Windows 7 "The action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another progr

Caporegime
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I've been sorting out my MP3s this weekened and this is driving me nuts :D! Getting the following error sporadically in Windows Explorer:

dfdsgfdsg.jpg


If I wait a few minutes, it frees up the file or folder and allows me to move or or delete it. It doesn't happen all the time, say every five attempts. This makes me think it's a thumbnail caching problem, as eventually whatever is causing the problem is released by itself, so it seems unlikely to be a third party program.

All the solutions I've seen relate to disabling thumbail caching use the local group policy editor (gpedit.msc), but I have Home Premium and this feature is disabled in it.

Been Googling all afternoon and found nothing. Anyone else had this and resolved it? I will have your babies if you help me sort it.
 
Soldato
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In Home Premium you can set the same policies, you just need to edit the registry settings manually via regedit.exe. Just search for the reg fix to turn off thumbnail cache.

The most obvious thing to ask is if any of your media players are running or indexing your library?
 
Caporegime
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In Home Premium you can set the same policies, you just need to edit the registry settings manually via regedit.exe. Just search for the reg fix to turn off thumbnail cache.

I searched but only found zip files. I'd rather do the change manually so I know what it's doing. Will have another look for the actual reg entries though.

The most obvious thing to ask is if any of your media players are running or indexing your library?

Winamp was initially running but inactive. I closed Winamp, rebooted and loaded nothing except for Windows Explorer, and the problem was exactly the same i.e. sporadic 'in use' errors.

Reading about it looks like it could be a third party program causing the problem, otherwise this would be a far bigger issue than it appears to be.

Oh well, time for some trouble-shooting.
 
Caporegime
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Cheers all.

Are you sharing using WMP? I get this as I stream to my 360.

I have the folders in question shared in Windows Media Centre, so I guess they're also shared in Player by default...so yes. It wasn't open at the time but you think this could be the cause?

Try it in Safe-Mode. That way you can be sure if it is third-party software or the OS playing silly buggers.

Will do.

I use this on W7x64....

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

it works great with "unlocking" and / or at least informing me what is preventing a file from deletion etc.

Cheers, I'll give that a go tonight.
 
Caporegime
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Unlocker didn't work.

I installed it and there was nothing in the context menu despite me selecting it, and nothing loaded when I loaded the applications, but for a little icon in my taskbar that did nothing.

Uninstalled.
 
Soldato
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When using Unlocker you are then supposed to right click on the problematic file / folder and then select "unlocker" (once you have installed it of course). This will then bring up a menu which will inform you of the "locking handles" found you then have a choice of the action you wish to take.
 
Caporegime
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When using Unlocker you are then supposed to right click on the problematic file / folder and then select "unlocker" (once you have installed it of course). This will then bring up a menu which will inform you of the "locking handles" found you then have a choice of the action you wish to take.

I installed it and there was nothing in the context menu
 
Soldato
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oops sorry didn't read that bit...

When I install Unlocker I make sure the Explorer bit is ticked...




and then I get this in the right click context menu...



You can see the last one in the list then gives the Unlocker option :)
 
Caporegime
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Yeah that's exactly what I did. The only thing I didn't do was reboot....this could be important :p.

I'll try again tonight, thanks for the help.

If unlocker reports nothing open then I'm stuck with waiting for the thing to unlock itself as I still can't find a reliable source for the reg entry to disable thumbnail cacheing in W7 HP x64. I'm not even sure I want to have to disable a feature just to get file deletion to work properly, it's a ridiculous bug really.

I had zero problems in safe mode, so it looks like it's time to start uninstalling third party apps.
 
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