How to Delete Undeletable Files in Windows XP

Sometimes when you try to delete a file but windows wouldn't allow you to do this.

The reason behind this is that the file is being used by essential windows program like windows explorer, which effectively preventing you to deleting them.You can delete those unwanted files by following the simple steps below.

If you already know the path to the file, please skip to Step 7

• Click on Start, Find, Files and Folders
• Type the name of the undeletable file in the Search box 
• Make sure the Look In box shows the correct drive letter
• Click on Search and let the computer find the file  
• Once the file is located, right-click on it and choose properties, make a note of the file location.
• Close search box 
• Click on Start, Run and type TASKMGR.EXE and press Enter to start Task Manager  
• Click on the Processes tab
• Click on the process named Explorer.exe and click on End Process. 
• Minimize Task Manager but leave it open
• Click on Start, Run, and type CMD and Press Enter to open Command Prompt window 
• Change to the directory where the file is located.To do this, follow the example below.

Example: to change to the Windows\System32 directory you would enter the following command and Press Enter

cd \windows\system32

• Now use the DEL command to delete the offending file.

Type DEL <filename> where <filename> is the file you want to delete.

• Use ALT-TAB to go back to Task Manager 
• Click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the Windows shell. 
• Close Task Manager