Trouble moving (overwrite) a file (weird isn't it?)

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King Harold
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Trouble moving (overwrite) a file (weird isn't it?)

Post by King Harold »

When I downloaded the new Latenite and tried to move it over the older Latenite something odd happened. I did get the dialog "do you want to replace.." and I clicked OK (obviously) and the new Latenite got copied over the old one (the source in the download folder remained there). Then when I tried to run Latenite it was being "used by an other program", the culprit turned out to be "Explorer.exe". I rebooted my comp and all was fine.
But WHY does that happen? Why can't Windows XP Professional just Move a file over an other file? And it only happened this time..

What could have caused this?
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hop
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Post by hop »

Like you said it only happened this time, so it's not really something Windows XP can't do.

Normally with this error it's being used by a program that is still running or has crashed before it could release the file. With explorer.exe being the culprit it's a well known problem of Windows on NTFS. I guess it's just a little bug preventing the filemanager from releasing the file correctly that occurs once every blue moon.

Kill explorer.exe, use a tool to force windows to unlock the file, or reboot. Doesn't happen very often though.
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Post by benryves »

Use Process Explorer to search for (and close) open handles.

2000 had it pretty bad (highlighting a media file caused WMP to preview it on the left, meaning that deleting video or music files could be interesting). XP had it much better - though with me it had a problem deleting folders, for some reason. I haven't had any such problems with Vista yet, but it's only a matter of time. ;)

In future, don't reboot. Just kill explorer and restart it.
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Post by King Harold »

Ah yes this makes a lot more sense to me now.
I just got a little angry at my computer for failing to do what I wanted it to do.. normally I would have killed explorer and restarted it, but well..
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Re: Trouble moving (overwrite) a file (weird isn't it?)

Post by Homestar »

King Harold wrote:Why can't Windows XP Professional just Move a file over an other file?
Because it's not a mac.
King Harold wrote:What could have caused this?
One man... Bill Gates
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Re: Trouble moving (overwrite) a file (weird isn't it?)

Post by kv83 »

Homestar wrote:
King Harold wrote:Why can't Windows XP Professional just Move a file over an other file?
Because it's not a mac.
That's propably the most stupid answer I ever heard. If there is one operating system that should burn in hell, than it would be MacOSX.
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Re: Trouble moving (overwrite) a file (weird isn't it?)

Post by Delnar_Ersike »

kv83 wrote:
Homestar wrote:
King Harold wrote:Why can't Windows XP Professional just Move a file over an other file?
Because it's not a mac.
That's propably the most stupid answer I ever heard. If there is one operating system that should burn in hell, than it would be MacOSX.
I don't think we need comments from Mac fans about that post... :roll:

MacOS has got some good things going on and some bad things, to put it in a nice way (though the bad things vastly outnumber the good things). Overall, MacOS is good for those kinds of people haven't ever touched a computer yet and are only beginning to fit into this digital world of ours. However, once the user gets to know more about computers, the user will eventually get bored of the limits and useless bells and whistles of MacOS and eventually move over to Windows. But if the user goes even deeper about how computers are run, they should become bored of even Windows after a while and start making the transition to a Linux distribution.

IMHO, here is a scale (from 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best) on how the three main OS types (Mac, Windows, and Linux distributions) are good at ease of use and power (Sorry, no FreeBSD, I don't have any experience with it) for an average user (not us, I consider people who already know a couple of programming languages above average).
Ease of Use:
Mac: 9 (the only reason it's not a 10 is because if you Mac starts crashing... well, consider yourself lucky if you can find why within 2 months :roll: )
Windows: 4 (People don't really know what the heck viruses, spyware, and adware really are, and usually spend hundreds of dollars just to try to protect themselves against it. Also, because of the myriad of options available to the user, it can take quite some time to make decisions. The frequency of crashes are above normal, and it can take a couple of days to find out what went wrong)
Linux: 2 (Though it is pretty easy to find out what went wrong in crashes and crashes don't really happen unless you want them to, the terminal commands can be a real pain, especially for the average user)
Power:
Mac: 3 (You can make movies, make a couple of tunes, and use other basic computer functions, but you can't really get into the more advanced stuff without switching to a different OS)
Windows: 7 (It's very easy to do what you want to with Windows, though it can be a pain finding out how to. Windows can do even more than a Mac, especially with video stuff, but it still has its limits)
Linux: 10 (You can do anything with Linux. Ok, so maybe you can't make your computer grow and reproduce to make tiny computers, but there are no limits when it comes to Linux. However, the average user who hasn't experienced this kind of power yet will not be able to use all of it, and maybe even do something permanently to their computer the average user does not want to)
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Post by King Harold »

I have Debian on my other 2 computers :)
Those are old computers with MMX processors, I use them for just about anything - except gaming.
On this computer though I play games as well and some of them (probably most) want to be run on windows..

