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I cannot delete driver files from windows

SeanBond
By SeanBond
in Troubleshooting
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The other day I did some driver tinkering because are the issues with current nvidia drivers and I finally got the last hotfix driver that was hidden away and now the old ones I downloaded sit on a hard drive and I can't get rid of them. If ever I try to delete them it gives me the same message. I thought I would get around this by disabling windows explorer and then deleting the file through the windows task manager. In doing that it said the file was open in windows task manager. 

 

So then I tried deleting directly through the command prompt, same message. Tried deleting it in safe mode, still the same thing. For what possible reason could old driver Files be in use? The only drivers that are actually in use are the ones installed to the gpu. 

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When it comes up try closing the Explorer window.

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IOBot's uninstaller won't care in most cases.  Try that.

He's talking about deleting the installers.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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As a matter of fact, I had the same issue after I grabbed the hotfix revision. I left it alone for a while and the issue went away.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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As a matter of fact, I had the same issue after I grabbed the hotfix revision. I left it alone for a while and the issue went away.

How long was a while? I am a neat freak when it comes to files and seeing useless files just sitting on my drive that I always look at annoys me lol.

Ryzen 3700x -Evga RTX 2080 Super- Msi x570 Gaming Edge - G.Skill Ripjaws 3600Mhz RAM - EVGA SuperNova G3 750W -500gb 970 Evo - 250Gb Samsung 850 Evo - 250Gb Samsung 840 Evo  - 4Tb WD Blue- NZXT h500 - ROG Swift PG348Q

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Try deleting the file in Safe Mode, works for me 99% of the time.

▶ Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. - Einstein◀

Please remember to mark a thread as solved if your issue has been fixed, it helps other who may stumble across the thread at a later point in time.

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How long was a while? I am a neat freak when it comes to files and seeing useless files just sitting on my drive that I always look at annoys me lol.

Honestly, I just moved the file like a minute before I posted. Something like 15 hours past before I actually did it. You might be able to grab a program that will force delete the file.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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lol at people saying delete it in safe mode.

Ryzen 3700x -Evga RTX 2080 Super- Msi x570 Gaming Edge - G.Skill Ripjaws 3600Mhz RAM - EVGA SuperNova G3 750W -500gb 970 Evo - 250Gb Samsung 850 Evo - 250Gb Samsung 840 Evo  - 4Tb WD Blue- NZXT h500 - ROG Swift PG348Q

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lol at people saying delete it in safe mode.

Sorry, I should have specified. "Safe mode with Command Prompt"- It'l drop you to a cmd terminal without loading the Windows Explorer service.

Once there, run this command.

DEL /F /S /Q /A "Full Path of File with extension"

Keep the file path in the quotes.

/F  switch will force delete of read only files,

▶ Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. - Einstein◀

Please remember to mark a thread as solved if your issue has been fixed, it helps other who may stumble across the thread at a later point in time.

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Sorry, I should have specified. "Safe mode with Command Prompt"- It'l drop you to a cmd terminal without loading the Windows Explorer service.

Once there, run this command.

DEL /F /S /Q /A "Full Path of File with extension"

Keep the file path in the quotes.

/F  switch will force delete of read only files,

I might try this in a bit, thanks.

Ryzen 3700x -Evga RTX 2080 Super- Msi x570 Gaming Edge - G.Skill Ripjaws 3600Mhz RAM - EVGA SuperNova G3 750W -500gb 970 Evo - 250Gb Samsung 850 Evo - 250Gb Samsung 840 Evo  - 4Tb WD Blue- NZXT h500 - ROG Swift PG348Q

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