Cannot delete an .Avi file, how do I get rid of it??

[mrebman]

I just downloaded a .Avi movie file but it's a fake & won't even play. When I tried to delete it, I got the message "This file is being used by another person or program, close all programs before attempting to delete". What gives, I don't have ANY programs open & this is just an .Avi file, not a program file. How do I get RID of it???
-Thanks-
Mick

[devinemi83]

First, do a Ctrl+Alt+del. and see whats running. Shut off anything that may be using the file. If that doesnt work. Go into dos and delete it. That will stop the windows file protection.

[mrebman]

Devine:
I have Windows XP Home, I don't think that has DOS Anymore.

I just rebooted & started no other programs & it still won't let me delete it, any other ideas? If I rename it, will that do anything?

-Mick-

[devinemi83]

You should be able to make DOS diskettes still and boot off of those. XP still provides way to rescue your system, sfter all it is windows

[dishstaller]

If you are using Kazaa or the like and it loads automatically it won't let you delete the file because it is in you "shared folder" and is being "used" by the program. Take the program out of your startup, reboot and delete.

Liked to have driven me crazy too, Andy

[mrebman]

Dishtaller:
Thanks, but that's not it, I delete stuff all the time from my Kazaa "Shared" folder & No I don't have Kazaa set in my Startup menu.
I just had a buddy tell me to go to Run - then CMD - then just type in the DOS Delete command to delete the file without the Windows XP protection function blocking me. It worked except I can only delete files with one word like "Movie.mpg" but if I have a 2 word file like "Big Movie.mpg" it won't work, I can't delete anything with a space in it. Am I missing something here? Do I need like a Dash or + between the words? (Sorry it's been a long time since I used DOS Commands).
-Thanks-
Mick

[pacmania_2001]

If it is a filename with more than 7-8 (cant remember) letters in it then DOS changes the name from like blahblahblah.avi to blahbl~1.avi

[devinemi83]

If it is named as an example "Big Movie.mpg" Its DOS name would be,
BIGMOV~1.MPG


If its longer than 8 characters, only the first 6 will show up followed by "~" and a number, usually 1.

[mrebman]

Thanks Guys!
Although Explorer would not initially let me Rename the file, I eventually was able to Rename it to a one word name "fake.avi". I was then able to go to RUN - CMD & then type DEL Fake.avi & that did it!, that suckers gone!
-Thanks For All the Help-
Mick