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Unlock files in-use by other applications - http://LongPathTool.com

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Max Loger

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Apr 10, 2011, 4:43:30 AM4/10/11
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Unlock files in-use by other applications - http://LongPathTool.com

Few things are more frustrating than trying to delete a file only to
discover your system says it's locked or in use when you know it
shouldn't be. The annoying error messages come in several flavors.

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
Cannot delete folder: There has been a sharing violation
Cannot delete file: It is being used by another person or program
Cannot delete folder: Make sure the disk is not full or write-
protected and that the file is not currently in use.

I think I've seen a few other variations, but I can't recall them at
the moment. The problem is usually some process on your computer
locking the file or folder without you realizing it. Fortunately there
are several software solutions to delete stubborn files.

My favorite app for deleting locked files is Long Path Tool. After
installation, the software is available from the right-click menu,
making it easy to access anytime you need to delete a file. When you
encounter one of these stubborn files, right click it, select Unlocker
and see what's holding the file hostage.

You are then presented with the options:

To kill the process tying up the file
To unlock the file from the process without killing the process
To unlock all processes locking the file without killing the processes

It's generally better to choose one of the latter two options. The
first option may involve killing a required Windows process.

Once the file is unlocked, delete it.

Unlock files in-use by other applications - http://LongPathTool.com

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