Why can't I delete this file?

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Leo ur the man! when i read ur top article it seemed to be different from my problem but it wasn't! the posts nearer the bottom were like mine and so i thought perhaps it wouldn't work. all i did was delete any spaces at the end and and dotsand it worked a treat! Leo is the man....long live Leo!

Some how a 5sec mpeg movie clip got downloaded on my computers desktop. But when I try to delete it, it just says its being used by another person or program. It wont even let me rename the file to delete it. PLEASE HELP ME GET RID OF THIS DREADFUL FILE!! I'd really be ever so greatful if you could solve this problem for me. Thanks

I'd start by finding out who's using the file, and possibly ending that program first so you can delete it normally: http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_find_out_who_is_using_a_file_in_use.html

IF that doesn't work, I'd try rebooting in safe mode to see if you can delete it then.

If *that* doesn't work my approach would be to boot from a recovery disk or a stand-alone boot CD (an MS-DOS floppy, or perhaps Knoppix if you're at all geeeky, for example) and delete the file from there.

I want to say "THANK YOU" you have givin me closer to a really bad headache and this prog you forementioned is great a fake spy prog got on my pc and attached to some proccess i could not find for the life of me but one click and puff like magic thank you very much.

easy way to delete them is just change the name of the folder they are in and delete that folder :)

the delete program worked great thanks a bunch.

HI, I installed Nero burning rom CD 3-4 months ago and all of a sudden it stopped working. it was weird because when i tried to uninstall it it wouldn't fully unintall. then i tried deleting the Nero files from the drives. but when i went back to "add or remove programs" it says Nero media player cannot be found and Nerovision Express cannot be found. All i want to do is reinstall the program so i can Burn my movies. please help me...

~Simeon

What happens if you just try to reinstall?

THANK YOU. MUCHAS GRACIAS. ARIGATO GOZAIMASU. And every other way of saying it. I started downloading some partial .avi by mistake and for the life of me couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. Over the years I had found ways around problems like this (such as a few you mentioned) but none worked because right clicking only allowed me to 'send to' and a few other useless options. Since I couldn't rename or simply select and delet it, I tried cutting and pasting it into the recycling bin; didn't work. Tried drag and dropping it in the bin; didn't work. But I downloaded that program, found the file, clicked delete and POOF! Problem solved. You have my thanks, sir.

The SystemFileObject tool in the Microsoft Scripting Runtime component can create folder (and I suppose files) that have trailing spaces on the end, that are impossible to get rid of without the short name trick. Thanks Leo.

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