Can't get a video file to delete!!!

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited January 2004 in Science & Tech
I downloaded a movie from Kazaa. It's a DivX file. In the Kazaa list of things I have, it plays fins and has no problems.

BUT -- I saved it to the E: drive, and it's all screwed up. It won't play, I can't get it to delete (It says it's being used by another person or program), and I can't even rename it.

What's going on here? I want it off my E: drive. It can stay in Kazaa where it's not hurting anything. Or I'll just delete the whole damn thing.
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Comments

  • leishi85leishi85 Grand Rapids, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    when u were trying to delete the file u probably have kazaa running or the video being played by something, try to close all the suspecious programs, and then try to delete it.

    and BTW, u can't talk about warez and stuff here, like naming the movie u downloaded off kazaa.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    leishi85 wrote:
    and BTW, u can't talk about warez and stuff here, like naming the movie u downloaded off kazaa.

    What is warez? I've seen the term, but am not sure what it means.
  • ketoketo Occupied. Or is it preoccupied? Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    illegally acquired software...for which you do not have a license or digital 'rights' to own.
  • LawnMMLawnMM Colorado
    edited January 2004
    Copy another video file of the same type, rename it exactly as the one that won't delete. Then paste the renamed file over top of the undeleteable, then delete it.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    I tried deleting the entire DivX program, but this damn movie still won't go away. Can't rename it either. I was off the internet, Kazaa was not on, and it makes no difference. It tends to lock up the computer during any attempt to delete it.
  • MJOMJO Denmark New
    edited January 2004
    I have a windows update folder I cannot delete.
    It is very annoying.
    I have renamed it, I could do that without any problems.
    But delete it, no way.
  • ketoketo Occupied. Or is it preoccupied? Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    time for a virus scan, you may have acquired yourself a piggybacked 'friend'.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Safemode it.
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited January 2004
    Windows didn't unlock the file when the program that was using the file terminated or released the file. Unless you can force an unlock (which I don't know how to do) then you will need to reboot.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    After about 5 reboots, a Norton disk check, and lots of swearing at the computer, it still won't delete or rename.
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Thrax wrote:
    Safemode it.

    I second that...boot in safemode and u'll be able to delete the file.
    :thumbsup:
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Okay, here's a dumb question - How do I get it to boot in Safe Mode? This is a Dell 2100 with Windows XP Home on it.
  • SlickSlick Upstate New York
    edited January 2004
    As the computer is booting, right before the windows logo apears keep hitting F8. A menu will apear it will give you the option for safe mode.
  • WiredWired
    edited January 2004
    Hitting F5 on boot will auto boot into safe mode I believe, or you could hit F8 to bring up the basic boot menu, then select safe mode from there. You can also activate it from MSCONFIG. If you do it that way, don't forget to uncheck it while in safe mode.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Safe mode didn't help. Neither did Safe mode with networking. I had no idea what to do in Safe mode / command prompt.

    And trying to do a Cut and Paste to the Recycle Bin didn't work.

    I HATE THIS DAMN FILE!!!
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited January 2004
    The other suggestion above was to paste another file over it (with an identical name) and delete that new file. If you haven't tried that its worth a shot. What type of partition is it, NTFS i take it?
  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    I have had this before, always with bloody divx .avi's. Solution I found was this, go here ftp://ftp.east-tec.com/trial/eteraser.exe and download the trial version of east-tec eraser. Once you have installed it run and drag and drop the offending files into it and click the erase all button.

    If it cant deleted the file this time it will mark it to erase it on next bootup, so re-boot your machine and it should erase it. Hope this helps :thumbsup:
  • SouriatSouriat Nottingham, UK
    edited January 2004
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}InProcServer32

    delete this reg key and you can remove it.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    What is the normal function of that registry key? Sometimes there are unintended consequences.
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited January 2004
    Leo: I'm guessing it allows the modification/deletion of locked files.

