delete files in use

Ive managed to download a file from Kazaa that I cant delete. Some of my applications have stopped working or freezing after a time. When I try to delete it I get a message that the file is in use by another program, but I dont know what. Ive tried uninstalling any progs I dont recognise to no avail. When I right click the file I cant run properties. Virus scan of the file also freezes. Its called 'Nurse with wide open ..... etc' You can guess the rest. Can I delete this through dos or would I be best to reformat?

 

If you had the full version of KaZaa (as opposed to Kazaa lite) it is loaded with Malware. Use Ad-Aware to find and delete these little sneaks.

I have Kazaa lite and it causes no such problems.

Beyond that, what is the name of the file you are having problem deleting? Is it associated with a program you installed. Did you uninstall that program?

Have you tried running an AV scan?

 

Spanky

NO! Don't reinstall yet!

Download and install both of the following and run them:

SpyBot
http://security.kolla.de/

Adaware
http://www.lavasoft.de/downloads.html

Run them in full deep mode one after the other! Check and remove all that they find!

Because you will probably remove the program that has this other file open you should reboot and run them both again to finish!

Then run a full virus scan!

Then uninstall Kazaa full and get the lite ver that has no spyware! But remember you can download spy and adware in other ways also!

Mike

 

 
 
There are a couple things you can try. I'll bet it is an avi file.

It may be Windows that is keeping the file in use. Windows has an especially hard time with incomplete avi's since it scans the entire thing for information on width, height, etc. To prevent this from happening,

Run: regedt32

Navigate to:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler

Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E} "
This will remove the second page of avi properties with that information, but who needs it?

Then try deleting the file.

If that doesn't work, open the folder containing the file.

Go to Run and type: cmd /k
This should get you a prompt in the folder you have open. Leave the command window open.

Open Task Manager and terminate the explorer process. Leave the Task manager open.

Now go to your command window and type: Del <filename.extension>

Close the command window.

Go to the Applications tab in Task Manager and click "New Task ".
Type: explorer.exe to restart explorer.

 

Thanks for the advice. I tried all options and now have spybot and adaware on my puter, which I run regularly. However neither of them worked entirely with my problem. When I install Kazalite I still have cydoor spyware installed also and if i delete cydoor then kazalite wont work. I tried the last suggestion having already used the folder wipe facility in winoptimizer. [Interestingly my folder, Kaza downloads, (the folder with the problem) was still showing in explorer even though I had deleted it.]
I tried the dos commands but there were no files listed in kaza downloads to delete. Going back to explorer I tried to open Kaza downloads and got a message asking me if I wanted to format the drive. Good idea I thought and so I clicked yes. Got a message that I couldnt format cos windows was using the directory, grrr!. Managed to format it using partition magic through dos. When the chksk utility started though, it froze on part 3 so i restarted cancelled the chkdsk and then formatted again using windows own utility, which is running at the mo. Hopefully I will have a usable drive again soon!
I wonder if I have let some kind of trojan or similar on my machine thro kazaa. I am using the xp firewall though. [tried zone alarm but it wouldnt let my son's networked puter on the internet despite me changing the settings]. When the reformat finishes on the partition causing the probs I will let you know if it worked !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

SpankyData

Firewalls don't protect you from things you invite in!

Sorry you had to do such a drastic thing as format to fix this, wish you had gotten back once more!

From your last message about Cydoor, it seems to indicate you still had the full Kazaa or a part of it. Because I use Kazaa lite and it does not have Cydoor!

FYI!
If you continue to use Kazaa full and get the problem again, try this!

1 safe mode
2 add/remove kazza
3 search hd for kazaa delete all leftovers from program
4 move downloaded files temporairly (except any bad or
suspicious flies)
5 del the d/l folder
6 search hd for cydoor and delete
7 search registry an del all refs to kazaa and cydoor
8 run adaware and spybot
9 Regleaner
10 reboot to full and recheck all above

One other thing you mentioned that may have had a bearing on your problem is the formating problem! If the HD had a lost cluster or a surface defect and your file was in this location that could have caused you problems in deleteing???????

Note to others reading this!

Remember: Firewalls don't protect you from things you invite in!

Exhaust all avenues before reformat! Unless you
have a lot of free time to burn! Even if fixing the
problem takes as long as a format and reinstall, you
are better off because if it happens again you can fix
it immediately without a format!

The procedure above to remove sturborn programs
applies to all win vers 95 98 2k xp!

Mike

 

The Process Explorer from SysInternals has been useful to me many times. I have a couple programs that are very stubborn about releasing handles. Using the search function in PE, you can terminate these handles and delete stubborn files/folders.