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Unable to Delete AVI Files in Windows XP?
~~Vic
Ferri, WinTips and Tricks
One of the video bugs in Windows XP is that you
may not be able to delete or move a video avi file. Attempting to do so may
result in an error message stating that the file is in use by another
program and cannot be deleted. This usually happens with flawed or large avi
files. The problem is that Windows XP reads the entire contents of the file
into memory before even allowing you access to it (i.e. - when you click to
highlight the file or right click to view the Properties). The bug
responsible for this behavior is the file shmedia.dll which is in your
System folder and called into play by the registry. Thus to fix this
problem, all we need to do is delete the problem key so that shmedia.dll
will no longer be used when you click a video file.
Click Start>Run, type
REGEDIT and click Ok. Then make your way to this InProcServer32 key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >SOFTWARE >Classes > CLSID >
{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}> InProcServer32
Right click the InProcServer32 key and choose Delete. And that's all
there is to it. This will prevent Windows from loading shmedia.dll when you
work with video files and thus you should no longer have problems deleting
or moving any video files. Also if you have a video file you can't delete
now, deleting this key will allow you to do so. If not, log out and log in
again to delete the file.
If deleting the registry key makes you uncomfortable, you can export and
save the reg key first. Alternately, you can rename the key by preceding the
name with something like zzzz or 123.
Another method for deleting problem files (not just avi files) is by
closing explorer and using the command line to delete the file. Here I'll
give you a method that doesn't require you to enter any paths.
- Find cmd.exe (it's in your Windows\System32 folder) and COPY it to
the folder that contains your problem file.
- Double click the copied cmd.exe and leave the dos window open.
- Then click Ctrl-Alt-Del and choose Task Manager>Processes tab.
Select Explorer and click End Process.
- Once ended, enter your delete command in the open dos box:
del mymovie.avi (where "mymovie" is the name of your avi file)
- Press Enter.
- Then press Ctrl Alt Del again to get to the Task Manager>Processes
tab.
- Click File>New Task.
- Enter EXPLORER.EXE and click Ok to get Windows back to normal.
The file should now be gone.
<<<back to contents
Vic Ferri owns the very popular
WinTips and
Tricks and
Registry Answers. Subscribe to either and receive free Windows and Registry
Tips. He is also in charge of the
Printing Tips pages at Linda's Computer Stop. Vic has also created a program
which allows you to Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME.
Read more and get the free demo here. And, he now offers a service to
convert PowerPoint presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on
computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.
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