    I think the safest way is to use a boot disk (hopefully it's not an NTFS drive) or load up linux (knoppix or any other bootable linux CD-ROM) and mount the drive and then delete the file.
  • MJOMJO Denmark New
    edited January 2004
    Leo: Here is some background info on that reg key
    http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/100406.php

    East-Tec Eraser 2004 couldn't erase the folder I couldn't delete.
    I have tried a couple of times. :mean:
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Does it say it is in use, or does it just not let you delete it, i.e. ignores you, or says that you don't have permission?

    In any case, this may be related to it - http://atomnet.co.uk/protection/?p=comone
  • LawnMMLawnMM Colorado
    edited January 2004
    I didn't say rename that file. I said take another divx file, rename THAT so its identical to the undeleteable file. Then paste the renamed divx file into the same folder as the one you can't delete. It will ask if you want to overwrite the file. Say yes. Then you should be able to delete it.

    This is of course assuming you don't have kazaa or some other stupid program running which is using the file.
  • SouriatSouriat Nottingham, UK
    edited January 2004
    MJO wrote:
    Leo: Here is some background info on that reg key
    http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/100406.php

    Yeah thats basically it, i always end up having to remove it on my pc quite soon after any format, never noticed any bad effects.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    you may be able to delete it from the command console...I had this problem and it worked.

    run > cmd > del x:\dir\filename.avi
  • MJOMJO Denmark New
    edited January 2004
    Enverex wrote:
    Does it say it is in use, or does it just not let you delete it, i.e. ignores you, or says that you don't have permission?

    It is related to a failed/interrupted windowsupdate.
    I have renamed it as stated earlier.
    It contains folders, and when I try opening them i get the message: "Access denied"
    Some of the subfolders are called: compdata, ip, system32, win9xupg.
    There are others too.

    It is like the folder exist, and yet it seems like it doesn't exist. :confused:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2004
    Try moving the file to a temporary folder, then delete the folder.

    There is a known bug with .avi files in XP which might also affect Divx files. Basically, the preview features goes into an endless loop on large files if you so much as single-click it.

    You might find some help here - make sure you read on to page two.

    Hope this helps! :)
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    I got it out with that ET Eraser program.

    I downloaded ET Eraser to the same folder on the same drive as the movie... er, FILE that was causing all the trouble, then once ET Eraser was installed, I dragged and dropped the file into it. Then I restarted the computer. Twice it would get part way through the deleting process, then my computer would snap to a blue screen saying something about a Windows Kernel Data Error or something.

    But I went and checked, and the file was gone, I had my disk space back, and everything else in that folder still worked.

    So I uninstalled ET Eraser and I was done.

    Yes, it's an NTFS formatted hard disk.

    It had been giving me a message that the file was in use and because of that I couldn't delete it.
  • hypermoodhypermood Smyrna, GA New
    edited January 2004
    You could always use the Recovery Console to delete the file.
  • TemplarTemplar You first.
    edited January 2004
    I've had these annoying files before. You can sometimes delete them from a cmd shell. To do this, Go to Start Menu, then Run.

    Type cmd

    Then, type "cd X:\blah\blah\blah" without the quotes, and replace X with your drive's letter (typically C:\, D:\, E:\, or F:\, depending on how many IDE devices you have), and replace blah\blah\blah with the path that the file resides in. So if it was in C:\ drive, under a folder called "My Shared Folder", you'd type cd "C:\My Shared Folder" WITH the quotes this time.

    Now, once you're in the folder where the file is, type del xxx.xxx, where xxx.xxx is the name and extension of the file. del stands for delete obviously. It's much easier than it sounds, and after you've done it a few times, you'll get used to it.

    If that doesn't do it, then I suggest Right-Clicking -> Going to Properties. On my machine, it'd usually take a while to load those properties, either nothing was displayed in the window, or it took a long time to display. Once the properties window comes up, close it, and try deleting the file again.

    Edit: Whelp, didn't realize there were two pages. Doh. This is future advice I guess :)
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