Unable to Delete a .mkv Video File

Originally Posted by MikeHawthorne

Hi

Do you use Malwarebytes?

If you do, go to tools, FileAssassin, and see if that will remove the file.

If you don't use Malwarebytes you can download FileAssassin as a stand alone.

FileAssassin - Download.com

It almost always works for me.

Mike

Yes I did the first two steps, opening task manager etc. and Fileassassin did not work either.

Sorry if this is late, but I've noticed this happening to other files, not just mkv. Usually I just log off and log back on, that resets whatever part of windows explorer that seems to be "using" the file. It's some weird glitch, but I've also discovered emptying the recycling bin has worked also. I was able to delete the file just fine after that. No need for installing other programs or restarting the computer. Haven't had this workaround not work for me, so hopefully this will help.

Thanks for the reply! The only thing that seemed to work for me was killing "explorer" with task manager. Cheers! Pete

I managed to delete the file through command prompt but I think it's still on my computer because I had 2gb free space before deletion and after i restarted my computer, I still only have 2gb free space although I should have 3gb as the file deleted was 1 gb. Is there a way to check or something?

When I've had issues like this that I can't resolve, I use my Ubuntu boot disk to boot into Linux and delete the files.
A Ubuntu disk is a very handy thing to have around.

Ubuntu doesn't care about how Windows feels about it. LOL

Home | Ubuntu

Originally Posted by pmacay

Thanks for the reply! The only thing that seemed to work for me was killing "explorer" with task manager. Cheers! Pete

I found "lockHunter to do the job without all the command prompt stuff..... Fileassassin did not work or other programs. LockHunter is a free 64/32 bit tool to delete files blocked by any processes Just use delete & all is good.....

Guys, guys, you're missing something. This is due of a "File Preview" in your windows explorer that automatically "opens" the MKV file (and others), to see file details on the bottom of the window of explorer (the file resolution, size, date, etc.). When this happens, you won't be able to delete nor rename files that were previewed by windows... because it "opened" it.

Not everything is a virus like the first responses were speculating.

Originally Posted by izziekat

I have a .mkv video file which I cannot rename, move, or delete. Every time I do so this message shows: "The action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer. Close the file and try again." If I try to delete the folder, a similar message pops up saying that a file is in use in another program.

I've done some searching on the Internet for solutions and have tried the following:
- restarting the computer and retrying
- using safe mode to delete the file
- running some commands
- downloaded the following software: CCleaner, FileASSASIN, Glary Utilities, and Unlocker

I downloaded Unlocker but never found a way to use it, so I downloaded the other programs, but none of them solved my problem. Furthermore, I tried re-downloading the file from a different website, was unable to replace the original file, and ended up with two undeletable files. I then tried to copy the file so I could at least have a non-problematic copy (this apparently worked for other people) and now I have three undeletable copies.

Please help!
(Note: If someone offers a command-type solution, I warn you I am a complete novice at typing commands so please give very detailed instructions. Thank you.)

But what has this got to do with deleting the annoying file? Agree with the not a virus quote :-) Done what u said & file deleted fine....

Originally Posted by vernardm

Guys, guys, you're missing something. This is due of a "File Preview" in your windows explorer that automatically "opens" the MKV file (and others), to see file details on the bottom of the window of explorer (the file resolution, size, date, etc.). When this happens, you won't be able to delete nor rename files that were previewed by windows... because it "opened" it.

Not everything is a virus like the first responses were speculating.

I think the point is that if it thinks the file is open in any application Windows won't let you delete it.
And it's Windows Explorer that's opening it.
You have to click on it to open it, and once you click on it, it can't open it.

That's where something like Ubuntu comes in handy.

And you won't get the space back until you empty the recycle bin.
Once you do that and reopen Explorer you should see the space returned.

Try running CCleaner, it can sometimes free up a lot of space.

Originally Posted by izziekat

I have a .mkv video file which I cannot rename, move, or delete. Every time I do so this message shows: "The action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer. Close the file and try again." If I try to delete the folder, a similar message pops up saying that a file is in use in another program.

I've done some searching on the Internet for solutions and have tried the following:
- restarting the computer and retrying
- using safe mode to delete the file
- running some commands
- downloaded the following software: CCleaner, FileASSASIN, Glary Utilities, and Unlocker

I downloaded Unlocker but never found a way to use it, so I downloaded the other programs, but none of them solved my problem. Furthermore, I tried re-downloading the file from a different website, was unable to replace the original file, and ended up with two undeletable files. I then tried to copy the file so I could at least have a non-problematic copy (this apparently worked for other people) and now I have three undeletable copies.

Please help!
(Note: If someone offers a command-type solution, I warn you I am a complete novice at typing commands so please give very detailed instructions. Thank you.)

Run the Task Manager and go to the processes tab. Find the file name in the running processes and End-process it. After that you will be able to delete/rename it.