I wouldn't want any Mac thing (Mac-fans inclusive) anywhere close to my house, no offense to you Homestar..
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Post by Andy_J »

I don't want to see this turn into a flame war (as OS discussions always seem to do), but I feel compelled to make a statement about this.
Delnar_Ersike wrote:Overall, MacOS is good for those kinds of people haven't ever touched a computer yet and are only beginning to fit into this digital world of ours. However, once the user gets to know more about computers, the user will eventually get bored of the limits and useless bells and whistles of MacOS and eventually move over to Windows. But if the user goes even deeper about how computers are run, they should become bored of even Windows after a while and start making the transition to a Linux distribution.
Uh... Why? I don't see very many, if any (compared to Windows), shortcomings of OS X. As for your statement of moving to a Linux distribution, yes, I run GNU/Linux on a few boxes, but anything Linux can do, OS X can do as well. You forget it is a UNIX(TM) under the hood (or rather will be when Leopard comes out, but until then it's close enough), and that installing Xcode gives you the entire GNU toolchain, which lets you build just about any Linux program. As it is right now, I have Darwine built from source and have Revsoft's 83+ toolchain (the IDE uses GTK+, and the emulator is a Windows program run via Darwine) and it works just as well as it would on a Linux box. I get the nice user interface of OS X (which I think is a bit more well-rounded than what Gnome or KDE can provide) and the plethora of software Linux has. Win-win.
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Post by DarkAuron »

I use Unlocker when I come across this issue in Windows XP. It rarely happens but when it does it can be annoying, and often rebooting or going into safe mode doesn't help.

Now, in the end, does it matter whether an OS is better than another, or does it matter on personal preference? It really depends on what you use, how you use it, and what you LIKE to use. Arguing over what someone should use is pointless because you're clashing against what they prefer, and you can't tell someone to like something that they don't.

It's like a technological religious war, and it doesn't look like anyone is going to win or lose; so calm down guys. This topic is about a bug in Windows, not which OS should be used.
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Post by hop »

The only good thing about a Mac is when it's running windows or linux code, but all OSes have bugs like this.
Now, in the end, does it matter whether an OS is better than another, or does it matter on personal preference? It really depends on what you use, how you use it, and what you LIKE to use. Arguing over what someone should use is pointless because you're clashing against what they prefer, and you can't tell someone to like something that they don't.
You may prefer hitting nails with a screwdriver but I may still tell you why that's not a good idea and why you should use a hammer instead.

Some can't deal with other's opinions being different. I say they should calm down before they get their panties in a bunch instead of always continually telling others who aren't agitated to calm down. Or at least stop doing that.

We all know how arguments work, no need to repeat it every time someone disagrees with you.
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Post by King Harold »

Good point.

Anyway, I downloaded unlocker, so next time it happens I'll be ready for it.
Thanx for the tip! :)
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Post by DJ_O »

DarkAuron wrote:I use Unlocker when I come across this issue in Windows XP. It rarely happens but when it does it can be annoying, and often rebooting or going into safe mode doesn't help.

Now, in the end, does it matter whether an OS is better than another, or does it matter on personal preference? It really depends on what you use, how you use it, and what you LIKE to use. Arguing over what someone should use is pointless because you're clashing against what they prefer, and you can't tell someone to like something that they don't.

It's like a technological religious war, and it doesn't look like anyone is going to win or lose; so calm down guys. This topic is about a bug in Windows, not which OS should be used.
well said, and I got the same problem than king harold a while ago, rebooting fixed the problem in my case tho. I hate when it happens a lot.
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Post by Homestar »

Wow! For something I said jokingly, you guys sure did take it seriously. :D

Atleast I know who's paying attention :roll:
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Post by CDI »

Yeah, Windows on NTFS tends to do that. However Windows on Fat32 is far worse off, so I would rather take the NTFS issues over the Fat32 ones anyday.

And imo, Mac OS, in any form, is a specialized market. If you are used to Windows, then in my experinces, you won't 'love' Mac OS. And for anyone that seems to think Mac OS is 'limited' hasn't used it much. It may not be able to do anything Linux can, but it sure as hell can out-do Windows, and on cheaper and older hardware at that :) I would like to see you run Vista on a 400MHz P3 with 256MB ram :) [ and yes, WITH aero :D ]
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