Solved How can I close a file that is open in another program ?

KCav

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Iwant to delete a file. I am logged on as Administrator, have taken ownership, have Effective Permission to perform a deletion, but I am unable to delete a file because it is being used by another program. :(

I performed a Safe Mode boot; tried to delete it and still it was being used by another program. :(

The file name is shellext.dll. It's location is C:/Programs & Files/ Microsoft Security Client.
How can find out what program has opened it and close it? :confused:

KC
 

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I seems that the file is part of MSE antivirus and the file is the shell extension that provides shortcuts inside Windows Explorer. Why you want to delete that?
Even if you manage to do so, having a missing file might cripple MSE or create problems with Windows explorer.
 

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Layback Bear - I followed the link you provided called What is it? One suggestion was to use a bat file to delete shellext.dll before it is used by another program.

What should be in a bat file used to delete shellext.dll? Would it be like this?
File name: Good_By_shellext.bat
Line 1: delete C:/Program Files/Microsoft Seurity Client/shellext.dll
Line 2: exit

How can a bat file be put into Windows 7 start-up?

KC
 

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Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
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Find, download and run as administrator, Autoruns. If the .dll is in the list, untick, and see if the .dll can be deleted.
 
Last edited:

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Have you rebooted after uninstalling MSE? If so, are you still seeing the context menu options from MSE in Explorer?

You may have to look in the registry then and delete from there so the file doesn't gets loaded then and you'll be able to delete it thereafter.
 

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Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
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Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU
Intel Core i7-740QM
Memory
8 GB DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce 330GT
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1366x768
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Samsung 840 SSD 500GB
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Coolermaster Notepal U3 notebook cooling pad
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Antivirus
ClamWin 0.98.7
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Opera 12.17 x86 (main), Firefox 38 (sec), IE11 (last resort)
Find, download and run as administrator, Autoruns. If the .dll is in the list, untick, and see if the .dll can be deleted.

:D Autoruns worked, shellext.dll has been removed from the drive.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8400 P8400DDR2, 4096 MBytesNVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M
Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell, Latitude E6400
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8400 P8400
Motherboard
Dell, Model 0G868N (Microprocessor)
Memory
DDR2, 4096 MBytes
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
Monitor(s) Displays
Generic PnP Monitor
Screen Resolution
1440x900
Hard Drives
WDC WD1600BJKT-75F4T0 ATA Device
Keyboard
Standard
Mouse
Touchpad
Internet Speed
Dell Wireless 1510 Wireless-N WLAN Mini-Card
KCav, great news to read. I do think the Forum would like you to mark this thread as solved for easy identifiability. Thank you!
 

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