Delete Undeletable Window Files

Many times when trying to remove an unwanted program, especially a piece of adware or spyware, you may run across a file that is undeletable by any normal method. When you try to remove it you'll receive the error message shown below telling you "access denied" and explaining the file may be in use. You may also receive one of the following messages.

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.


So if the file is in use, how do you delete it?

I'll show you several ways of removing these types of files and even some freeware programs that help you remove these pesky undeletable files.




Windows 95/98/ME

If you are using Windows 95, 98, or Windows ME, the easiest way to remove an undeleteable file is to boot to a DOS prompt and manually delete the file. Before you do this, you'll want to make a note of the location of the file including the entire path to it. Follow the steps below to delete these types of files. If you already know the path to the file, please skip to Step 7
Click on Start, Find, Files and FoldersType the name of the undeletable file in the Named or Search For boxMake sure the Look In box shows the correct drive letterClick on Find Now or Search Now and let the computer find the fileOnce the file is located, right-click on it and choose properties, make a note of the file location. Usually this is something similar to

c:\windows\system32\undeleteablefilesname.exe
Close the search box Locate a boot disk for your version of Windows, if you do not have a boot disk, follow the steps on the link below to create an emergency boot disk.


Shut down and restart your computer with the boot disk in your floppy drive.The computer will boot to a DOS prompt that will look similar to

c:\

Type the following command and press Enter to delete the filer, substituting the phrase with the actual path and file name you discovered in Step 5 above.

del

Example:

del c:\windows\undeleteablefile.exe
Remove the boot disk in the floppy drive and restart your computerThe file should now be deleted.

Windows XP

In Windows XP, there are a couple ways to remove an undeleteable file, a manual way, and a couple automated ways using some freeware programs. First, I'll show you the manual way.

Manual Method

If you already know the path to the file, please skip to Step 7
Click on Start, Search, All Files and FoldersType the name of the undeletable file in the box shownMake sure the Look In box shows the correct drive letterClick Search and let the computer find the fileOnce the file is located, right-click on it and choose properties, make a note of the file location. Usually this is something similar to

c:\windows\system32\undeleteablefilesname.exe

Close the search box Click on Start, Run, and type CMD and Press Enter to open a Command Prompt windowLeave the Command Prompt window open, but proceed to close all other open programsClick on Start, Run and type TASKMGR.EXE and press Enter to start Task ManagerClick on the Processes tab, click on the process named Explorer.exe and click on End Process. Minimize Task Manager but leave it openGo back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory where the file is located. To do this, use the CD command. You can follow the example below.

Example: to change to the Windows\System32 directory you would enter the following command and Press Enter

cd \windows\system32

Now use the DEL command to delete the offending file. Type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.

Example: del undeletable.exe
Use ALT-TAB to go back to Task ManagerIn Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the Windows shell.Close Task Manager