Locked Files

One utility that I found invaluable when running Windows XP was WhoLockMe. It is a small utility with one simple purpose - to unlock a file in order to perform an operation on it, usually a file delete.

Normally, Windows protects a file from deletion when it is being used by another process (and quite rightly so). There are times, however, when it is necessary to delete a file that is in use - when dealing with malware, for example, or when a process stubbornly refuses to quit or release the handle on a file. WhoLockMe always came to the rescue. This utility installs as a Windows Explorer extension, so a right click on the file to be removed allowed the file to be unlocked and then deleted.

I recently found out that it didn't install under Windows 7. It appeared to install but there was no option to unlock in the right click context menu.

Enter Unlocker from Cedrick 'Nitch' Collomb. This is also a small utility - the install file is 255KB - and it performs the same task. And it works perfectly with Windows 7.

I'm not recommending unlocking and deleting files as a regular practice, but when you need to, this is the tool you wish you had.