Guest Daryl Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Hi, When I try to delete a large file such as a video mpg file (it doesn't appear to happen with small files), I appear to have successfully deleted the files but, when I look at the containing folder in explorer - the file appears to still be there! If I then try to delete it again - it gives me an error message so it would appear that the file has actually gone. However, the disk space if not freed up. Upon reboot, the file has gone but how can I prevent this behaviour - I know it's not by default as this does not happen on my laptop. My hard drive is an NTFS disk. Thanks, Kroma
Guest Terry R. Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Re: Deleting large files On 7/12/2007 10:15 AM On a whim, Daryl pounded out on the keyboard > Hi, > > When I try to delete a large file such as a video mpg file (it doesn't > appear to happen with small files), I appear to have successfully deleted > the files but, when I look at the containing folder in explorer - the file > appears to still be there! > > If I then try to delete it again - it gives me an error message so it would > appear that the file has actually gone. However, the disk space if not > freed up. > > Upon reboot, the file has gone but how can I prevent this behaviour - I know > it's not by default as this does not happen on my laptop. > > My hard drive is an NTFS disk. > > Thanks, > > Kroma > > Hi Daryl, It's a refresh issue in Explorer. Been that way for a long time. Best thing to do after you delete files is to press F5 to refresh the view. Then it will update and show you the file is gone. There is a free alternative called Power Desk that I've used for years (although I purchased the full version). It updates after every change. Check out the free version here (PowerDesk Pro 5.0): http://www.v-com.com/download/obsolete_downloads.html -- Terry R. ***Reply Note*** Anti-spam measures are included in my email address. Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
Guest Daryl Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Re: Deleting large files "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message news:OiztKwKxHHA.600@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > Hi Daryl, > > It's a refresh issue in Explorer. Been that way for a long time. Best > thing to do after you delete files is to press F5 to refresh the view. > Then it will update and show you the file is gone. > No - refreshing doesn't help nor does opening a new explorer window! The space is not freed up either until a reboot takes place. Kroma
Guest Patrick Keenan Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Re: Deleting large files "Daryl" <darylbarberNOSPAMPLEASE@btinternet.com> wrote in message news:eX9TKzKxHHA.5068@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > > "Terry R." <F1ComNOSPAM@pobox.com> wrote in message > news:OiztKwKxHHA.600@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > >> Hi Daryl, >> >> It's a refresh issue in Explorer. Been that way for a long time. Best >> thing to do after you delete files is to press F5 to refresh the view. >> Then it will update and show you the file is gone. >> > > No - refreshing doesn't help nor does opening a new explorer window! > > The space is not freed up either until a reboot takes place. > > Kroma What happens if you empty the recycle bin? Do you have any sort of recycle bin protection installed? HTH -pk
Guest Vanguard Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Re: Deleting large files "Daryl" <darylbarberNOSPAMPLEASE@btinternet.com> wrote in message news:%23yNXajKxHHA.4300@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > Hi, > > When I try to delete a large file such as a video mpg file (it doesn't > appear to happen with small files), I appear to have successfully > deleted the files but, when I look at the containing folder in > explorer - the file appears to still be there! > > If I then try to delete it again - it gives me an error message so it > would appear that the file has actually gone. However, the disk space > if not freed up. > > Upon reboot, the file has gone but how can I prevent this behaviour - > I know it's not by default as this does not happen on my laptop. > > My hard drive is an NTFS disk. Probably because explorer.exe itself (which is also used for the GUI desktop) has a handle on it, like to show you the preview picture when that file was selected. To check if Explorer is holding onto the file: - Open Task Manager. - Kill all instances of explorer.exe. The desktop disappears. - Use File -> New Task to run "cmd.exe". - In the DOS shell, check if the file still exists; if so, delete it. - Use File -> New Task to run "explorer.exe". The desktop reappears. One side-effect of this approach (of unloading explorer.exe to delete files that it has inuse) is that programs that don't periodically update their tray icons will not show up in the system notification area (aka tray area) until you logoff and login. Rebooting will release the file handle because explorer.exe gets shutdown and the file handle object gets obliterated and why you can delete the file after the reboot or it disappears because the pending delete completed. The method above eliminates the need to reboot if explorer.exe is the culprit holding onto the file. You might also want to use utilities to see if a process has an open handle on the problematic file. Use 'handle' from SysInternals (bought by Microsoft) or 'oh' from the Resource Kit. You could also try the Unlocker utility (http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/).
Guest Daryl Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 Re: Deleting large files "Vanguard" <no@mail.invalid> wrote in message news:ujCtiKLxHHA.4592@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > Probably because explorer.exe itself (which is also used for the GUI > desktop) has a handle on it, like to show you the preview picture when > that file was selected. To check if Explorer is holding onto the file: Stopping and restarting explorer.exe does indeed banish the files in question for good so, my next question is, how do I prevent explorer from 'having a handle' on such files in the first place? Why does it seem to be only large files? Why doesn't my laptop exhibit the same behaviour? Thanks
Guest Vanguard Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 Re: Deleting large files "Daryl" wrote in message news:OMfd1RSxHHA.4668@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > > "Vanguard" wrote ... > > >> Probably because explorer.exe itself (which is also used for the GUI >> desktop) has a handle on it, like to show you the preview picture >> when that file was selected. To check if Explorer is holding onto >> the file: > > Stopping and restarting explorer.exe does indeed banish the files in > question for good so, my next question is, how do I prevent explorer > from 'having a handle' on such files in the first place? Why does it > seem to be only large files? Why doesn't my laptop exhibit the same > behaviour? I know how to fix the problem. I didn't program explorer.exe so I don't know the cause of the problem. Since I cannot changed explorer.exe, that cause is irrelevant and continual.
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