Locked files

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

On 4/4/2015 7:10 AM, Dex wrote:
When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.


Unlocker has the ability to kill whatever application has locked the file.

--
David E. Ross

Why do we tolerate political leaders who
spend more time belittling hungry children
than they do trying to fix the problem of
hunger? http://mazon.org/

Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Windows Explorer; however, Unlocker should've showed you what process
has an open handle on the file.

If Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) is the one with a handle on the file:
- Load Task Manager.
- Delete all instances of explorer.exe.
- Your desktop disappears. Windows Explorer is also the desktop mgr.
- Use Task Manager's File - New Task menu to run cmd.exe (command
shell).
- Navigate to the folder with the file and delete it.
- Use 'exit' to close the command shell.
- Use Task Manager's File - New Task menu to run explorer.exe.
- The desktop reappears.

That will let you release Windows Explorer's handle on a file without
you having to go through the reboot cycle.

Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

(An hour passed but my prior reply didn't show up. So this is a
duplicated reply.)

Windows Explorer; however, Unlocker should've showed you what process
has an open handle on the file.

If Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) is the one with a handle on the file:
- Load Task Manager.
- Delete all instances of explorer.exe.
- Your desktop disappears. Windows Explorer is also the desktop mgr.
- Use Task Manager's File - New Task menu to run cmd.exe (command
shell).
- Navigate to the folder with the file and delete it.
- Use 'exit' to close the command shell.
- Use Task Manager's File - New Task menu to run explorer.exe.
- The desktop reappears.

That will let you release Windows Explorer's handle on a file without
you having to go through the reboot cycle.

On 04/04/2015 20:31, David E. Ross wrote:
On 4/4/2015 7:10 AM, Dex wrote:
When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.


Unlocker has the ability to kill whatever application has locked the file.


Not here, it says no locking handle found but the recent opened file
wont delete for the installer until several minutes have passed.
Hopefully the Application Experience service set to disabled was causing it.

On 04/04/2015 15:23, Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sat, 04 Apr 2015 15:10:25 +0100, Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Do you have the Application Experience Service set to manual, disabled or
otherwise not running on your system? If AES is not running, the situation you
described might occur.


That seems to have done it. Tried on a few portable programs on the D
drive that were affected and they get overwritten straight away. Next
time something get updated in the Program Files (x86) folder I hope
it'll work.

Thanks.

On 05/04/2015 02:34, VanguardLH wrote:
Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

(An hour passed but my prior reply didn't show up. So this is a
duplicated reply.)

Windows Explorer; however, Unlocker should've showed you what process
has an open handle on the file.

It's the installers having trouble too. Unless I'm updating a portable
app I don't drill down to the location.



If Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) is the one with a handle on the file:
- Load Task Manager.
- Delete all instances of explorer.exe.
- Your desktop disappears. Windows Explorer is also the desktop mgr.
- Use Task Manager's File - New Task menu to run cmd.exe (command
shell).
- Navigate to the folder with the file and delete it.
- Use 'exit' to close the command shell.
- Use Task Manager's File - New Task menu to run explorer.exe.
- The desktop reappears.

That will let you release Windows Explorer's handle on a file without
you having to go through the reboot cycle.


Not Explorer doing it, happens if I use (portable) Q-Dir or Directory
Opus as well.

Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sun, 05 Apr 2015 09:46:22 +0100, Dex wrote:

On 04/04/2015 15:23, Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sat, 04 Apr 2015 15:10:25 +0100, Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Do you have the Application Experience Service set to manual, disabled or
otherwise not running on your system? If AES is not running, the situation you
described might occur.


That seems to have done it. Tried on a few portable programs on the D
drive that were affected and they get overwritten straight away. Next
time something get updated in the Program Files (x86) folder I hope
it'll work.

Thanks.

My pleasure Dex, thanks for reporting back with your results!


This problem has been hanging around in this group for years, and this
is the first time I've ever seen this suggestion.
I get the problem very occasionally. I have AES set to "manual". Do you
think changing it to "automatic" would be advisable, maybe with "delayed
start"?

Regards,
Ed

Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sun, 05 Apr 2015 13:55:27 +0100, Ed Cryer
wrote:

Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sun, 05 Apr 2015 09:46:22 +0100, Dex wrote:

On 04/04/2015 15:23, Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sat, 04 Apr 2015 15:10:25 +0100, Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Do you have the Application Experience Service set to manual, disabled or
otherwise not running on your system? If AES is not running, the situation you
described might occur.


That seems to have done it. Tried on a few portable programs on the D
drive that were affected and they get overwritten straight away. Next
time something get updated in the Program Files (x86) folder I hope
it'll work.

Thanks.

My pleasure Dex, thanks for reporting back with your results!


This problem has been hanging around in this group for years, and this
is the first time I've ever seen this suggestion.
I get the problem very occasionally. I have AES set to "manual". Do you
think changing it to "automatic" would be advisable, maybe with "delayed
start"?


I have been setting it to "automatic" for years in my deployment
images. It doesn't seem to cause any problems or consume much in the
way of resources, but it does make the process of uninstalling some
software go much more smoothly.

Give it a try, either regular or delayed and let us know if it helps
you.


Right, I've set it to automatic.

Ed

On 4/5/2015 1:45 AM, Dex wrote:
On 04/04/2015 20:31, David E. Ross wrote:
On 4/4/2015 7:10 AM, Dex wrote:
When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get 'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.


Unlocker has the ability to kill whatever application has locked the file.


Not here, it says no locking handle found but the recent opened file
wont delete for the installer until several minutes have passed.
Hopefully the Application Experience service set to disabled was causing it.


If there is no locking handle, you can set Unlocker to delete the file
on the next bootup.

--
David E. Ross

Why do we tolerate political leaders who
spend more time belittling hungry children
than they do trying to fix the problem of
hunger? http://mazon.org/

Ed Cryer wrote:
Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sun, 05 Apr 2015 13:55:27 +0100, Ed Cryer
wrote:

Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sun, 05 Apr 2015 09:46:22 +0100, Dex wrote:

On 04/04/2015 15:23, Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Sat, 04 Apr 2015 15:10:25 +0100, Dex wrote:

When updating or uninstalling software that recently ran ~5 minutes
before the action the executable file is locked by the system and
wont
delete, tried Take Ownership and Unlocker with same result. I get
'the
action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is
open in
another program', the file isn't running when this happens.

All I can to is wait or reboot. What 'other program' could be
locking
the file for a few minutes?

Using Win7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Do you have the Application Experience Service set to manual,
disabled or
otherwise not running on your system? If AES is not running, the
situation you
described might occur.


That seems to have done it. Tried on a few portable programs on the D
drive that were affected and they get overwritten straight away. Next
time something get updated in the Program Files (x86) folder I hope
it'll work.

Thanks.

My pleasure Dex, thanks for reporting back with your results!


This problem has been hanging around in this group for years, and this
is the first time I've ever seen this suggestion.
I get the problem very occasionally. I have AES set to "manual". Do you
think changing it to "automatic" would be advisable, maybe with "delayed
start"?


I have been setting it to "automatic" for years in my deployment
images. It doesn't seem to cause any problems or consume much in the
way of resources, but it does make the process of uninstalling some
software go much more smoothly.

Give it a try, either regular or delayed and let us know if it helps
you.


Right, I've set it to automatic.

Ed


It seems to have done the trick. I've thrown things at it and it's come
through them all.

Only time will tell for sure. I'm struck by choro's latest problem in
the thread "Firefox problem on Windows 7". It seemed ok for a time.

Thanks,
Ed