[Fineus]

Hey all.

I have a very strange problem. I have one image file in My Documents which I can't do.. well.. anything to.

I can't rename it, delete it, move it, edit it.. or view its properties. it's like it doesn't exist. That said - I want shot of it.

Is there a program that can destroy any file even if Explorer doesn't seem to want to know about it?

[pecenipicek]

try running any adaware or spyware or antivirus proggie over it?

also, try just running scandisk, that might fix it.

[karajorma]

File Unlocker did the business for me a couple of times when I've had similar problems.

[Ferret]

Try using Process Explorer and search for the file in question to see what has a hold on it, end-task the process and try and delete it then.
If it keeps latching onto processes you'll have to end-task everything it does grab onto (including explorer.exe which is a firm favourite), drop into cmd and delete it from there.

[Fury]

Boot into safe mode and use command prompt to remove it, simple and effective. Assuming you really know it's not a system file.

[vyper]

Oh, memories of my most embaressing thread ever...

[karajorma]

Boot into safe mode and use command prompt to remove it, simple and effective. Assuming you really know it's not a system file.

Doesn't always work. I've had files refuse to go even in safe mode. And I'm talking about movie files and the like so I'm certain that they weren't system files.

That's why I recommended File Unlocker.

[Ghostavo]

Normally I would terminate explorer.exe and using DOS I would delete the file. But it doesn't always work.

[Descenterace]

Movie files are usually locked by Explorer because it digs out preview info. Disabling the quick viewer module (SHDOCVW.DLL) should solve that problem, or you can delete the file from the shell immediately after booting the system.

[Sandwich]

I think I had a file once that had an extension of ".txt " (a space after the .txt), and Windows couldn't delete it. I think I eventually moved it into an archive with WinRAR and deleted the archive. Or something. I don't really remember.

[Fury]

Indeed, locked files are usually caused by explorer or an application that is assigned to open type of the file in question when explorer or the application is fetching details of the file, such as metadata. There was a bug in Windows XP that caused avi files to be locked when explorer tried to read details of avi files, the bug was fixed in SP2. If you are running XP SP2 and still get locked files, it is more than likely caused by the application you have assigned to open the file type. But of course programs like unlocker still show that the file is locked by explorer because that's what you use to explore files and folders prior to opening files.

Edit: As an example, in Windows I use Irfanview to open image files. Irfanview also supports ani extension, which is also used in FreeSpace as animations. However, IrfanView does not understand the FS ani format. Whenever I opened a folder that had FS ani files in them, my CPU and RAM usage would skyrocket to the point where all my available RAM was used by explorer. The problem was easily fixed by removing ani association from IrfanView. And just as a FYI, such preview abilities were added in Windows XP, in Windows 2000 this problem wouldn't occur. (tested it myself)