During the regular operation of a Windows PC, some of the files are loaded by various processes. When a file is opened by a process, it cannot be deleted by other processes until released by the first process. This is why we are unable to delete some of the system locked files. This kind of files are opened and locked by the system.
In order to delete these files, we have to either have the file handles closed or we can reboot the PC in the hope that those files will not be opened after the reboot. KillFiles is a free tool that can try both of these methods one after another in an attempt to delete the stubborn files.
KillFiles is a very small application with a very simple user interface. It can force the deletion of a single file or multiple files at once. It is available in a portable version and does not require installation on the hard drive. It comes in a ZIP file (which is actually a RAR archive). We can start using it immediately after unpacking. Inside the archive, we have English and Italian version of KillFiles.
We begin by adding files to the list in the KillFiles window. This is accomplished by clicking on the Add button and selecting the files. We can then click on the Execute button to try deleting them. It might not be able to delete the locked files. After deletion fails, we can reboot the Windows PC. All the files in the list will be automatically deleted at the next system boot.
KillFiles is a useful tool for deleting stubborn locked files in a safe manner. We can use it to delete files that cannot be normally deleted because they are always in use.
You can download KillFiles from https://www.tearsinrain.it/owl-software/international/killfiles.php.