Getting a message saying that a file is open, when it's not

[TMasuer]

This is wierd. I have two partitions, W7 64, and XP 32.

I have a folder, on my G drive, (I have several drives) and in that folder I have ten .mkv video files. In W7, when I try to either delete or rename two of those files, I can not - I get a message saying that the action can't be completed because the file is open in Windows Explorer. Not sure what that means exactly. and I get this as soon as I boot into Windows. The app that is associated with the mkv files is VLC player - that DOES NOT boot with W7. Changing the association to something else does not help. I am able to delete/rename the other 8 files in that folder - just not those 2. Thing is, I can delete/rename those 2 files when i am booted into my XP part - so there is something going on with my W7 part. A virus scan revealed nothing.

Any ideas here?

Thanks!

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi,

This behavior can be quite common when it comes to ANY video file. I have several issues with the Nokia M Platform suddenly accessing my video files meaning I can't do anything with them other than play/copy them. I have to normally kill the process in Task Manager.

The biggest issue is Explorer trying to render what little information it can from the video file, and as MKV isn't supported it has a hard time processing any info for it (Bitrate, Thumbnails etc.).

Try downloading the latest codec pack from Shark007 and see if that solves the problem.


OS

 

[unifex]

Thing is, I can delete/rename those 2 files when i am booted into my XP part - so there is something going on with my W7 part.

I am a bit confused: are you saying that you repeatedly delete these two files in XP, then put them back and still have a problem in 7? Or you have already deleted these files and are just curious as two what went wrong?

Basically, what you are reporting might happen. I don't think this is specific for mkv files, I've seen this for various other file "types" as well, not necessarily video. Here's what happens. When you open a file in some app, Windows "locks" that file, so that it can only be modified (as in renamed, deleted, etc.) by this app. When the app is closed, Windows is supposed to "release" the file. But sometimes this process fails. I am not sure what exactly goes wrong there, but sometimes whatever "record" Windows keeps to remind itself that the file is locked, stays there even though the app is already closed.

In fact, if you search Google for "delete locked files" you will find lots of apps written just for the purpose of deleting such locked files. So this way you know you're not alone, it's not just your problem, happens to everyone.

If you do not want to install any such special "deleter" or "unlocker" (I don't use any myself, that's why I don't include random links that can easily be found in Google), then the few things you can do are:

1. Kill explorer.exe and restart it - but that mightbe scary, since you'll lose your desktop as well, you get it back only after restarting explorer.

2. Boot to safe mode, delete from there.

3. Use the recovery console from the installation DVD.

4. Or, as you seem to have done, use another OS that you might have on your PC (as well as a live CD of any other OS, Linux for example will have no problem with this).

At least one of the above should allow you to delete the file in question.

 

[TMasuer]

This behavior can be quite common when it comes to ANY video file. I have several issues with the Nokia M Platform suddenly accessing my video files meaning I can't do anything with them other than play/copy them. I have to normally kill the process in Task Manager.

I cant kill the process - there is no process to kill. The app that is associated with the vid file is not runnning.

I am a bit confused: are you saying that you repeatedly delete these two files in XP, then put them back and still have a problem in 7? Or you have already deleted these files and are just curious as two what went wrong?

The latter - curious as to why I cant rename/delete.

"When you open a file in some app, Windows "locks" that file, so that it can only be modified (as in renamed, deleted, etc.) by this app. When the app is closed, Windows is supposed to "release" the file. But sometimes this process fails. "

No - see, that's why I said what I did in my intial post. I get this as soon as I boot into Windows. It's not like I open the file, close the app and then cant delete/rename the file - no. It's boot into Windows, immediately open the folder, and try to rename/delete. Cant do it. And the app that the files are associated with are NOT running.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

 

[FliGi7]

Try this... boot into Windows 7 but don't open any explorer windows. Open an elevated command prompt and use the command line to rename the files and see if that works.

The rename command works as follows:

REN "C:\Users\UserName\Desktop\File1.mkv" "File2.mkv"

If that works, I suspect it's an associated explorer dll associated with displaying the files that is hanging when it parses those two files in an explorer window.

At that point, open an elevated command prompt and type "sfc /scannow" and see what it reports back about files that may have been corrupt and/or fixed.

 

[TMasuer]

Ok, that sounds like a good idea, I'll try that.

Only thing is - how do you type a folder name, when the name is two sperate words with a space inbetween?

I'll give you a good example:

I do this in a cmd prompt:

dir c:\temp

and I get all of the folders and files in that dir.

I do this in a cmd prompt:

dir c:\program files

and I get "file not found"

And this speaks about the folder on my G drive, which is Music Vids. How do I type "Music Vids" in a cmd prompt?

Thanks!

 

[FliGi7]

You'll notice the file path is in quotes for this very reason.

To change directories to a folder, use the "cd" command like such...

cd G:
cd "Music Vids"

 

[TMasuer]

Hmm - still not getting this.

Open the cmd prompt, I am at C:\Users\Username
Type cd G:, and press the enter key.
Now, right under C:\Users\Username is G:\
But then there is a space, and i am back at C:\Users\Username, without typing anything after I typed cd G:

So, my cmd prompt looks like this:

MS windows
Copyright 2009...

C:\Users\Username>cd: G
G:\

C:\Users\Username

What am I doing wrong?

 

[unifex]

The latter - curious as to why I cant rename/delete.

