How do I delete a file that my PC says is "being used by another program"?

[Al Chinchar]

Any answers yet? We're having the same problem with three
Adobe Illustrator files that Windows XP Pro won't let us
delete because they are "in use by another program". So
we're living with 5 megs of trash in the bin.

>-----Original Message-----
>Greetings,
>
>First off I apologize if this message is in the wrong
>forum. I'm new to this, so, sorry. Anyway, I have two
>files on my PC that were created/downloaded by two
>different programs that I have deleted. I now want to
>delete these files but I keep getting an error message
>that the files are being used by another person/program.
>One of the files, when I click on it, causes my PC to
>become sluggish. I don't know what to do. Any (detailed)
>help will be greatly appreciated.
>Thanks,
>Jon
>
>P.S. - I have Win XP OS
>
>.
>

[Taurarian]

You could try this:
Open the Command Prompt window and leave it open.

Close all open programs.

Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE

Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.

Leave Task Manager open.

Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the folder where
the undeletable file is in.

At the command prompt type DEL <filename> (filename is the file you
want to delete).

Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE
to restart the GUI shell.

Close Task Manager.




http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320081

You Cannot Delete a File or a Folder



"Al Chinchar" > wrote in message
...
> Any answers yet? We're having the same problem with three
> Adobe Illustrator files that Windows XP Pro won't let us
> delete because they are "in use by another program". So
> we're living with 5 megs of trash in the bin.
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Greetings,
> >
> >First off I apologize if this message is in the wrong
> >forum. I'm new to this, so, sorry. Anyway, I have two
> >files on my PC that were created/downloaded by two
> >different programs that I have deleted. I now want to
> >delete these files but I keep getting an error message
> >that the files are being used by another person/program.
> >One of the files, when I click on it, causes my PC to
> >become sluggish. I don't know what to do. Any (detailed)
> >help will be greatly appreciated.
> >Thanks,
> >Jon
> >
> >P.S. - I have Win XP OS
> >
> >.
> >