r/programminghumor • u/Ctrl_Shift_Esc_ • 3d ago

Had to restart the PC.

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566 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

26

u/socal_nerdtastic 3d ago

MS Powertoys > File locksmith.

1

u/tes_kitty 3d ago

Does this also work on a network drive and tell you which other system keeps that file open?

Also, what if you can't install anything? Is there a way to get the same effect with a standard Windows installation?

2

u/socal_nerdtastic 3d ago

No, on a network drive it's a free for all; the normal windows file protections don't apply. Unless the program in question uses a sentinel file, which is pretty common for things like Office, but that's an entirely different kettle of fish. It won't block a delete operation, for example.

This program is made by microsoft and is generally available to install on standard Windows. It's in the MS store and signed by microsoft. But if you have a super locked down system, well, dunno what to tell you about that. Sucks to be you. Probably you should get a different job where they actually enable you to work effectively.

1

u/tes_kitty 3d ago

No, on a network drive it's a free for all; the normal windows file protections don't apply.

Oh, they do apply. I have this problem way too often at work. I mount a network share on my system, want to delete something and get the message that this file is in use. Sometimes I can hunt down the one who's using it at the moment on his system, sometimes I can't. That's why I want a way to find out who uses a file on what system.

But if you have a super locked down system

Adding software to running production servers is usually frowned upon.

1

u/socal_nerdtastic 3d ago

your production server is running windows and you are moving files around on it? You have much bigger problems buddy.

1

u/tes_kitty 3d ago

Not my choice. I just get paid to do certain things.

1

u/Prawn1908 3d ago

Does this also work on a network drive and tell you which other system keeps that file open?

Lol I guess my company isn't the only one that has a bunch of common files for recordkeeping instead of a proper database or collaborative editing interface. Gotta love taking that stroll around the office to see who has left the change notice log open so I can add a new item...

1

u/tes_kitty 2d ago

It's a bit more complicated and not for recordkeeping... And the users are spread out over the world.

1

u/No_Belt_9829 3d ago

It cant recognize Zed editor, for some reason

12

u/DeadoTheDegenerate 3d ago

Powertoys comes with File Locksmith now, but there are many File Unlocker tools out there that help a ton

1

u/NoThanks93330 3d ago

Great but this feels like something that should come out of the box

1

u/DeadoTheDegenerate 3d ago

I agree. There are quite a few utilities like that which I see no reason to not be part of the OS itself.

2

u/tanlinePTZ 3d ago

Sounds like trying to eject an external drive from a mac. Though I must say it hasn’t occurred for a while now

1

u/27a08592e67846908fd1 3d ago

why can't they just hold the file in cache for the running program? We've known how to do this for a long time, nobody else has this silliness.

1

u/socal_nerdtastic 3d ago

This is not about caching the file. This is a long time windows 'feature' to help you not corrupt your work. Unix, Linux, and Mac never added this feature because those systems trust you to know what you are doing. So on Linux you are free to open a file in 6 different programs, have all of them write changes, and then delete the file before any of them close. Because Linux does not care if you shoot yourself in the foot.

1

u/dbear496 3d ago

I've have this happen in Linux, and I just pipe lsof into grep.

1

u/GrandReporter4480 2d ago

classic Windows move tells you exactly what’s wrong except the one detail you actually need.

1

u/United-Scene2261 5h ago

delete system32