"When you open a file in some app, Windows "locks" that file, so that it can only be modified (as in renamed, deleted, etc.) by this app. When the app is closed, Windows is supposed to "release" the file. But sometimes this process fails. "

No - see, that's why I said what I did in my intial post. I get this as soon as I boot into Windows. It's not like I open the file, close the app and then cant delete/rename the file - no. It's boot into Windows, immediately open the folder, and try to rename/delete. Cant do it. And the app that the files are associated with are NOT running.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

I thought you have the files deleted already! Or you are actually able to recreate the problem by placing new files into the same folder? See, you're saying also that you're going to try new suggestions, that's only possible if your problem persists and is not limited to the two files that are supposed to be deleted already.

For your later question - in Windows Command Prompt you can use the auto-complete function: change to your G:\ drive, then instead of trying to type the whole folder name, just type the first couple of characters and then press the Tab key. If there is no other folder with the same first characters, then Windows will automatically complete the folder name for you (works for files as well).

Finally, if you can actually recreate the problem, then it has nothing to do with Windows locking the files, but rather sounds like a permissions problem. In explorer right-click on your folder and check out the security tab. Make sure you have permissions to delete files in this folders. Then, check the permissions on the files themselves. When you are recreating the problem, where do the files come from? Are these the same files? Are you using the same program to create them?

 

[FliGi7]

The semicolon is in the wrong place. Just type "G:" without the cd. That should take you to the G: drive.

 

[unifex]

Hmm - still not getting this.

Open the cmd prompt, I am at C:\Users\Username
Type cd G:, and press the enter key.
Now, right under C:\Users\Username is G:\
But then there is a space, and i am back at C:\Users\Username, without typing anything after I typed cd G:

So, my cmd prompt looks like this:

MS windows
Copyright 2009...

C:\Users\Username>cd: G
G:\

C:\Users\Username

What am I doing wrong?

In Windows you do not type cd G:\. Instead you just type

G:

that's it. After that, type M followed by Tab.

This way you should get to G:\Music Vids, unless there is something else starting with M in G:\, in this case type Mus then Tab.

 

[FliGi7]

Unifex, take it easy for a second. We're getting there.

 

[unifex]

Lol, I guess you were typing at the same time as I did, I did not see your post about G: until I've typed mine

 

[FliGi7]

Must have been. No worries. I just don't want to create any confusion by co-posting and we're almost done with my test.

 

[TMasuer]

Thanks guys for trying to help

Sorry, DOS is like a foreign language to me.

Ok, dont type Cd G:, just type G: - got it.

So, I type G:, and that gets me to a G prompt; to the G folder. K, great. Now I type cd Music Vids, and now I am at that dir. Great.

So, I use the ren cmd.

When I boot into windows, and do nothing but go start>run>cmd prompt (dont open any windows) I can successfully change the filename. Then, I go and navigate to that dir in WinExplorer, and try to rename that file I just renamed using the cmd prompt again, and the cmd prompt tells me:

"The process cannot access the file b/c it is being used by another process."

Hmmm. It's not being used tho...this is really bugging me - now, it's really more of "I am friggin annoyed b/c I cant figure this out" as opposed to the actual need to rename/delete the file.

So, does this lend itself to "I suspect it's an associated explorer dll associated with displaying the files that is hanging when it parses those two files in an explorer window."? If so, where should I look next?

Thanks!

 

[FliGi7]

This leads me to believe that it's a corrupt dll related to the explorer process responsible for displaying files in those windows, as I stated earlier, since the lock is only happening once you attempt to display it in an explorer window.

Open an elevated command prompt by hitting the start button and typing "cmd", then right clicking on the CMD icon and Run as Administrator. Once that opens, type "sfc /scannow" and let it do its thing. Hopefully it finds the corrupt dll associated with this problem and fixes it. If not, we'll have to start looking elsewhere.

Once that is done.... how/when did this start and did it happen at some point after installing video or picture software on your computer?

 

[TMasuer]

Did the scan - no "integrity violations" found by resource protection

Once that is done.... how/when did this start and did it happen at some point after installing video or picture software on your computer?

Interesting - I recently installed the Adobe After Effects trail version. It has not expired yet, as I installed it 15 days ago. But it is impossible to say if that is the culprit. Would this have happend before the AE install? Maybe, maybe not - impossible to tell. But even if it is the culprit - why would only two files be affected - and not the others of the same type in the same folder?

Thanks again!

 

[FliGi7]

Or it could simply be that those two files are corrupt and simply need to be downloaded again. Occam's Razor.

How did you acquire them?

 

[TMasuer]

Maybe those two files are corrupt - but why then can I rename/delete them from my XP partition with no problem?

All files were d/l-ed from a client's server on different days. Same server. Sure, I can get them again if need be, but they play fine, so there really isn't a need. I just really really REALLY want to know WTF W7 is doing here...LOL

Thanks!

 

[FliGi7]

It could very well be that Adobe After Effects augmented or altered the Windows 7 thumbnailing or display dll's. It could also be that Windows 7's dll's vary in how they parse MKV files as compared to XP and it's just getting hung up on this particular file with a particular encoding.

One possible thing to try is simply uninstallating that software and seeing if that fixes it.

Another possible thing to try would be to use a MKV repair tool to see if that can fix it, if the files are somehow corrupted just enough to cause Win 7 to hang in displaying them.

All I could find was something called Meteorite MKV repair tool, which I don't believe is supported any longer, so your results may vary. I have never used it either, so I can't vouch for it.

The zip download is here:

Meteorite | Download Meteorite software for free at SourceForge.net

And here's a very short how-to:

How to Repair an MKV Video File | eHow.com

It sounds like it is something you can extract to a folder run without installing anything, which makes it less worrisome than if it actually required installation (at which point I wouldn't recommend it). If this is the case, you might want to try it out. I just can't think of much else at the moment.