Cant Delete File!!! Please Help

I am running win xp home. Have a corrupted windows media file and can not delete it. When I go to delete it, it tells me it cant because it is being used by another person or program. There is only one user set up on my computer. I cant get the properties of this file either. I click on properties and it does nothing. I have tried going into safe mode and deleting it but got the same results. I ran hijackthis and have a clean slate. Also ran AVG 7.0 virus and got nothing on it. If I try and open the file, windows media tries to open it and I get an error and it wont play. Then my whole system starts getting jammed up and cpu runs at 100%. HOW CAN I DELETE THIS BUGGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried to rename it with no success too.

 

Hi, Do you have these settings done in Windows Explorer- they may help you see the file extension in case there are more than one...a viral file, in other words...

""Now go ahead and set your computer to show hidden files like so:

click on My Computer then click Tools > Folder Options. In Folder options click on the View tab. Under Files and Folders tick "Show hidden files and folders" then uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files (recommended)". Now click "Like current folder" then "Apply" and "OK" ""

You can set the above settings in Safe Mode> they will stick for Normal mode.

Depends on who uses the computer, whether you want to leave those settings...

Check the file in Windows Explorer, whatver path it has to it...

Expand the window as much as possible...can you see an extension way out past where the normal one would appear?

Or, a double extension like: C:\Windows\System\xyxxz.wmv.scr ?

Is the "file" perhaps running as a task? Lots of malware operate this way, you have to shut it down first, then try to delete it or rename...it can take a few tries to get it to stop so wait a bit, End Task sometimes will take two tries. Hope this helps. Would you be willing to post the filename and location?

 

The problem was getting worse so that if I even opened the folder the file was in, the computer would start to bug out. I created a notepad text file and named it the same as the corrupt/problem file then put it in the folder with the bad one. When it asked if I would like to replace the original I hit yes. It replaced it, then I deleted it.

 

Problem solved- by you! Good now we can get some sleep...