

Unless it's a virus I've never had a problem deleting files of that nature in safe mode. Files that contain viruses or other nasties can usually be deleted using the proper software in safe mode.

dc3, on Nov 8 2006, 10:29 AM, said:

True, but I don't see the point of shutting down and starting up in safe mode simply to delete a file or an empty directory or change a directory or file name.

Maybe we are talking about different things. You will get that "cannot delete file" message if you have recently opened the file, presumably because it's still in memory.

I just go in, take ownership, give myself full control and then delete the sucker. Works for most files that I've encountered.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic42756.html

That's what Unlocker does.

If I can do something without an extra piece of software then I will generally stick with that first. Not being able to delete a file usually smells fishy to me, in which case I'd probably go straight to safe-mode to scan my system anyways.