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Thread ID: 41046	2003-12-28 07:48:00	Theman~3.avi - How to delete?	*Sparky* (311)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
203712	2003-12-28 07:48:00	Hi ya all, I seem to have a file in my music download folder called "THEMAN~3.AVI" I dont remember downloading it intentionally. It weighs in at 686mb and doesnt do anything so would like to get rid of it. However, heres the problem. If I try to delete it, I get the response that some other program is using it and to close the other program first. When I shut down as much as I can through Task Manager, I still get the same message. I have tried safe mode, same response. If I try and open it, Real Player says General Error and goes no further. If I right click it and choose properties, Explorer.exe goes at 100% and doesnt stop, just slows up everything else. I then need to restart. Virus scan doesnt object to it, neither does adaware or spybot. Had a look at google and the only results I got were porn site addresses. (XXX4free.com) Any help much appreciated.	*Sparky* (311)
203713	2003-12-28 08:21:00	I have had the same problems with some avi's. I think it has something to do with windows trying to gather preview information. Anyway the only way I have found to remove them is from the command console. Run cmd and wait for the dos prompt. If the file is in a directory d:\music\ then you need to type in del d:\music\theman~3.avi and it should be bye bye file. If there are any spaces in the directory names you of course need the " around the file name. Hope this helps.	Big John (551)
203714	2003-12-28 11:11:00	Yup, windows doesnt like partial AVI's it has something to do with the index for the file being at the end, & if you've only a part of the file, no index, means alot of searching for explorer . couple of easy solutions: 1 . As mentioned above in the command prompt navigate to the folder that has the file, type del d:\music\theman~3 . avi . 2 . alternatively, as occasionally Ive had it not delete from the command prompt either, which is annoying . what you can do then is create a new file of pretty much any type . What I do is right click & create new . txt file . & when it asks for the new name, I copy in the name of the offending . avi it'll ask you if you want to change the extension . choose yes . you have to change the extension . now simply copy the zero byte sized file that you've just created & paste whereever the original is, when your asked if you want to overwrite, choose yes again, & BAM! the original is overwritten & the remaning file can be deleted no problems . 3 . if you wanted to see what this . avi is really heres a nifty trick ( . avipreview . com/avipreview . htm" target="_blank">www . avipreview . com) it allows you to reindex a partial . avi and either just check to make sure its what you thought it was or you can save a copy of the file to date as a complete . avi while the original continues downloading, or in the above case, the original really screws explorer . 4 . try this ( . tweakxp . com/tweak1486 . aspx" target="_blank">www . tweakxp . com) to see if it solves the problem permanently . . . . obviously only if you're using XP . Also handy site to really get the most out of your installation hope that helps	flying_green_leprachaun (1767)
203715	2003-12-28 12:19:00	Yah. Sort of. The cmd action denied me access because it was being used by another program. So downloaded avi preview and found the opening 2 secs of a movie made by the Australian Film Commission. Made a 0byte text file with the same name and replaced the other. Bingo. Problem file gone. Now not causing explorer problems. I have a 0byte file that wont go away. When I try the cmd delete it says access denied. But I can live with a file that size just sitting there. I tried deleting the registry key as mentioned on Tweak XP but will have to wait for a reboot to see if that works. Thanks guys.	*Sparky* (311)
203716	2003-12-28 12:40:00	Yeah. All gone. Just rebooted and the registry delete mentioned in No 4 has kicked it out. Thanks again.	*Sparky* (311)
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