How to Delete Undeletable Files in Windows

Many times when trying to remove an unwanted program, especially a piece of adware or spyware
, you may run across a file that is undeletable by any normal method. When you try to remove it you'll receive the error message shown below telling you "access denied" and explaining the file may be in use. You may also receive one of the following messages.Cannot delete file: Access is deniedThere has been a sharing violation.The source or destination file may be in use.The file is in use by another program or user.Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.So if the file is in use, how do you delete it?I'll show you several ways of removing these types of files and even some freeware programs that help you remove these pesky undeletable files.

Many times when trying to remove an unwanted program, especially a piece of adware or spyware

you may run across a file that is undeletable by any normal method. When you try to remove it you'll receive the error message shown below telling you "access denied" and explaining the file may be in use. You may also receive one of the following messages.Cannot delete file: Access is deniedThere has been a sharing violation.The source or destination file may be in use.The file is in use by another program or user.Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.So if the file is in use, how do you delete it?I'll show you several ways of removing these types of files and even some freeware programs that help you remove these pesky undeletable files.



In Windows XP, there are a couple ways to remove an undeleteable file, a manual way, and a couple automated ways using some freeware programs. First, I'll show you the manual way.Manual MethodIf you already know the path to the file, please skip to Step 7

1. Click on Start, Search, All Files and Folders

2.Type the name of the undeletable file in the box shown

3.Make sure the Look In box shows the correct drive letter

4.Click Search and let the computer find the file

5.Once the file is located, right-click on it and choose properties, make a note of the file location.

6.Usually this is something similar to c:\windows\system32\undeleteablefilesname.exe

7.Close the search box

8.Click on Start, Run, and type CMD and Press Enter to open a Command prompt window

9.Leave the Command Prompt window open, but proceed to close all other open programs

10.Click on Start, Run and type TASKMGR.EXE and press Enter to start Task Manager

11.Click on the Processes tab, click on the process named Explorer.exe and click on End Process.

12.Minimize Task Manager but leave it open

13.Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory where the file is located. To do this, use the CD command. You can follow the example below.Example: to change to the Windows\System32 directory you would enter the following command and Press Entercd \windows\system32

12.Now use the DEL command to delete the offending file. Type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.Example: del undeletable.exe

13.Use ALT-TAB to go back to Task Manager

14.In Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the Windows shell.
Close Task ManagerPrograms to automatically delete a file

Pocket Killbox
A simple .exe file that you can use to delete undeleteable files, although the program will also delete temporary files, edit the HOSTS file, and more. A definite must have program when you are fighting an annoying spyware or adware program that won't remove.

Unlocker
Unlocker is another program that runs from the right click menu. Its simple and very effective. The website even has a side by side comparision of other programs that accomplish this task.
Using one of the three tools shown above, you should be able to remove those annoying undeleteable files once and for all