There are situations when a user wants to close or delete a file, but cannot do it, because he is “open in another program” and then he starts looking for information on how to delete this open file.
It will be useful to consider all the ways in which such a problem could be solved and this task. One of them will definitely suit you.
To use this method, you must open command line on behalf of the administrator.
This is done as follows:
net file [filename] /close
For example, if running file called "geek-nose.exe", then given command will look like this: net file geek-nose.exe /close
If you need to know the name of the running program, then it is written in the message about the open file itself.
Knowing the file name allows you to use another way to delete files opened in other programs.
Actually, this way implies that the user will close the program in which the given file.
To open the task manager, you need to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Win + X and select "Task Manager" in the list of options.
You can also right-click on the bottom bar and select "Start Task Manager" from the drop-down menu.
In the "Applications" tab, you need to find the desired file and click on the "End task" button. You can also right-click on it.
In the drop-down list, you need to click "Go to the process." After that, we will get to the "Processes" tab, right-click on the specified file again and select "End Process" in the drop-down menu.
After that, you need to try deleting the file again.
If it is still not removed, you can try clicking on the "End Process Tree" item.
It is possible that some program that is one level higher or lower in the tree does not allow this. Does not work? Then we move on to the next method.
This method involves doing the following:
You may see a list of all open files. Then on each of them it will be possible to right-click and select the disable item.
But in our case, nothing was displayed in this list at all - despite the fact that quite a few processes were running on the computer and many files were open.
This means that the computer management menu does not always work correctly and displays a valid list of open files.
Attention: Even if nothing is displayed in the "Open Files" folder of the "Computer Management" menu, you still need to right-click and select "Disable ...".
Now you can try to delete the file again.
This little utility is very easy to use and allows you to delete files opened in another program in a matter of seconds. You can download it on the official website. After installation, it will be integrated into the context menu (the one that opens by right-clicking on any file or folder). To use Unlocker to delete open files, you need to do the following:
Then you need to try to delete the file again in a standard way. There is another program that can also unlock various files and thereby give the user the ability to delete them. It's called Deadlock.
Recently, along with Unlocker, a huge number of unwanted programs and even viruses. This applies even to the installer from the official site. In addition, more and more often Unlocker began to block antiviruses and firewalls. Therefore, DeadLock looks like a very worthy alternative. You can download it, for example, . Next you need to do the following:
You can also try to delete the file while the system is booted in safe mode. In order to start it in this way, you must press the F8 button when starting the computer and select what is associated with safe mode in the list of options. In most cases, it is called "Safe Mode".
You can try to combine this method with one of the above. For example, when the system is loaded in safe mode, you can unlock the file through DeadLock or Unlocker, if they are installed on the computer.
This method is very similar to the previous one. Only here we run the system through safe mode, and through boot disk(aka LiveCD).
Now on the Internet you can download many such images. It is enough to write them to a USB flash drive or CD / DVD disk and boot from it. This stage in this case the most difficult - you need to run boot menu and choose to boot from a USB flash drive / disk.
To do this, insert a storage medium into the computer, restart it and see the prompts regarding startup boot menu.
In most cases, something like this will be written somewhere: "Press F5 to run boot menu". Accordingly, in this case, you need to press F5.
After that, a menu will appear in which you need to specify what the system will boot from. In our example, this is "Flash drive ...".
Finding out the right option is very simple - if it is a flash drive, then the word “flash” will appear in the name, and if it is a disk, then “CD” or “DVD”.
Next, it will load from bootable flash drive or disk. The LiveCD interface may look similar to Windows or Ubuntu, but in any case, right-clicking on a file will show the option to "Delete", "Delete" or "Cut".
The user can only click on one of them.
Sometimes you don't need to resort to such radical methods which are described above. One of these much simpler methods often helps:
Another interesting way to delete an open file is shown in the video below.
Unable to delete a folder or separate file applications - a common problem in OS Windows, from the old XP version to the new "tens". If you're trying to delete a file without closing the program, that's one thing. In this case, it is enough to close a running application, for example, a game, and the issue will be resolved. Well, in other cases, it will be necessary to apply certain actions to solve the problem using system or software methods.
Often there are such errors when trying to delete a file or an entire folder:
Before starting the process, make sure that remote file will not cause unstable operation of the operating system. When cleaning your computer from unnecessary "garbage", do not delete system files, without which its stable operation is impossible.
Files occupied by the process can be deleted both by means of the system itself and third party programs. In the article, we will tell and show in screenshots how such files will be deleted in Unlocker, DeadLock and Live CD. The first two programs are free and suitable for unprepared users.
If you are trying to delete such files, such as hiberfil.sys, the methods discussed in this article do not apply to them. In this case, you need to read the instructions for disabling "winter hibernation", the energy-saving mode of the PC operating system, or setting up a hidden system file paging pagefile.sys. Deleting the Windows.old folder may also help.
Now, to return the standard view of the Desktop, you need to restart the main Windows process explorer. This is done in the task manager. On the "File" tab, select "Run a new task" and in the window that opens, select "explorer.exe".
The free utility DeadLock works on the same principle: it releases the lock and deletes files. In the declared functions, there is also the ability to change the owner of the file, but we have not tested it.
Using the program is easy: click on the file you want to delete and unlock it.
