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In my search for something useful, I have stumbled upon an article which has helped me solve a problem which had troubled my desktop for long-An undeletable file!

You also may have passed though a similar situation where- Even on pressing delete several times, windows simply doesn’t grant your request to delete the file

Ever tried deleting a locked file using common windows commands? Just isn’t possible is the answer again.

The main reason behind this is that the explorer.exe process locks files that are in use, effectively preventing you from deleting them. Usually, these files should not be touched, but sometimes, situations arise when you really need to erase some troublesome ones.

Follow these instructions which will help you solve yor problem easily.

Method 1: Use unlocker

This is the easiest of all the 3 methods. Unlocker is a very useful freeware that will allow you to unlock any files that are currently in use by Windows. You’ll know if this is happening if you are getting any of these messages when trying to delete a file:

• Cannot delete file: Access is denied
• There has been a sharing violation
• The source or destination file may be in use
• The file is in use by another program or user
• Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Unlocker will make things right again for you.

You’ll notice that right after installing the software, a new option named “unlocker” will appear when right clicking any files or folders in Windows Explorer.

To unlock a locked file, just right click it, select unlocker, and the unlocker software will start. Then, click “unlock all” and close the software. Now that your file is unlocked, just delete it in Windows Explorer, as you always do.

Method 2: Kill explorer.exe

• Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.
• Close all open programs.
• Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.
  
• Leave Task Manager open.
  
• Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in. At the command prompt type DEL <filename> where <filename> is the file you wish to delete.
  
• Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.
  
• Close Task Manager.

Explanation with images: How to remove undeletable files.

Or

• Open a command prompt( Run>type-cmd>dos prompt opens)
• Navigate to the location where the locked file is
• Press CTRL-ALT-DEL, click on “task manager”, select the Processes tab
• Kill the explorer.exe process via the “End Process” button
• Go back to the command prompt and delete the file
• Bring up the task manager windows again
• Select file->new task
• Type explorer.exe in the “create new task” field
• Press OK.

Method 3: Use The Windows Recovery Console

Just stick your Windows CD in your CD tray, boot on it, and at the “Welcome to Setup” screen, press “R“. Once the recovery console has started, navigate to the location of your locked file, and delete it. Since WRC does not really start the system, the files will not be in use, and you will be able to delete them.

I have deleted my undeletable files. Hope this tutorial helps you with your task.