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One for the Geeks - delete a file

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One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 08 Jul 2017, 11:36

I have 3 word files with very long names .doc

I am unable to:- :shock:
Move them
Delete them
Rename them

Get the message "The action can't be completed because the file is open in Microsoft Office Word"
The only programs open are Firefox and Windows explorer.

I have tried changing the properties, no way hosay. :(

I tried an old fashioned Dos CMD Del - can't find the file, maybe because the name is too long? :(

The file size is 6.8MB times 3 taking up disk space.

Any idea as to what I now do? :?




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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Tusses » 08 Jul 2017, 12:10

easiest to try .. booting in safe mode

next easiest .. for a geek .. is to boot of an image / disk / cd / mem stick / then access the hard drive from there.

not knowing your system, or if you have boot disks lying around, can't say more than that really.
do you have a cdr drive and blank cds ?
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 08 Jul 2017, 14:31

Tusses wrote:easiest to try .. booting in safe mode

next easiest .. for a geek .. is to boot of an image / disk / cd / mem stick / then access the hard drive from there.

not knowing your system, or if you have boot disks lying around, can't say more than that really.
do you have a cdr drive and blank cds ?




Rich, thanks for the advice.

This is way past my technical skills. I don't have a boot disk for the system.

I bought the laptop fully loaded with W7 Prof and MS Office.

I will leave the files and delete some other stuff to free up space.


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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Tusses » 08 Jul 2017, 14:37

I don't use windows, so someone else can confirm which button ? .. when you switch on , just after the 1st time you see anything on the screen , one of the "F" keys , should take you in to safe mode. where limited programs will run, and you may be able to delete the file from there.
Then just reboot as normal
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 08 Jul 2017, 14:45

Tusses wrote:I don't use windows, so someone else can confirm which button ? .. when you switch on , just after the 1st time you see anything on the screen , one of the "F" keys , should take you in to safe mode. where limited programs will run, and you may be able to delete the file from there.
Then just reboot as normal




Ok, thanks, will have a look in the morning when I start up.
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Tusses » 08 Jul 2017, 15:00

BTW .. if I ever think something odd is going on, I'd rename the file rather than delete it.
Then if everything is still working as it should, after that, then I'd delete it :)
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Robert » 08 Jul 2017, 18:06

Answer is here

https://www.howtogeek.com/128680/how-to ... n-windows/

Safe mode as previously suggested is the least technical way. the link above tells you how at the end of the article.

I've had locked files but mine have not stayed locked after a restart.
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 09 Jul 2017, 08:32

Tusses wrote:BTW .. if I ever think something odd is going on, I'd rename the file rather than delete it.
Then if everything is still working as it should, after that, then I'd delete it :)


I went through the rename process - locked can't do anything.
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 09 Jul 2017, 08:35

Robert wrote:Answer is here

https://www.howtogeek.com/128680/how-to ... n-windows/

Safe mode as previously suggested is the least technical way. the link above tells you how at the end of the article.

I've had locked files but mine have not stayed locked after a restart.





Thanks Robert, I will have a read.

I did a W7 update this morning (1.5 hours!) and a restart, but files still locked.

Will do a restart later on and see if I can hit the f8 button quick enough.


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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby timothyedoran » 09 Jul 2017, 17:37

Just press and hold f8 rather than waiting for the prompt.

If you are scrabbling around for space by deleting a couple of word documents you might not make any difference. Modern PCs need about 10% free space or there will be unexpected behaviour. Uninstall junk. Delete videos. Move pics and videos to the cloud.

Good luck

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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 10 Jul 2017, 07:23

Well after reboot #1 I was able to delete 2 of the files and after reboot #2 I could delete the last one.

That freed up 20MB.




timothyedoran wrote:Just press and hold f8 rather than waiting for the prompt.
If you are scrabbling around for space by deleting a couple of word documents you might not make any difference. Modern PCs need about 10% free space or there will be unexpected behaviour. Uninstall junk. Delete videos. Move pics and videos to the cloud.

Good luck

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Tim, I cleaned up a lot more, the 3 .doc files alone were 20MB

I now have 29% free disk space on the laptop. I will move files to the external drive which should free up more space, and then run a defrag.



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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Robert » 10 Jul 2017, 08:52

To me it's not the file size and wasted space when you come across a locked file. It's the annoyance that you are not allowed to delete your own file that makes me more determined to do it :)
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Phil » 10 Jul 2017, 12:17

Robert wrote:To me it's not the file size and wasted space when you come across a locked file. It's the annoyance that you are not allowed to delete your own file that makes me more determined to do it :)



:text-+1:


Definitely agree with you.
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Re: One for the Geeks - delete a file

Postby Tusses » 10 Jul 2017, 12:30

plus if it's fragmented, it will take up more room than the size it is.
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