Can't delete a file...a little help?

[Rob Easler]

I have a stubborn file I created in after effects as an uncompressed avi and imported into Vegas. It is just over 2G in size. I can't delete it. I have tried renaming it as well but it won't take. It says it is in use by another program when none has been open. I tried uninstalling after effects and then deleting the file but no use. I tried to delete the file using the dos prompt and no joy. Any ideas?

[Kris Verstappen]

It is because your operating system is trying to read the file. If it's a corrupt kind of file, it might take very long.

You can get rid of the file if you open the command prompt ("DOS") and delete it from there. Or probably also if you add some other files to the same folder, and then select and delete them all at once.

[Rob Lohman]

This is probably the dreaded SHMedia bug that Microsoft still has
not fixed (sigh). You can find more info about the bug on this page
as well as registry changing instructions to never have the
problem again (I renamed that key on my machines).

The downside is that you can view any properties of the AVI
file anymore (not sure if this effects the properties view of
Vegas => it definitely can still load the files!!!)

[Don Bloom]

I had the same thing the other day. Shut down and reboot your computer and you should be able to delete the file. Somewhere for some reason there is a program running in the background that has the file locked up.
Shutdown and reboot should take care of it. (I hope);-)
Don

[Ed Smith]

Sometimes if you have preview enabled in windows explorer, that will take hold of it and will not allow you to delete the clip/file because it is already being used. Try turning off preview in your folder options.

That could be the problem?

Cheers,

Ed

[David Hurdon]

Ed's solution works for me with files that win2k can preview when a folder is set to "web view" versus "classic". The other approach I've used for really stubborn files is to move everything else to another folder, delete the folder with the file remaining in it, then make a new one with the old name and return the other files - or just rename the temp file you moved them to, provided it's a sub folder in the same place on the tree.

David Hurdon

[Rob Easler]

Thanks for the tips guys. I had already tried deleting the file using dos last night which didn't work. Today that did work. The difference was that I had to close explorer so that dos could delete it. Otherwise dos would also show the file was in use by another program. That key idea came from the link you posted Rob. Thanks all, for the replies.

[Rob Lohman]

Then you where hit with the bug. I had (until I did the registry
patch) the problem several times a week. What happens is this:

1) it isn't *some* program or *some* other thing

2) it is the Microsoft module that gathers information of media files

3) this module is being run by Explorer when you open a window. It can also be run in the background due to various reasons (like indexing or thumbnail creation)

4) this module will take a long time to complete in some AVI's or it will get stuck

This is where the problem arrises. It opens the file in read mode
and creates a lock on it (dumb). What is should've done is open
the file in read mode without any locks and if the file dissapears
while it is working on it, simply abort for that file.

Now we have all these problems where we can't delete AVI's. It
was so worse sometimes that I couldn't ever delete a single AVI
unless I selected multiple and deleted them all (or resorted to DOS).

So I finally changed my registry so Windows will nog longer gather
information from AVI's. This results in having no summary information
in the propery sheet of an AVI and I think it also stops thumbnails
from being created.

I personally didn't ever use any of those features so I don't care
I don't have them anymore. Naming your directors (folders) and
individual files in a good and clear manner allows me to instantly
find what I need anyway.