[edit] Problem Solved [/edit]

 

A while back I opened a new text document in notepad and saved a blank file as ".exe" (no prefix). I tried to open it and got a message saying it would not run, then when I tried to delete it it says:

 

Cannot delete Desktop:\ It is being used by another person or program.

Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.

 

No matter what I do I cannot delete / rename / move this file, I wouldn't really mind if it was tucked away in my hard-drive somewhere but it is on the desktop and just adds to the unnecessary clutter.

 

Any ideas?

Have you tried Ctrl+Alt+Del and closing any instances of it possibly trying ot run? And most importantly, explorer.exe. Shut that down. It causes alot of problems. Then go to Run-> explorer.exe to reboot it up.

 

Of course, a restart would probably fix all of this as well.

you could try downloading KillBox, and copying the files pathname into killbox and seeing if killbox can handle it.

 

the 'delete on reboot' option usually works.

 

[edit] assuming that you'v already tried reebooting -- if not, mezarashi idea's will work & be easyer[/edit]

Thanks for the killbox link Dak that took car of it! The file has been there for about 3 months so I certainly have tried what you suggested mezarashi, but thanks anyway.

 

Problem solved.

glad to be of help

 

as killbox is desighned to delete malware, it will have made a backup copy of the txt/exe hybrid file at the location C:/!submit/[filename].exe.

 

as you havent accessed the backup copy yet, it should be easy enough to delete by deleting the !submit folder; but if not atlest the problem has moved somewhere more discrete