Is there a way to delete files that the system says are in use or otherwise undeletable? I'm trying to remove junkware that installed itself with something I demo'ed from download.com. There are one or two components of each piece of junkware that won't go away. I'm hoping there's a DOS mode or damn-the-torpedoes function that will let me delete these files regardless of the consequence.

It's very annoying that to uninstall this junkware I have to register with the host company's website to get an uninstall key. That's got to be illegal.

Thanks,
Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

"adware" - "spyware" etc. sometimes comes with write protection via the system backup feature. If you know the name of the file that's protected, do a google search on the filename and you'll find the instructions on how to delete it, typically by turning off the system restore, or by using sysedit to manually zap them in the system folders, since these files tend to spam themselves into system, program and user folders.

also if you do a search for *.* it will bring up all your files on your computer..



http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3150-2096-0.html?tag=dir

__________________
2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
2006 Mazda Tribute
1983 Black 300 D (donated to charity)
1993 Teal 300 D (160K) Sold
"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
USMC 1973-1976

Provided that you've turned on the "show hidden files" feature . . . and even when you find the files, typically .cab files, they can't be deleted using the DEL key or right mouse clicking, Delete, because they're "protected" backup files.

thanks for the tip I just downloaded ad-aware 6.0 it found 338 malignant files. I have been loosing ground to all of the ad crap that has infested my XP machine

Download Spybod S&D too. Make sure you get all the updates.

If you tagteam your computer with AdAware and Spybot, you will remove 99.9999987654321 % of junk on your computer.

And yes that is an exact number.

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http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/nis_pe/features.html

__________________
2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
2006 Mazda Tribute
1983 Black 300 D (donated to charity)
1993 Teal 300 D (160K) Sold
"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
USMC 1973-1976

Spybot got rid of a few more things from my wife's computer than AdAware did. Still, I use them both.

Do most things come through Internet Exploiter? I switched my wife to Mozilla after clearing all the junk, and nothing's returned so far.

Sixto, is there an agency or law firm you can call to see about filing charges against the company that wants you to register?

you can reboot into safe mode to delete files that are in use.

Spybot and ad aware are both great I run them once every couple of weeks

Alon

__________________
'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

You can also boot using an ME/98SE boot floppy. You can delete files that way outside of XP. The only trouble is you have to navigate using DOS.

Haasman

__________________
'03 E320 Wagon-Sold
'95 E320 Wagon-Went to Ex
'93 190E 2.6-Wrecked
'91 300E-Went to Ex
'65 911 Coupe (#302580)

Only if using FAT on the hard drive. If he's using NTFS, that option is a no-go.

__________________
Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
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