# can't delete a file **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910 "2003-09-06T10:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/1 "2003-09-06T10:40:59Z")
its an imcomlete movie download. the only program that might possibly be using it is DC++ in which it was downloaded. but i closed DC++. i tried restarting too, but the file just refuses to get deleted. it keeps saying “its being used by another person or program” i want to free up this 700 megs of space. how do i delete it ? ( i have win XP ) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/2 "2003-09-06T11:45:40Z")
What I do is this. Open explorer. Go to the folder it’s in. Right click the file and choose cut. Open the trash. Right click and paste it. For some reason that always works for me. Another method I use is close all programs then START \> RUN. Then browse to the file and delete it there. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Sheepshead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Mr.Sheepshead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Sheepshead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/3 "2003-09-06T13:15:46Z")
I would guess that DC++ 1. Loads itself at startup 2. Doesn’t actually “close” when you tell it to, but rather minimizes 3. Tries to download files no matter what you do to your PC I would find DC++'s process and kill it and then try to delete the file. ---
**Author:** ![missing\_link](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@missing\_link](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missing_link)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/4 "2003-09-06T13:45:44Z")
Happens to me sometimes too. If you are sure it isn’t used by any program, then you can go to the command line and delete the file there using the del command. But you have to be careful when you do this, the files you delete with del aren’t moved to the trash can, they are deleted directly, so you can’t recover them. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/5 "2003-09-06T13:51:51Z")
I think simply viewing it in explorer starts some kind of preview process. **Fern’s** method should work, in this case. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/6 "2003-09-06T14:47:49Z")
There is a program NTSFDOS that lets you boot XP from a floppy & copy & delete files. ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/7 "2003-09-06T15:12:52Z")
You could boot into Safe Mode and then delete it if all else fails. ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/8 "2003-09-06T15:43:44Z")
cut/paste to recycle bin doesn’t work. i did kill DC++ in task manager and it does not appear to start automatically after a restart. i just tried safe mode and it still would not delete. 🙂 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fern Forest \* > \*\*Another method I use is close all programs then START \> RUN. Then browse to the file and delete it there. \*\* ok, i can’t figure out the “delete it there” part. how do i do that ? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by missing\_link_ > \*\*go to the command line and delete the file there using the del command. \*\* what the hell is a command line ? and handy, how would booting from a floppy help the situation ? ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/9 "2003-09-06T16:57:56Z")
I’ve had this happen before. Right click on the file, rename it to anything, and then delete it. ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/10 "2003-09-06T18:29:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vasyachkin \* > \*\*and handy, how would booting from a floppy help the situation ? \*\* Oy, If booting into safe mode didn’t get rid of it, I would give **Handy’s** suggestion a try. Currently, when you are booting Wndows XP from your hard drive a program has put a lock on the file that you are trying to delete. If you boot from a floppy, this program does not load, so you should be able to delete this file. If your filesystem is NTFS, you are going to have to find a special bootdisk. If it’s FAT32, then you should be able to use a normal bootdisk. Try [www.bootdisk.com](http://www.bootdisk.com) ---
**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/11 "2003-09-06T19:30:13Z")
You could always try deleting it from DOS. [ul] [li] Start --\> Run --\> “cmd” for XP, “command” for 98, and I guess one of those should work for other Windows OSes.[/li][li] Go to the directory it’s located in (Don’t forget about 8+3!)[/li][li] Type del NameOfTheFile.??? (Don’t forget 8+3 again)[/li][/ul] I’ve had this work several times when I couldn’t erase a file. Also, another problem you might be having is that when you open the file in Windows Explorer, it’s trying to display a preview of it. Just give it a couple of minutes to do that, and see if you can erase it once it displays a preview. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/12 "2003-09-06T22:02:16Z")
" If your filesystem is NTFS, you are going to have to find a special bootdisk. If it’s FAT32, then you should be able to use a normal bootdisk." Honest, the program NTSFDOS is just that. XP can make a bootdisk too but I hear it spans like 6 disks. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/13 "2003-09-06T22:03:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vasyachkin \* > **ok, i can’t figure out the “delete it there” part. how do i do that ?** Hmm, if cut and paste didn’t work then that is weird. What I meant was this. Start \> Run \> Browse That brings up a mini explorer. Navigate to the folder containing the file. Right-click on the file and choose delete. But I’d delete it at the dos command prompt. I think that’s the same as sqube said. There’s another one in START \> PROGRAMS \> ACCESSORIES \> COMMAND PROMPT Remember how to navigate dos? cd … Takes you up a folder. cd foldername Takes you down a folder. I hope it has an easy name to type. ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-delete-a-file/199910/14 "2003-09-09T02:22:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fern Forest \* > **Start \> Run \> Browse > That brings up a mini explorer. Navigate to the folder containing the file. Right-click on the file and choose delete.** oh my god, i am not sure why, but it worked 🙂 maybe windows got tired 🙂 thanx everybody.