whenever i try to delete a folder, i get a message that says "cannot delete file or folder. it is in use by another person or program" i have nothing else open, everything in the system tray is closed, and i am the only one logged on
2006-07-19 15:13:14 · 8 answers · asked by rancid_ranger 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
its not a shared folder, i was the one who created it. its just right on my desktop, and its not protected or anything.
2006-07-19 15:22:41 · update #1
What folder are you tring to delete? The system runs some programs that use files in certain folders that prevents you from deleting. You may be able to manually shut-down the program accessing that folder by pressing ctrl-shft-esc -> going to proccesses -> End the process tree for the program accessing the computer. If it will not allow you to end the process, than you will have to re-start the computer in either safe mode, or in the simulated MS-DOS text prompt. be careful doing these things if you are not sure of what you are doing.
Additional information....
Your additional information helps, Do you use any file sharing programs, bittorrent, limewire, bearshare, etc. You could have that folder listed as a place to share files from. If you don't use those programs, try restarting, and than deleting it when it restarts.
2006-07-19 15:18:14 · answer #1 · answered by technical_13 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It depends on the context of the situation. How was the folder created in the first place? Is it a problem with only one folder/group of folders or all folders? Sometimes, when remote sessions time out, the computer might still think there is a connection open, even after restarting. Try renaming the folder and then deleting it. Also, if you are sharing folders with a unix/linux server or workstation, then that might be the cause of the problem.
2006-07-19 15:18:33 · answer #2 · answered by Crash 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might have opened some files in the folder. Closed all files before deleting the folder
2006-07-19 15:21:34 · answer #3 · answered by Tan D 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually you are "viewing" the folder and it's contents in the "file explorer" being used to delete the file.
Just bump it up a level or navigate to a different folder to "detach" the file explorer from the object of you deletion desire.
2006-07-19 15:17:26 · answer #4 · answered by Steve D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as the computer is running it will have files in use on your computer. What file is erroring out and where are you trying to delete from?
When I clear out my temp files I always have to skip some because they're in use.
(PS - ones with a bunch of odd looking characters together are normal, and don't try to delete stuff out of the windows folder or the pagefile.sys file)
2006-07-19 15:20:17 · answer #5 · answered by Alyssa 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there are any hidden files exists which has a protection attribute set, you cannot delete that folder. You can view such files by changing attributes from My computer-->Tools-->Folder Options-->View-->Show hidden files and folders...
2006-07-19 15:19:30 · answer #6 · answered by AreAce 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've got one of those. Mine IS called 'e books', and nothing I've tried has worked. I've decided to give in and place all my .pdf books into it. lol. I haven't tried doing a registry search for the folder name. that might help. Run regedit and see what happens.
2016-03-27 00:31:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is a chance that other users on the computer are using that folder or it is a shared folder. if ether of those are true then just stop the other users from acessing it or stop sharing it
2006-07-19 15:17:07 · answer #8 · answered by Jman 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