The Starplex forum

We've all been there,something weird has happened to our computer and a file which was open at the time becomes invulnerable to having any change made to it, including deleting the damned thing!

So, How do I delete an "undeletable" file?

This might just do the trick

• Make a note of the exact location of the file you cannot delete
• Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open
• Close all open programs
• Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE or use CTRL-ALT-DEL and click Task Manager
• Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe
• Leave Task Manager open
• Go back to the Command Prompt window and CD to the directory the file is located in
• At the command prompt type DEL <filename> where <filename> is the file you wish to delete
• Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell
• Close Task Manager

This should definitely work in NT/2000/XP not sure about Vista and Windows 7