 | By Fred Langa Never again be prevented from removing an unwanted file by the rude “access denied” message in Windows! With the right free tool, you can easily delete files and folders that are locked, in use, or otherwise untouchable. |
There’s no such thing as a file you can’t delete
Sooner or later, almost every PC user runs into a situation where some file or folder resists all normal methods of deletion. I regularly receive e-mails from readers asking me what they should do in this situation. As part of the solution, I described how to remove “undeletable” malware in my Dec. 4, 2008, column.
But the question comes up so often that it’s worth providing a “once and for all” answer. The following tricks cover a wide range of circumstances. I hope you’ll refer to these pointers whenever the problem crops up for you, as it surely will again.
A recent e-mail from David Henderson serves as my jumping-off point. David asks specifically about GPS software files, but the same issue can occur with all types of files in all versions of Windows:
- “I recently updated my GPS map files from Garmin. After I finished, I uninstalled the Garmin program. I now have Garmin files remaining that can’t be deleted. I even tried a command-line delete, with no success. Please tell me how to get rid of these files.”
Alternatively, some software programs — either by accident or through bad design — create files with nonstandard, invalid names or other attributes that Windows can’t handle. Some malware does this deliberately, making the infected files difficult to clear out.
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