Hello?

I'm using WinXP-Home. I'm trying to permanently

delete a folder that appears empty with another empty

subfolder, but I'm getting an error that says some user/

application is using the empty subfolder and cannot delete

this folder.

I've tried clearing the READ ONLY attribute but didn't help.

What should I do to delete this folder?

Thanks.

if you have another computer that you can slave this drive into, you should be able to delete it that way

Have you tried restarting your computer?

You could also use mstIsUsedBy to find out what program is using it.

Hi all,

Thanks for your feedbacks.

KJxp, what's mstIsUsedBy? Is it available out of WinXP or

some shareware? And, how do I use it?

Oh, by the way, restarting hasn't made any difference.

Edited July 4, 200521 yr by pcandpc

Sorry, I didn't explain. It is a freeware program available from http://www.mstsoftware.com/cFreeware.aspx

To 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, 200521 yr by KJxp

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).

Hi KJxp,

Thanks for your feedback. I'll check out your freeware later.

Actually, I'm more interested in resolving this issue within XP

without 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)F

Will this help? Wow, you can decipher this in plain English? Impressed!

Regards,

Edited July 5, 200521 yr by pcandpc

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/1063930641

The folder is always empty, and harmless, so I'd say ignore it.

Hi KJxp,

Wonderful! Thanks for your clarification.

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.

Hi Jito463,

Thanks for your tip. That one just slipped off of me.

use unlocker program

thanks rvyan'sVM for integrating the program

Hi bhurtel,

Thanks for your feedback.

bhurtel, can you give me more details as to how

I can use this "unlocker" program and where I can

get it?

Regards,