File Change Error Message

[Shoe]

I frequently get an error message when I try to move a file or change
the name. The error says that I cannot do that because the file is
open in another program. The file is not open in any program I know
of. Has anyone else seen this or have a solution?

 

[johnbee]

I frequently get an error message when I try to move a file or change
the name. The error says that I cannot do that because the file is
open in another program. The file is not open in any program I know
of. Has anyone else seen this or have a solution?

My guess is that you have been using the file, but closed the program, then
tried to do something to the file. (an .AVI ?)

The effect is caused by the fact that when an application is closed, every
process (i.e. sub-programs started up by the main program) is not
automatically ended. There might well be quite a few left over which the
operating system is taking its time to close.

Also it is quite difficult to get programmers to ensure that every single
subprocess is closed - when the user clicks, say, on the x in the title bar,
programmers just end the thing at that point, leaving things running - all
the programmer has to do is put in an END statement. This usually doesn't
matter because at worst they will all close when you switch off. However
because some users have things start automatically when they log in, some
processes are effectively permanently running.

So its a mixture of programmers not being ruled with an iron fist, an
operating system with a slight weakness, and a user acting in a way which
was not anticipated. In fact it is quite possible to write a program which
starts a subprocess and ends itself, intending the subprocess to continue,
as a legitimate technique, so do not take this as a harsh criticism of
Windows.

OK, so the bottom line is that you can get software which will show you all
files which are opened, and which processes have them open. If you get one,
and find out which process is preventing you doing what you want, do
Ctrl/Alt/Delete to start Task Manager and end the process.

Also it could be all sorts of other things as well: I have written this
assuming that you are correct in thinking that you are sure you do not have
the file open in something you are running.

Ain't computers wonderful things?.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I frequently get an error message when I try to move a file or change
the name. The error says that I cannot do that because the file is
open in another program. The file is not open in any program I know
of. Has anyone else seen this or have a solution?

I imagine that *everyone* has seen this...

What I do if I can't establish which program is holding the file open is to
reboot & try again. If that fails to clear the problem, I reboot to Safe
Mode. If that doesn't do it either, I boot to Safe Mode with Command
Prompt.

A fourth step would be to boot to a CD with sufficient tools to let you get
at the file system and delete it from there.

There are programs that run under Windows which purport to unlock files.
You could ignore all the above and try running one of them. My only reason
not to have suggested that first is that I have tried that a few times with
a couple of different programs without any success.

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

I frequently get an error message when I try to move a file or change
the name. The error says that I cannot do that because the file is
open in another program. The file is not open in any program I know
of. Has anyone else seen this or have a solution?

I use the program called Unlocker to check on errors of this type.
It will normally show me the name of the program that caused the error
message.

Then I either deal with that problem or allow the program to deal with
it for me.

Using the program it normally can unlock or even delete the problem file
or folder at my discretion.

This freeware program can be found at the author's web site:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

I frequently get an error message when I try to move a file or change
the name. The error says that I cannot do that because the file is
open in another program. The file is not open in any program I know
of. Has anyone else seen this or have a solution?

I use the program called Unlocker to check on errors of this type.
It will normally show me the name of the program that caused the error
message.

Then I either deal with that problem or allow the program to deal with
it for me.

Using the program it normally can unlock or even delete the problem file
or folder at my discretion.

This freeware program can be found at the author's web site:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

 

[Zaidy036]

I frequently get an error message when I try to move a file or change
the name. The error says that I cannot do that because the file is
open in another program. The file is not open in any program I know
of. Has anyone else seen this or have a solution?

Sometimes the program that last used the file is still running even when its
icon is no longer in the system tray.

Most frequently I find this with Word and must use Task Manager to kill
winword.exe.

 

[Helroy]

I use the program called Unlocker to check on errors of this type.
It will normally show me the name of the program that caused the error
message.

Then I either deal with that problem or allow the program to deal with it
for me.

Using the program it normally can unlock or even delete the problem file
or folder at my discretion.

This freeware program can be found at the author's web site:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Win& IE8 reports:
This website has been reported as unsafe
ccollomb.free.fr

 

[Shoe]

Sometimes the program that last used the file is still running even when its
icon is no longer in the system tray.

Most frequently I find this with Word and must use Task Manager to kill
winword.exe.

Thanks to all for the great responses. I suspected that there was
something still running that caused the problem and will try your
suggestions.

 

[Andrew]

I imagine that *everyone* has seen this...

What I do if I can't establish which program is holding the file open is
to
reboot & try again. If that fails to clear the problem, I reboot to Safe
Mode. If that doesn't do it either, I boot to Safe Mode with Command
Prompt.

A fourth step would be to boot to a CD with sufficient tools to let you
get
at the file system and delete it from there.

There are programs that run under Windows which purport to unlock files.
You could ignore all the above and try running one of them. My only reason
not to have suggested that first is that I have tried that a few times
with
a couple of different programs without any success.

I would never reboot in that situation.
I would run process explorer and find the process that is using the file.
If no processes are using the file, I generally kill explorer.exe. Which
tons of stuff runs under.
That does it just about every time.


[/QUOTE]

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

Win& IE8 reports:
This website has been reported as unsafe
ccollomb.free.fr

Strange, Filehippo and CNET still offer the program as virus free...

Who knows if it is a false positive based on the author's hosting web
site or if the program actually contains real trojan?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I would never reboot in that situation.
I would run process explorer and find the process that is using the file.
If no processes are using the file, I generally kill explorer.exe. Which
tons of stuff runs under.
That does it just about every time.

OK, I might try your method next time. Glad to learn something new.

Although I usually couldn't find the program that had locked the file even
when using PE or the downloadable unlocker tools, sadly.

BTW, killing Explorer wasn't any help in Vista when I had problems ejecting
USB drives. Win 7 does a lot better about unlocking drives when programs
exit, so lately it hasn't usually been a problem for me. Yes, I do know
it's not the same thing as locked programs...or maybe it is