File won't delete.

[Peter Jason]

It's been sitting there for months, and every time
I try to delete it it says "being used by another
program". It's a *.bca file.

Is it safe to use a file killer/cruncher/waster on
it?

Peter

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

It's been sitting there for months, and every time
I try to delete it it says "being used by another
program". It's a *.bca file.

Is it safe to use a file killer/cruncher/waster on
it?

Peter

Use a killer/cruncher/waster that tells you which prog. is using it. I
have such a thing, but can't remember what it's called - it pops up when
I get such a "can't" though. Hang on: http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/
- says it is OK for 7. (I'm on XP.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

.... her greatest triumph to date has been doggy-paddling to each area of the
shipping forecast. - Eddie Mair (on Charlotte Green), Radio Times 13-19
October 2012

 

[Robin Bignall]

Use a killer/cruncher/waster that tells you which prog. is using it. I
have such a thing, but can't remember what it's called - it pops up when
I get such a "can't" though. Hang on: http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/
- says it is OK for 7. (I'm on XP.)

I use Lockhunter on W7. It's a similar sort of thing.
http://www.lockhunter.com/

 

[Justin]

It's been sitting there for months, and every time
I try to delete it it says "being used by another
program". It's a *.bca file.

Is it safe to use a file killer/cruncher/waster on
it?

Peter

See if the file has a space right before the period before the extension.
for example, I have seen issues with files named "foo bar .ext"

It has been an issue since the days of Windows 95.
Microsoft on the ball as usual.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

I use Lockhunter on W7. It's a similar sort of thing.
http://www.lockhunter.com/

Unlocker, IIRR, pops up a (list of) the processes that are using the
file in question, with IIRR the option to terminate each. (Lockhunter
may do similar.)

 

[housetrained]

"Peter Jason" wrote in message

It's been sitting there for months, and every time
I try to delete it it says "being used by another
program". It's a *.bca file.

Is it safe to use a file killer/cruncher/waster on
it?

Peter

Have you tried deleting it whilst in 'safe mode'?
housetrained

 

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

It's been sitting there for months, and every time
I try to delete it it says "being used by another
program". It's a *.bca file.

Is it safe to use a file killer/cruncher/waster on
it?

Peter

I don't know what could be using the .bca extension. When I have a
file in use warning I use task manager to check on the current running
processes and find the likely one? The only one I find on the web is
an encryption process.

Steve

 

[Philip Herlihy]

I don't know what could be using the .bca extension. When I have a
file in use warning I use task manager to check on the current running
processes and find the likely one? The only one I find on the web is
an encryption process.

Steve

Try MoveFile:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897556

 

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

Try MoveFile:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897556

That's only if a reload is expected. Sometimes a file needs to be
deleted without a reload. It is needed quite often on my development
system.

Steve

 

[VanguardLH]

I use Lockhunter on W7. It's a similar sort of thing.
http://www.lockhunter.com/

Unlocker will popup a prompt dialog when there is a lock on a file that
blocks the action you attempted. Consumes 52KB of memory for resident
process to detect conflict and present automatic popup prompt.

Lockhunter requires you load Windows Explorer, find the file, and
right-click on it to access its context menu. Does not load on login
(you manually start it). There is sometimes (too often) a lag when
Lockhunter's dialog appears. From the same company that makes "USB
Safely Remove" (payware). Lockhunter's web site points to downloads of
their *beta* version. I don't recommend betaware.

For as manual as is the use of Lockhunter (versus Unlocker's resident
process to automatically popup a prompt when there is a conflict), I'd
rather rely on Nirsoft's OpenedFilesView.

 

[Peter Jason]

Try MoveFile:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897556

I tried this but all I got was a small black
screen.

 

[Peter Jason]

Use a killer/cruncher/waster that tells you which prog. is using it. I
have such a thing, but can't remember what it's called - it pops up when
I get such a "can't" though. Hang on: http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/
- says it is OK for 7. (I'm on XP.)

Thanks, I'm trying:
Unlocker for Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista and 7
both 32 and 64 bits.
Copyright (C) 2005-2011 Cedrick Collomb / Empty
Loop unlocker.emptyloop.com

 

[Paul]

I tried this but all I got was a small black
screen.

When you fix things like this with a Linux LiveCD,
there are generally no complaints When Windows
isn't there to bitch and complain, that's when the
work gets done.

I'd be just a tiny bit curious, why some software
on your computer is so interested in that file.

Yes, you can use Unlocker on it. And in a lot
of cases it'll probably work. But if I'm sick
of listening to the whining from the computer,
there's nothing like a LiveCD for maintenance.
You can delete anything you want that way, including
pagefile or hiberfil. You can easily prevent Windows
from ever booting again - if you want.

If you, say, deleted the file in Linux, and
on the next boot in Windows, it comes back,
you know some software recreated that file,
and in which case, you're probably infected.

Paul

 

[Jeff Layman]

When you fix things like this with a Linux LiveCD,
there are generally no complaints When Windows
isn't there to bitch and complain, that's when the
work gets done.

Yes, a Linux Live CD is very useful. I've used one a few times, but
usually MoveOnBoot followed by an erasing utility works well enough. If
you can get the file moved onto the desktop before something gets its
hooks into it, it can be dealt with.

If you, say, deleted the file in Linux, and
on the next boot in Windows, it comes back,
you know some software recreated that file,
and in which case, you're probably infected.

True, but Windows also recreates at boot some files which have been
deleted. But then "probably infected" could sometimes be applied to the
annoying way Windows does things!

 

[Philip Herlihy]

I tried this but all I got was a small black
screen.

It's a command-line tool, which deletes (or moves) files at boot time,
before any software has locked it.

If you want to try it, you'll need to run an elevated command window,
and type the command into that. Some of us are old enough to have done
word processing on large documents (and everything else) using command-
line tools...

Type cmd in the search bar, then right-click cmd.exe when it appears in
the results list, and pick "Run as Administrator". That's your elevated
command window.