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One of the suggestions for deleting files that are difficult or hard to delete is to boot into safe mode and delete them there.

I had some video files that were difficult to delete. The windows deletion dialogue would be stuck at "discovering". So I booted into safe mode and was able to delete them. However, I do not know the cause for deleting difficulties during normal operation. What is the culprit if I was able to delete them in safe mode?

Thanks!

Izak Joubert
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  • Here now, while browsing the explorer.exe process in Process Explorer, I opened the DLL's pane for explorer and **all** of the video files from the same folder as the ones I am trying to delete are showing in this pane. Isn't that odd? That a .mkv file will show in a DLL pane? – Izak Joubert Feb 24 '19 at 13:59

1 Answers1

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There are many possibilities. Lacking more info, we can only speculate.

  • Safe Mode allows a limited set of programs and servers to start. It also loads only a basic set of drivers.

  • One of the reasons you might have trouble deleting a file is because some other program has the file open.

Putting these two facts together, it is likely that you had a program that had your files open, and when you booted into Safe Mode, that program didn't start, so the files weren't open, and thus could be deleted.

Doug Deden
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  • Is there some way for me to identify the program/service maybe? Also, it seems that the COM Surrogate process had something to do with it – Izak Joubert Feb 18 '19 at 16:28
  • Without a more specific error, I don't know what can be done. If you get an error when trying to delete that says something more along the lines of "filename.avi could not be deleted because it is open in another program", then there are tools (the Open Files section of Computer Management, perhaps; or some of the SysInternals tools) that could help determine what other program has the file locked/open. – Doug Deden Feb 18 '19 at 16:41
  • This article has some ides. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/58758b64-ffa4-406e-a442-e6bd704eb1ed/solution-to-partial-hang-lock-up-at-quotdiscovering-itemsquot-dialog-requiring-a-reboot-and?forum=w7itproui – Doug Deden Feb 18 '19 at 16:42
  • Hi Doug, thanks for the article. I tried both the registry fix and the clean boot scenario and neither worked. What else can I do? – Izak Joubert Feb 19 '19 at 21:32