pcandpc Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Hello?I'm using WinXP-Home. I'm trying to permanentlydelete a folder that appears empty with another emptysubfolder, but I'm getting an error that says some user/application is using the empty subfolder and cannot deletethis folder.I've tried clearing the READ ONLY attribute but didn't help.What should I do to delete this folder?Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
^_^ Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 if you have another computer that you can slave this drive into, you should be able to delete it that way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJxp Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Have you tried restarting your computer?You could also use mstIsUsedBy to find out what program is using it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcandpc Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 (edited) Hi all,Thanks for your feedbacks.KJxp, what's mstIsUsedBy? Is it available out of WinXP orsome shareware? And, how do I use it?Oh, by the way, restarting hasn't made any difference. Edited July 4, 2005 by pcandpc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJxp Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 (edited) Sorry, I didn't explain. It is a freeware program available from http://www.mstsoftware.com/cFreeware.aspxTo use, run it. Then drag the offending file (or folder) and drop it on mstIsUsedBy. It will show you (if it can find a handle) which program(s) are locking it. Edited July 4, 2005 by KJxp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJxp Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Another idea: at a command prompt, run this...cacls "C:\Temp"Replace C:\Temp with the full path to the offending folder. Then paste the output here (your user name isn't important, so replace it with **** to keep it private if you want). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcandpc Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 (edited) Hi KJxp,Thanks for your feedback. I'll check out your freeware later.Actually, I'm more interested in resolving this issue within XPwithout any external helper application. So, in that aspect,here's the output from cacls command execution:c:\program files\xerox BUILTIN\Users:R BUILTIN\Users:(OI)(CI)(IO)(special access:) GENERIC_READ GENERIC_EXECUTE BUILTIN\Administrators:F BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)F NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)F CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)FWill this help? Wow, you can decipher this in plain English? Impressed!Regards, Edited July 5, 2005 by pcandpc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJxp Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I didn't realize you were talking about the xerox folder. That is a folder always in use by Windows XP's winlogon.exe component. It's there on a clean install of windows. Using Process Explorer, you can close the handle to allow deletion, but it just comes back the next restart.One solution is to disable SFC, then delete it, but this leaves your system unprotected by SFC: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1063930641The folder is always empty, and harmless, so I'd say ignore it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcandpc Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Hi KJxp,Wonderful! Thanks for your clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jito463 Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Another option to delete a folder that is messed up and cannot be deleted is to boot to Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Mind you, this will boot to a very minimal Safe Mode with only a command line interface and nothing else. But if you know how to use a command prompt, you can delete the offending directory/file in this way without the need for a 3rd party program. I myself have used this method in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcandpc Posted July 6, 2005 Author Share Posted July 6, 2005 Hi Jito463,Thanks for your tip. That one just slipped off of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhurtel Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 use unlocker programthanks rvyan'sVM for integrating the program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcandpc Posted July 13, 2005 Author Share Posted July 13, 2005 Hi bhurtel,Thanks for your feedback.bhurtel, can you give me more details as to howI can use this "unlocker" program and where I can get it?Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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