This has happened to all of us at one time or another. A file gets stuck with a writelock causing another operation to fail. You end up not being able to copy, send to, or to delete the file. You get one of the following error messages:

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Unlocker 1.8.5 is available for free and will work to free your file or folder that is giving you a headache. Unlocker comes with a full application installer so you won’t have to fuss with manually fooling with any .DLLs. The tool can be used right away and doesn’t require a reboot of the system.

Make sure you read the FAQ especially if you are a Vista user.

This is another tool for your toolbox that you will want to have available.

Get the free download here.