locked files

I worked around this problem by rebooting, then deleting the files using the XP command line (cmd.exe), or inside DOSbox. Just DON'T browse to that folder in Explorer and you'll be fine.

Grrrr windows XP has so many annoying issues with folders creating themselves read only and refusing to change and now this annoying issue with explorer constantly locking files. Its so messy and annoying. Thanks for your help.

We can always hope they'll be fixed in Longhorn errr Windows Vista. HA!

Dream on 😀 Dream away.

Microsoft usually breaks at least 4-6 things for every 1 that gets fixed.

My favourite Windows XP bug is when you're trying to open an explorer window and the entire system comes to a screeching halt for 20-30 seconds, only to recover and act as if nothing ever happened (including nothing in the event log).

Here's a couple of my faves.

If you install a new video driver while using large fonts, reboot as usual, now you are back in XP with small fonts. Goto your display properties to change back to Large Fonts, only now, the menu says you are still using large fonts, despite the fact that you have small fonts. So, you select small fonts, needs reboot. Back in, select large fonts again, *Another* reboot. Finally. 🙄

Turn off the Windows help service, in the services menu. Now, when YOU want anything help related, You are rightly told there's an error. But when XP wants to forcefully tell you anything help related (normally web based), it cunting-well turns the service back on, even though you "Disabled" it.

Double-click "My Computer", for explorer. Move/stretch the window to your liking, then minimise it to the taskbar. Now Double-click "My Computer" again, then close it. Now maximise your other window that you put in the taskbar, and close it. Now lastly, Double-click "My Computer"again, and the window isn't where you left it, despite it being the Last window you closed.
I know it sounds a bit silly, but I often forget I have explorer already open (but minimised), and open up another window by accident, and lose all my window settings.

Highlight a .AVI file, or a movie file, and try and move it somewhere. You are told, more than often, that the file is in use, even though it isn't. Yet you can cut it, then paste it where you want it.

The evil that is WFP (Window File Protection). If there's a left-over DLL file, after you uninstall a program. Or, a program crashes badly and you need to re-boot XP. Now try and delete that file/directory, as it will more than likely be in use. Boot to safe mode, and it's still in use, and you cannot delete it.
regsvr32 /u xx.DLL Filexx
Will "unregister" the DLL from Windows, and allow you to delete the flipping thing. And if all else fails, Boot the XP CD to the recovery console, log in, then delete it.

I found out just yesterday that if you stop & disable the DHCP service and then do a "repair" on a network connection, Windows will still "attempt" to get DHCP settings for your network connection. But since the DHCP service is stopped, it will just freeze all network-related windows open for several *minutes* before giving up. You'd think that they would engineer it to get an immediate failure when it tries to do a DHCP renew when the DHCP service is off.

Hah. I experienced exactly the same thing, because I have DHCP service disabled too. Besides, doing a "repair" on a network connection have never worked for me.

I'm pretty sure that all the "repair" does is flushes the DNS cache, sets the connection to DHCP (automatically acquire IP address), and does a DHCP renew. Sometimes it helps but usually it just hoses your settings. I was using it because I kept switching from being connected to my router and being connected directly to my cable modem because I was setting up a new firmware in my WRT54G and accidentally turned it into a brick for a couple hours.

Now I know why it didn't work: because my router (Zyxel Prestige 643) doesn't use DHCP at all. IP values are obtained manually. 😵

EDIT: We are going a little off-topic here. Maybe we should rewrite thread's title to something like: WAS:Re: DOS/32A taking over my computer! Its multiplying! - NOW: Your favourite windows annoyances... 😁

About editing the topic: go for it. Well, maybe you should ask andyabbo first...

About your router: Is it that the router cannot assign IP addresses to LAN computers via DHCP, or is it that the router can't get DHCP information from your ISP? Either one is hard to believe. Are you sure there isn't some kind of web configuration for the router where you can enable that?

I couldn't find any mention of the 643 on Zyxel's web site, but I did find the 645 and it has both DHCP client and server features.

I fixed the problem thanks to thosel inks and unregistered the annoying copy protection dll that was locking all my files. Still have the annoying problem of every folder being made read only and the only way to un-read only folders is from the command line with attrib -r. XP is "designed" to work like this apparently.

By all means change the topic heading. Any excuse to bitch about Windows!

I've never heard of folders being automatically set to read-only, unless you're talking about copying them from a CD-ROM... Weird.

HunterZ wrote:

About editing the topic: go for it. Well, maybe you should ask andyabbo first...

About your router: Is it that the router cannot assign IP addresses to LAN computers via DHCP, or is it that the router can't get DHCP information from your ISP? Either one is hard to believe. Are you sure there isn't some kind of web configuration for the router where you can enable that?

I couldn't find any mention of the 643 on Zyxel's web site, but I did find the 645 and it has both DHCP client and server features.

I was just kidding about the thread's title change...

As for my router, it must be DHCP capable. It's just is configured the other way right now.