I hate windows with a burning passion, but if you must use it then you should install Powertoys. Among the many useful utilities is file locksmith which will not only tell you what program is holding onto a file but also allows you to close it.
Edit: Also the “Awake” feature will keep your computer from falling asleep. Pair this with Caffeine.exe from Zhorn software (free download) and it will keep you green on MS Teams. One of the other useful features is the text extractor, which will capture any written text on your screen and copy it to your clipboard.
PowerToys are basically functional tools that the Microsoft Engineers want to add but can’t due to needing to convince the Product Manager that adding said functionality will increase the bottom line.
Yeah especially because they tend to add new features and enable them by default. I dislike having to use windows, but powertoys is where actual UX and power user improvements happen, so it’s a must. But like if “auto dark mode” was turned on globally there would be people shooting their computers for being dark on their property
Yeah, back in my early pirate years as a teen, I downloaded a virus. I was able to sniff it out, and I deleted it. But after every restart the files came back. I eventually found that it had created a separate file that would run a script to check for the existence of the others, and replace them if they were ever removed. I tried to delete this file, and couldn’t; their safety measure was to have that file always be referenced by something so it was impossible to delete. File locksmith was what made it possible to remove, and tattled on what program (yet another part of the virus) was keeping it open.
It’s also possible to do this in the resource monitor in task manager without installing anything. I’m off Windows these days so I dont remember the particular steps.
Edit: Here are the steps:
Press Win + R, type resmon, and press Enter. This will open Resource Monitor.
Go to the CPU tab.
In the Associated Handles section, use the search box to enter part of the file or folder name.
The results will show which processes are using the file.
You can right-click the process and select End Process if necessary (be cautious when ending processes).
I added the steps to my comment. Its fairly simple. PowerToys is great, but if you’re ever in a situation where you don’t have it and want to do this quickly, it’s good to know.
I hate windows with a burning passion, but if you must use it then you should install Powertoys. Among the many useful utilities is file locksmith which will not only tell you what program is holding onto a file but also allows you to close it.
Edit: Also the “Awake” feature will keep your computer from falling asleep. Pair this with Caffeine.exe from Zhorn software (free download) and it will keep you green on MS Teams. One of the other useful features is the text extractor, which will capture any written text on your screen and copy it to your clipboard.
Agreed powertoys should just be installed by default
PowerToys are basically functional tools that the Microsoft Engineers want to add but can’t due to needing to convince the Product Manager that adding said functionality will increase the bottom line.
While I tend to agree, I feel the average user would just end up shooting themself in the foot with such tools readily available.
Yeah especially because they tend to add new features and enable them by default. I dislike having to use windows, but powertoys is where actual UX and power user improvements happen, so it’s a must. But like if “auto dark mode” was turned on globally there would be people shooting their computers for being dark on their property
They don’t have to be very visible to average users even if installed by default
True, could be a thing only easily accessible via command prompt…
Sys internals also… So many useful features for free but you have to know to install
Yeah, back in my early pirate years as a teen, I downloaded a virus. I was able to sniff it out, and I deleted it. But after every restart the files came back. I eventually found that it had created a separate file that would run a script to check for the existence of the others, and replace them if they were ever removed. I tried to delete this file, and couldn’t; their safety measure was to have that file always be referenced by something so it was impossible to delete. File locksmith was what made it possible to remove, and tattled on what program (yet another part of the virus) was keeping it open.
Also with the “always on top” powertoy feature, you can put a little Sharkle in the corner of your screen to keep you company!
Forwarding this to my shark friend, thanks!
It’s also possible to do this in the resource monitor in task manager without installing anything. I’m off Windows these days so I dont remember the particular steps.
Edit: Here are the steps:
Press Win + R, type resmon, and press Enter. This will open Resource Monitor.
Go to the CPU tab.
In the Associated Handles section, use the search box to enter part of the file or folder name.
The results will show which processes are using the file.
You can right-click the process and select End Process if necessary (be cautious when ending processes).
Yeah, imma install PowerToys.
I added the steps to my comment. Its fairly simple. PowerToys is great, but if you’re ever in a situation where you don’t have it and want to do this quickly, it’s good to know.
I’m snarky, but this is genuinely great information. Thanks for sharing!
I did this exact thing yesterday and Powertoys told me no one was using the file. Now it will just exist forever because I gave up.
Obviously I deleted powertoys after it failed to help and now all I can be is glad that this isn’t my main OS.
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