the forums at degreez.net

I downloaded a torrent with an .exe extension and could not finish it because the tracker went down. so now i am trying to delete the unfinished file but can't!. came out an error message like being used by another prog. Used a prog to check and it seems that explorer is using the file. any ideas how to delete?. oh yeah i am using XP pro.

also tried safe mode, ending explorer and running it back,

Try this, it almost always works for me when I have stubborn files that windows insists it is using, even though it's not.

Open a command prompt (by selecting "run" then typing "cmd" and hit ENTER)
Next in the command prompt type "del" (for delete) then type a SPACE
Finally drag the offending file onte this window, and hit ENTER. (If you get in a hurry and nothing happens, you probaby didn't select the command prompt window again before hitting ENTER)

good luck

thanks alot

thnx this really helped me coz i got so many of them lying around

I've never seen .EXEs get locked. You may have frozen BT tasks left on your system. Try killing them in task manager, or reboot the computer and try deleting again.

no matter how many times i reboot i still can't delete it. and also i checked the task manager and BT is not runnig at all. solved it though with gandiwite's method

sounds like your running Norton Antivirus
Norton AV (I run Symantec Corp on my machines) scans files upon access... the WHOLE file and "locks" it till its done.... so if it is big.... or "corrupted" it still trys to scan the whole file before it lets you do anything (corrupted or obscure compression can wreak havak on the scan)... if I get a "file in use" error, I can usualy count to 10 and hit the delete key/move the file again and it works.

just a possibility