It is not unusual to face situations in Windows when you cannot delete one or more files because they are in use by some program. This is very annoying and no matter what you try, those files seem undeletable. When trying to delete a file or a folder you may get different kinds of messages like –
- Cannot delete file: Access is denied.
- Cannot delete folder: It is being used by another person or program.
- There has been a sharing violation.
- Cannot read from the source file or disk.
- Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.
- The source or destination file may be in use.
- The file is in use by another program or user.
This is mostly because the file or folder you are trying to delete is being used by another program. You can quickly remove such locked files using the free IObit Unlocker tool. The IObit Unlocker releases the file or folder handles opened by various programs and permits you to quickly delete that file or folder.
You can download the IObit Unlocker tool from http://www.iobit.com/iobit-unlocker.html. The tool is only 1.44 megabytes in size and downloads quickly even on slower connections. Once downloaded, double-click on the downloaded setup file to install the IObit Unlocker on your system. After the installation the main window of the IObit Unlocker pops up. You can also start this IObit Unlocker from the Start Menu or Desktop shortcuts.
In this main IObit Unlocker window, you can simply drag and drop any file or folder to add them to the unlocking list. You can also click on the Add button to add a folder or file to the IObit Unlocker. As soon as you add a file or folder, it will show you if the added item is locked. It the file or folder that you just added is locked, it will also list the processes that are locking it. In the following picture, The folder names TrishTech is locked by Explorer.exe.
To unlock an item, select it and then click on the Unlock button. If you want to perform additional tasks after unlocking an item, then you can click on the downward arrow next to the Unlock button and choose to Unlock & Delete, Unlock & Copy, Unlock & Rename and Unlock & Move.
You can also select the Forced Mode in case the normal method for unlocking a file or folder fails. When a file gets unlocked, you see the status for it in the listbox, change from Locked to Unlocked successfully. After a file or folder is unlocked, you can click on the Exit button to close the IObit Unlocker.
The IObit Unlocker is a great tool for dealing with locked files and folders in the Windows. It supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7. You can unlock and delete multiple files and folder with it at the click of a button. For more information about this program, you can visit http://www.iobit.com/iobit-unlocker.html.