I got a corrupted file, and it wont delete...

HatchbackMustang

Junior Member
Jan 29, 2005
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Its 0 bytes and its a game patch that didnt download right now says that it wont delete because it says its in use, but it is really not.



Anyone know what to do? :confused:
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
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Try deleting it while in Safe Mode. LMK if that doesn't do the trick, there's a further step that can help in that case.
 

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
67
91
What OS? If Win 98, you can boot to the DOS prompt and use DELTREE to delete almost anything. I don't know if it will work in XP.

You can also try setting the attributes so it isn't a System or Read Only file before trying to delete it. Command line:

ATTRIB -R -S <file name>
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
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Ok, next do this:

1) Start > Run > cmd opens a command-line box.

2) in the box, type cd \ to reach the root of C:, then use the cd command to go to C:\Documents and Settings\youraccount'sname\Desktop (I assume it's on your desktop?)

3) get Task Manager open, and kill off explorer.exe. Your Start button and taskbar should vanish.

4) now use the command-line box to delete the file using the del filename.exe command.


Hope that helps :) Welcome to the Forums, by the way :)
 

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
67
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Umm... I didn't know you could get online in Safe Mode. Try working on it from the command line. You'll have to know which directory (folder) the file is in. To get there:

Start - Run - CMD.

Command:

CD\<full path name>

Command (per above):

ATTRIB -R -S <file name> <Enter> (removes Read Only and System attributes)

DELTREE/Y <file name> <Enter> (nukes the nasty little ah heck)

To see if the file was deleted, type:

DIR <file name> <Enter>

< update >

Looks like mechBgon posted almost exactly the same thing as I was posting. DELTREE may be a better choice than DEL only because it will work on most System and Read Only files without any hassle. :)
 

OffTopic1

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2004
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Some time deltree doesn't work, untill you run chkdsk & defrag (it happen quite often on my 2 year old 80GB hdd).
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
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If this was caused by FireFox fumbling a download, which is where I originally learned the kill-off-Explorer trick, then setting it to download to someplace other than your desktop may help. Or use IE. ;)