Another option is also relevant - when the file works in a specific program. Perhaps the problem will be solved if you close all running applications.
Modern OS and, in particular, the popular Windows OS offers many ways to close a file. We will talk about them in this article.
The simplest and most affordable method is to use the "X" button, which is located in the upper right corner of almost any open window. To do this, just click on it with the left mouse button. If this method does not suit you, you can resort to the keyboard shortcut "ALT + F4". Pressing these buttons at the same time will also close the active window.
Another way to close unnecessary programs maybe use task manager. As a rule, it is resorted to if the open file is not available or does not respond. You can call the dispatcher by clicking, for example, on the "Desktop" with the right mouse button and selecting the line of the same name in the menu that opens. If the computer freezes, try the combination "CTRL + ALT + DEL". In principle, there are many ways to call the task manager, we have described the fastest ones.
After the manager window has opened in it, you need to select the "Applications" tab. There you will see the complete list. running programs. Select the one you want to close and select it by clicking the left mouse button. After that, click on the "End Task" button. That's all, the problematic application will be forcibly closed.
Sometimes it happens that you want to perform some operation on a file, but dialogs like “File is open in system” or “File is open in explorer” pop up on the screen. This means that the item you are about to close is opened by a utility. Service applications are not displayed in the manager. The method proven over the years solves this problem - restarting the computer. The only thing is that a reboot may not help if, for example, in the settings of the program that creates virtual drives the item "Automount" is checked. Therefore, before rebooting, uncheck the corresponding checkbox in Daemon Tools or a similar program for virtual disks.
Now you know not only simple ways closing windows, but also how to close a file in explorer. Good luck!
Usually, if a file or folder is not deleted, it is enough to find and close the program that uses it. But sometimes there are files that lie in the most visible place for months, annoying, but no reboots help to delete, rename or transfer it. How to delete such files, we decided to write in the next review.
The operating system automatically blocks deletion and renaming of open files. So, most likely, it will not be possible to delete or transfer somewhere the DLL that is currently in use. Deleting an EXE file if it is running is also a problem. Some programs lock the files they open so that the system does not allow you to delete or rename them.
It would be half the trouble if it were not for the viruses. Locked files may contain malware, and in this case even the antivirus cannot always correctly delete or move the infected file. One option is to remove the DLL or EXE manually.
So, the first way. Deleting a file without third-party programs.
Open the folder containing the locked file in Explorer.
Select "Tools" -> "Folder Options" from the menu.
Select the "View" tab, and in the "Files and Folders" category, look for the checkbox "Use simple general access to files."
If the checkbox is checked, uncheck it and click OK. (then it will be possible to return as it was)
Now right-click on our whimsical file.
Select Properties, Security tab, Advanced button. If there is no "Security" tab, most likely you have not completed the previous steps. You may need to boot into safe mode.
And we remove ALL permissions to read and execute. We remove the checkmarks from everyone in turn (check the “Delete” checkbox - do not touch it!).
Click OK.
We overload the computer.
After that, the file should be safely deleted.
Is it difficult? So many steps to remove some DLL? There is an easier way to delete locked files.
Unlocker- a small utility that will help unlock files. The program is built into the Windows shell, so to use it, just select "Unlocker" in context menu. A window will appear with a list of blocked objects, with which you can either simply unlock the file (or all files) or kill the process that has captured it. Additionally, you can select actions - delete the file, rename, move or copy.
Just. And it almost always works.
Enjoy! Now it is in your power to execute and pardon files! =)
You can also download latest version but be careful (!!!) When installing, uncheck the Delta Toolbar installation. It causes some problems for some users.
How to remove a DLL? This question is asked to us by many e-mail and in social networks. It seems that the time has come to describe in detail this very simple procedure. However, before removing the dll from Windows systems we strongly recommend that you do backup this file, because it is likely that this file may be necessary for the system to work correctly, and with our barbaric methods we will drive poor Windows into a complete stupor. To prevent this from happening, copy the dll you want to delete, for example, to the desktop. Just in case.
Now let's go directly to the answer to the question - how to remove dll from a Windows system. The answer is simple. There is an excellent command in the system, designed just for operations with dll libraries. This is the regsvr32 command. It saves the user in those cases when it is necessary to register the library in the system or remove the dll. The syntax for this command to remove dll file or maybe something like this:
regsvr32 /u C:\Windows\System32\dllname.dll
In order to execute this command, click "Start", select "Run", type the command regsvr32 /u C:\Windows\System32\dllname.dll into the command line and click "OK". If everything is in order and the DLL was removed successfully, then you will receive a message on the screen stating that the unregistration operation was successful. Now this file can be physically deleted from the disk, or you can leave it in its place. It is possible that this dll will still come in handy in the future. Note that before you delete a dll file, you MUST complete the process of unregistering it in the system, otherwise Windows will assume that the file is in the system and will try to access it if necessary. Here we will get wild brakes and glitches, because. the system will frantically try to find this library.
It is also possible that in some cases it will not be possible to remove the dll by unregistering it. This means that some program is actively working with this library and the system simply cannot deprive it of such an opportunity. In this case, you must close the program that can use this dll file and perform the unregistration process again.
Good luck and remember to back up all your important data all the time.
