Sometimes a file cannot be deleted or a folder removed because Windows says it's open by another program.
Method 1

Reboot and try again.

Method 2

Open a command line window (WindowsKey + R, enter: cmd). Move to the folder in question by means of CD commands like CD \ and CD foldername.
Delete the file or folder by using the DEL command to delete files or the RMDIR (remove directory) command to remove directories (folders).

Method 3

If this, on its own, is still not enough, then open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and kill all explorer.exe tasks. Your desktop will go blank, except for the windows already open.

Now try to delete the offending file by means of the DEL command, or folder by means of the RMDIR (remove directory) command, in the command line window, as described above.
After that, in the command line window enter:
explorer
to restart your desktop. If you closed the command line window, you can still restart explorer by opening the Task Manager by holding down the Ctrl and Shift keys and briefly pressing the Esc key. In Task Manager select Applications, New Task and enter: explorer

Method 4

If the previous method fails, particularly with multimedia files, log off, then log on again, but do not select the file in Windows Explorer. The safest way is not to open Windows Explorer in the first place.
Then try the previous method again.

Method 5

An even stronger measure would be to reboot, then try the previous methods again. This would work, for example, if a service has the file open.

Method 6

(Thanks to John Barrington.)
If you can't delete a problem file, try deleting the folder that contains the problem file. If this doesn't work, try this next item.
If the problem file and its folder, we'll call (A), is within another folder, we'll call (B), try to delete the folder (B) along with any troublesome contents.
Of course, you want to make sure, if you have any other important files or folders within either folder, that they are saved in another location first.

Method 7

Begin like the previous method, but try also
rmdir foldername /s
(replace foldername with the name of the folder to be deleted). This command should delete a folder with all its subfolders.
If the folder name contains one or more spaces, enclose it in quotes. Example:
rmdir "folder name" /s

Method 8

If the folder name contains strange characters, use a command line window again, but use the DIR /X command to find the short name (for example: PROGRA~1) and use the short name instead. The short name is DOS compatible and has no more than 8 characters for the main name, a period, then no more than 3 characters for the extension.
Retry the previous methods that use a command line window, but use the short name now.
Note: Sometimes an illegal file name can cause Windows Explorer to use nearly 100% of the CPU time.

Method 9

Boot into safe mode and try to delete the file or folder there.

Method 10

If you're trying to delete a program file, like one with the extension .exe, the cause could be that the program is currently running. Stop it, then delete the file.

Method 11

If this also doesn't work, there is a way to rename a file or folder during the boot process. For this you need to use the registry editor REGEDIT.EXE. See WxRegistryWarning.htm for a general warning.
Create an entry in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Sessio n Manager\

named PendingFileRenameOperations of type REG_MULTI_SZ. In pre-XP Windows versions you have to use REGEDT32.EXE to create this value type.
The first line of each pair is the current file or folder path and name with \??\ in front of it.
The second line of each pair is the new file or folder path and name with !\??\ in front of it.
Example for one pair which moves the file mfc42.dll from the temp folder to the system32 folder and overwrites any existing file at the destination:

\??\C:\TEMP\mfc42.dll
!\??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\mfc42.dll

You can add as many pairs as you like. The move operation is performed directly after the next reboot. You can also give folder paths, so the folder will be renamed. But both paths have to be local.
There is a Windows API call for this, named MoveFileEx, and somebody in Germany has even written a utility named MoveEx for it. You can download it from http://wwwthep.physik.uni-mainz.de/~frink/nt.html. Use it if you need this function often. A Posix utility from a Windows Resource Kit named mv.exe also does it, just in case you still have the resource kit around.

Method 12

Boot into another operating system to delete the file from there. The other operating system can be, for example, another installation of Windows, BartPE, Knoppix, or any operating system that can read the file system used (NTFS or FAT32).

Method 13

Remove the hard disk from the computer and connect it to another computer. Delete the files or folders there.

Method 14

If you cannot delete a file or folder because it is in use, you can use one of the mostly free utilities, such as Unlocker


Picked Up from : Win Help

Nicely done Knightwolf.

Im sure that will get rid of any pesky file. Well done knight_wolf!

I have moved this to the Tutorials section.

V.nice - great contribution KW!