thumbs.db prevents renaming and moving folders

[oynaz]

Hi guys

I have an annoying problem at work.

We have a 3-woman team working on a project. They each use a Windows 7 PC, and connect to a Windows 2003 SP2 server via a domain.

They simply use Windows Explorer to manage the project. They have made a project folder, and a folder for each customer. When a customer is wrapped up, they move the customer folder to a Done folder.

Or rather, they try to. If a project folder contains images, Windows creates a Thumbs.db file. This file prevents the everybody from moving or deleting the folders.

I have tried giving the users admin rights, and have tried deleting the Thumbs.db files directly on the server, but to no avail. I am treated to a

--Cannot delete, It is being used by another user or program --

error.

A bit of googling makes it seem like this is a known bug, but I cannot find any solutions.

Does one of you guys have a solution or workaround?

 

[lxskllr]

How about zipping the folder(I suggest 7zip), and putting the zipped copy on the server?

 

[Gillbot]

I had the same issue on my NAS, I just manually delete those files and so far so good
it's a PIA but I haven't found a better option yet

 

[StormSide]

Discussion and workarounds:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/ca2cbc1a-362f-4f01-a8f8-6f05112f1915

 

[corkyg]

Try Control Panel, Folder Options and check "Do Not Cache Thumbnails."

 

[her209]

Try Control Panel, Folder Options and check "Do Not Cache Thumbnails."

I was going to suggest this.

 

[Modelworks]

Or even better don't use explorer for a file manager.

 

[Lorne]

This is an issue cause by Win7 itself and has been plaguing alot of users of various programs, Mine was A couple Image programs and Photoshop 7.

I did this and its worked great for a week so far and it use to plagued me every 3rd PSD and JPG file I had to edit or batch.

"Re: Photoshop CS4 "Could not save as...because file is already in use or was left open"
Turn off Caching of Thumbnails in Hidden thumbs.db Files
People sometimes report that they cannot manipulate their folders as they want to because Explorer has a thumbs.db file open. Windows 7 apparently generates these files for compatibility with older software that may expect such files to exist in folders with, for example, photos in them.
The good news is that (with Windows 7 Professional and above) you can disable this through the Group Policy editor:
•Click the Start orb
•Enter gpedit.msc in the search box and hit Enter.
•Expand User Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components.
•Click on Windows Explorer.
•Right-click the entry "Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files" and choose Edit.
•Enable the setting.

-Noel"

Who ever this Noel is I thank him because he got it right for me and Boo to MS for assuming it made it more compatible with older programs when it did the opposite.
Give it a try.

 

[oynaz]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the replies. I have turned Thumbnails off, and this seems to alleviate the problem. This is not an ideal solution, however, as it makes the users' work more difficult.


Damn it. I hope this is solved i Windows 7 SP1.

 

[corkyg]

I use Thumbs Plus by Cerious Software. It gives me all the power tools I need without interferinmg with Windows.

 

[Aluvus]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the replies. I have turned Thumbnails off, and this seems to alleviate the problem. This is not an ideal solution, however, as it makes the users' work more difficult.


Damn it. I hope this is solved i Windows 7 SP1.

Same issue has existed since Windows XP, so don't hold your breath.

I have personally worked around this before by using a separate Linux machine (which doesn't care what Windows programs might have a file open) to just delete the file.

 

[oynaz]

I use Thumbs Plus by Cerious Software. It gives me all the power tools I need without interferinmg with Windows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)#Variants_Overview

Damn. It seems like I have to resort to 3rd party software. I will have a look at Thumbs Plus.

Why did you post that link? I don't get it.

 

[corkyg]

My bad! It was leftover from something else and I didn't check it. Should have been to Cerious.com. http://www.cerious.com/

 

[oynaz]

Thumbs Plus is not really what I need. I think I need a replacement / supplement to Windows Explorer. Any suggestion?

 

[Modelworks]

Thumbs Plus is not really what I need. I think I need a replacement / supplement to Windows Explorer. Any suggestion?

There are dozens of them. Some have been around longer than windows and have been ported from other operating systems.

http://www.ghisler.com/
http://www.freecommander.com/
http://www.xyplorer.com/
http://www.speedproject.de/enu/
http://www.gpsoft.com.au/Index.html
http://www.altap.cz/salam_en/index.html
http://x-diesel.com/index.php?