How can I find out what program is using a certain file?

Question

I have a folder on my desktop that I want to delete but it says it can't be deleted because it's in use by another program. I've closed what I thought could be the programs using it, but it still says it's in use.

Is there any way i can find out exactly which program is using it?

Thank you!

Answer 1

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freewa...

or

Google the name of the file and if it is a common program, it will give you results.

Answer 2

Wholockme will tell you which process is responsible; free here

http://www.dr-hoiby.com/WhoLockMe/index....

But it's usually tied in with explorer so it can't be deleted whilst in memory.

I prefer to use Killbox - free here

http://killbox.net/

simple to use - just browse to the file or drag and drop; you can try the standard file kill but you may need to delete on reboot; hit the little delete icon to remove the file

Answer 3

Unless it's a default background program that uses the folder, you might be able to delete it after rebooting because this would shut down all applications.