Undeletable File

Factual Questions
1

I have a partially downloaded movie that I can’t delete. I was downloading it from Morpheus, I think, a couple weeks ago, but have since gotten rid of Morpheus.

When I try to delete it, it says another process is using it. I’m sure there’s nothing else using it, i’ve tried rebooting, deleting it from safe mode, deleting it from command line, I can’t get rid of it.

It takes forever for that error message to come up when I try to delete it from Windows Explorer, but it shows up right away from the command line. Also, it takes like 5 minutes if I try to look at it’s properties for the window to come up. I’ve run chkdsk.

Any ideas?

2

Boot into dos using a floppy. Navigate to the directory that contains the file. Type ATTRIB filename -R Then type DEL filename

3

One possibility:

It is possible to create a file with an odd name, say with leading or trailing spaces, that can’t be deleted because of the name.
When this happens you can go to the command line and do a directory using the option that shows you the “short” or “8.3” name. Use that name to delete the file.

4

Also in such situations: think Virus. Scanning with an up-to-date anti-virus program is recommended.

5

Also you may be able to delete the directory it’s in. I had a file like that. I moved everything but that file into a new directory (folder) then deleted the old folder (which deleted that file) and renamed the new folder what the old one was called.

6

I have the EXACT same problem. There is a folder on my computer called xerox. It has one subfolder. They are not hidden, or read only. There are no hidden files or folders inside either of them. But when I try to delete them, it stalls for a few seconds and then tells me they are being used by another program and cannot be deleted.

7

Yeah, The Undeletable File is one of my favorite U2 albums - I love “Bad” and “A Sort of Homecoming”, and the general vibe given off from the whole period between War and The Joshua Tree really appeals to me as a fan. I…what? Undeletable file? Oh, sorry, my mistake.

Never mind…

8

I have a related question: about two weeks ago, I had a message alert show up telling me that I had a new device detected, called “Residential Gateway Device”. I haven’t installed any new hardware or software in the past month or so, and my computer won’t let me delete it from the “My Network Places” folder, where it’s made its home. If it helps, I’m on a T1 line on my university’s network.

Any ideas what this thing is, how it could have gotten there, and how to get rid of it?

9

I’d have to bet the university put in a new router. Have other people had this happen?

10

Excellent! That was exactly the problem. Thank you.

It was “dir /x” BTW.

11

Glad to be of help.