in reply to unlinking an index.dat file in windows

Because the file is already open by another program which has lock on it (explorer.exe/iexplore...)
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Re^2: unlinking an index.dat file in windows
by Don Coyote (Hermit) on Jul 01, 2010 at 19:31 UTC

    ok thanks, the ATTRIB has said that the file is not locked for writning though what would I need to do 'unlock' the file and write to it- because i can easily right click and delete but that is not the point

    I did search for a lot of hours to try and find answer to resolve this issue but there were no posts on any blogs/forums anywhere so I am dissapointed at being given neg rep - but it doesnt count if its from anonymous :}

[reply]
      That "ATTRIB" thing you mention is probably the read-only flag. It's not a lock and you can overwrite a read-only file. In your case the file is opened by another program (lets say you opened a JPEG in Photoshop and can't delete the file from disk while it's opened in Photoshop) and the program itself locked the file not that attribute thing. You can't delete the file until the other program exits or closes the file. Use Process Explorer to see which program opened a handle to it (on Vista/7 you need to run as administrator). You can also get the process list with some Win32 modules I believe.
[reply]
        ah. so this is a bit like using a shared spreadsheet. when another user is handling the file. i will look into the process handler link (thanks) and also the flock method - iasaw aliitle bit of this. and i should be able to work it ut from there. obv win32 isn't ideal but if i can get round that then server should be fairly straight forward when i get there. :D

        thanks for the info burak ;-'
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