Trying to delete a CD image file, get error "The action cannot be completed because the file is open in another program"

Anonymous

I'm trying to delete a CD image file (.img) from my desktop

when I try to put it in the recycle bin I get the message

"The action cannot be completed because the file is open in another program Close the file and try again"

First I checked obvious things like whether the .img file was mounted in a virtual drive - it isnt so I then used LockHunter to find which application is using the file so I can close it through the Task Manager.

Unfortunately LockHunter tells me that the file is being used by "System" - which cannot be shut down through the TM.

Any help?

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Anonymous

The problem is that the program that you used to mount the image is still using the image. In my case i used magic disk. Go to the start menu find the magic disk folder and in the folder there should be an option to uninstall magic disk. I tried un-installing it from conrtol programs add and remove but it would not let me. You can also click on computer from the start menu and see if the file you are trying to delete is still mounted (appears as a CD image). If it is you can click on the drive hit eject.

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Anonymous

Hi Tobleton_Plonk,

First I would suggest that you try to boot into safe mode and try to delete the file, check if it works.

Steps to boot to Safe mode

1. Restart your computer if it is powered on.

2. Tap the F8 key after your computer initially powers on.

3. Once you see the Advanced Boot Options menu you can stop tapping.

4. Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight your selection.

5. Select Safe Mode and press Enter.

6. You should see drivers loading, and then Please wait.

7. You should then be at the Welcome Screen.

8. Logon to your computer using an account with Administrator privileges.

Start your computer in safe mode

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/323ef48f-7b93-4079-a48a-5c58eec904a11033.mspx

If you are unable to delete the file in the safe mode then try deleting the file with administrator privileges and check if it works.

• Right click on the file and later click on “Run as administrator”

Why can't I delete a file or folder?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Why-cant-I-delete-a-file-or-folder

Halima S - Microsoft Support.

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Anonymous

Try using one of the following free products to delete the file. File Assassin http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php (with or without Force Delete: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/12/27/force-delete-cannot-delete-locked-or-in-used-files-or-folders-with-fileassassin/) or Unlocker at: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Unlocker.shtml. These programs often work when normal Vista delete functions fail to operate properly.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Lorien - One - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+

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69 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-04-30T20:17:13+00:00

I am being driven mad by the same message. All I am trying to do is organise the folders in "My Pictures" (by re-naming and/or moving folders). The folders contain only "jpg"s - no video files, "iso"s, "img"s or anything else! I can change the individual photo names and move them, but not whole folders. This a quite new Windows 7 PC, and the files were transferred onto it from my old (Windows XP) PC using "Windows Easy Transfer" - if that's significant.

I've tried the various solutions offered in this thread (apart from using 3rd party software) - all to no avail.
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Anonymous

2011-04-28T18:07:25+00:00

I must say, I've never experienced this issue before until today but it has been on of the most mind boggling stupid things I've ever encountered in about 15 years of working with Microsoft products; and I've seen some ridiculous things.

I tried every solution on the page which did not work, so not really a solution but just potential workarounds depending on what has locked the file.

In this case after grabbing lockhunter x64 I saw explorer had locked an mkv file about 20 times with one thread, for what I could see as absolutely no reason what so ever. I'd never launched the video file, only extracted it from a rar set and stuck it into a directory.

I tried killing and restarting the explorer process, rebooting the whole machine twice, any interaction with the file as far as just opening the directory would lock the entire file again. Even a replica of the file extracted to a different place exhibited the same behaviour with the explorer process.

Without the use of an external utility, that was luckily free I'd have had 2 large video files stuck on my hard drive helpless to do anything at all about it. Anyone closer to offering an official explanation as to why explorer is behaving this way and why it's locking certain files rendering the user helpless?

P
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