Cannot delete folder, it is being used by another program

Asked By Herman 260 points N/A Posted on - 06/21/2011

I am not able to delete a folder from my desktop. While rearranging, I moved and copied several files from this folder .

Later, when I don't it anymore, I tried to delete it.

But an error message popped up : 

Error Deleting File or Folder

 

Cannot delete Folder: It is being used by another person or program.

 

Close any programs that might be using the file or try again. 

 

I checked and couldn't find any program that could be using those files.

 

Please help me out. My OS is Win 98

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• Question Category: Windows 98

Best Answer by stephy_john

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Answered By stephy_john 0 points N/A #127198

Cannot delete folder, it is being used by another program

Dear Herman,

Some time it will happen and don't worry about this issue. There are two options for that issue:

1. Restart your system and then try to delete that folder. If problem exist then restart windows on safe mode and try to delete that folder.
2. If you face this problem again, run complete virus scan on your PC. May be these files are effected with viruses.

Cheers

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• Posted on - 06/21/2011
• Question Category: Windows 98

Answered By Walsh 0 points N/A #127199

Cannot delete folder, it is being used by another program

Hi Herman,

This problem may be due to some process your computer has undergone that resulted to the locking of your folder. So I suggest that you install an Unlocker, it's a free software that will be able to delete the locked folder. After completion of the installation, you can access it easily by right-clicking. So you need to right-click the said folder, and click Unlocker, and find out what's holding it. Three options will appear, namely:

• To kill the process tying up the file
• To unlock the file from the process without killing the process
• To unlock all processes locking the file without killing the processes

The first one may involve killing a necessary process, so it's better to choose the second or the third option. Delete your folder after unlocking it.

There is also other useful software, the BusyDelete. It will delete the said file even when it's busy. Your folder will be marked and after restarting, the folder will be deleted.

Good luck!

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• Posted on - 06/21/2011
• Question Category: Windows 98

Answered By reynz 0 points N/A #127200

Cannot delete folder, it is being used by another program

Dear Herman

If you are encountering this problem you just have to restart your system then try to delete the folder. I have already experienced that error. If that happens again you have to run virus on your P.C.

Reynz

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• Posted on - 06/20/2012
• Question Category: Windows 98