Computers and software. The file is occupied by another program: what to do

It's no secret that on Windows systems, programs can use some files at the same time. Typically, this applies to system components, and when you open an application that is associated with such a file, or when you try to uninstall Windows, it tells the user that the system or user file is being used by another program. What to do? It's a game, a torrent application or even an ordinary office editor - it does not matter. The essence of the problem does not change from this. But let's see what can be done in this situation.

The file is occupied by another program: what this means

Actually, the essence of the matter is that a certain component currently uses not one but two or more applications. In particular, this applies not only to running user programs, but also system services running in the background.

Typically, the problem that a file is occupied by another program when you try to access it mostly relates to device drivers, but there are exceptions. In the simplest case, you can give an example that a user simultaneously opens a document, say, first in Word, and then in WordPad and in one of these applications tries to save the changes. Naturally, the system begins to spit, as they say. The same applies, for example, when using a webcam, when Skype is assigned priority, and the user tries to start another application, which in theory should also use it. And these are not isolated cases.

Quite often, there are other situations when the file is occupied by another program. What to do? The torrent file can not be deleted! Why? Yes, simply because it is in the active download stage in the application itself (BitTorrent, uTorrent, etc.). You can exit this situation quite simply by completing the download or distribution in the program or simply deleting the download from the list. But this is the simplest thing that can be. Usually the situation is much more complicated.

The file is occupied by another program: what to do in the simplest case

As a rule, most ordinary users do not particularly want to delve into the essence of what is happening. The system reports that the file is being used by another program. What to do, almost all users of this contingent know.

What exactly? Correctly! They just reboot the computer. By the way, this primitive method helps absolutely in all cases, however, this only concerns the completion of active processes associated with the system itself. If the work was done with the documents in which the changes were made, there is no need to speak about any preservation. And many just do not take it into account, and then they start biting their elbows.

Forced completion of the blocking process

The best option for getting out of the situation is checking the blocking process. How do I know which process is using the file? Yes, it's very simple! To do this, you should use the well-known "Task Manager", which can be called Ctrl + Del + Alt (Ctrl + Esc + Alt) or taskmgr from the "Run" menu (Win + R). If the user at least approximately understands which application can access the file at the moment, you simply need to find it in the list of active processes or services and apply the forced termination of the process by the corresponding button or through the context menu of the right click.

But this method is suitable only for those cases when it is possible to assume which process can access the specified file. But if there is not even an approximate idea, it is better to use the utility Process Explorer, which can be downloaded from the official Microsoft resource.

Problems with deleting files

Quite often there can be situations when the system, when trying to delete, reports that the file is being used by another program. What to do, we will consider a little later, for now a few words about which components can not be deleted.

Most often this concerns system components that are vital for the operation of Windows or associated with these processes in part (although there are other situations). This does not help any administrator rights, no matter how hard you try (the system itself blocks the execution of actions that can harm it). However, in such a situation there is a way out. There are at least two options.

Using the Unlocker utility

So, the system reports that the file is being used by another program. What to do in this case? You can use the unique Unlocker utility. In some Windows assemblies, it is already available from the very beginning. If it does not exist, the application will have to be downloaded and installed.

After that, the program integrates its own command lines in the right-click menu. Now you need to call this menu and use the Unlocker command, select the process in the application window, and then click the "Kill the process" button below. Upon completion with the file, you can perform any operations.

Changing access rights

Now let's look at one more situation with attempts to delete some data. In this case, the system also reports that the file is being used by another program. What to do in this situation? To delete the so-called undelete files and folders, you just need to grant yourself the necessary rights.

You can do this in the context menu of the right click on the object in the properties section. Here you will need to go to the security tab, click the Advanced button and change the current owner, then go back to the previous window and use the Edit button, and then check the box in front of all the lines in the list.

Upon completion of all these operations, the file can be deleted without problems.

Other situations and solutions

It also happens that games do not want to work either. Again, the system reports that a file is being used by another program. What to do? SpinTires (simulator of races on trucks) to everything else and gives an error that, they say, the files differ from the original.

In this case, it can only mean that the game is loaded from an unreliable source, and therefore both the launch and access to the online passage are blocked. The output can be a re-download of the official version or installation of special "fixes" to eliminate problems with work.

Conclusion

As we see, the situation is uncritical. If for some reason the system reports that the file is being occupied by another program, what to do and what decision to correct the problem, you can understand from all the proposed. Actually, any way to choose a user can solve this situation. What to prefer? Many people recommend using Unlocker, since this is the simplest solution, because the permanent completion of some blocking process can become quite problematic. In some cases, you can use optimizers with fine-tuning startup, but if you exclude some important system processes from it, there is no guarantee that Windows will work correctly or boot up when you restart it. And this is even under the condition that most of such applications are considered harm to the system do not cause. In general, in any case, caution does not hurt, so be vigilant.