Which files are my processes using?

[Bjostwick]

It really irritates me when I get the error message: Cannot delete blank.***. It is being used by another person or program. Well, WHICH person or program is using it?!

So I'm curious, is there a utility in Windows or some freeware that will allow me to view which programs or processes are using which files at any given time?

Any response will be greatly appreciated.

 

[s0me0ne]

alright here we go, I think it irritates everyone.... especially if you know its a virus/adware or some other shady process that you know you want to kill. The simplest tool there is is none other then taskmanager.... just look for that x83ks7dj3j.exe or what have you and end process.... if that doesn't work search the web for something called kill.exe BUT! be cafull because this simple tool is mainly found in rootkits/ircbot nets/other none sysadmin/localadmin friendly things. armed with this tool if you open task manager then click on the show PID or something like that (sorry no win boxes handy) then you can see there PID assigned to that process. Open a DOS shell, goto the dir with kill and
C:\>kill.exe <pid> ===> kill 1723 and she'll be gone....It might just be spawned again right after that but its gone. Another good tool for finding out what process is what files/dir is spybot... they have some nice stuff if you put it into advanced mode. check out the process button and you'll get a little better idea.... just be scared of what you kill from the C:\%systemroot%\system32 dir There might be other tools out there but those two get me by most of the time. Oh! another fun prog by www.foundstone.com is FPORT. This lil' fella will show you what port matches up to what service/program/exe/what ever. just a little neat thing some one told me about. Alright I'm sure this isn't totally the best reply ever but I hope its enough to get the ball rolling. Enjoy.

 

[Bjostwick]

Thank you for the response. The reason I'm curious about this, is that when I try to install WINXP service pack 1, during the installation I get the error message:

The file:\windows\system32\drivers\atapi.sys is open or in use by another application.

So, more specifically, I'm interested in seeing which process is running atapi.sys, or where it is loaded into memory. Since you can't find or manipulate atapi.sys in the Task Manager, I'd like to know how you can.

 

[office politics]

uninstall daemon tools and rerun

 

[Bjostwick]

Yes, uninstalling Daemon Tools works for the installation of SP1, thank you. My original question still stands:

"is there a utility in Windows or some freeware that will allow me to view which programs or processes are using which files at any given time?"

 

[Vormund]

I was curious as well, with Bjostwick...for I have the problem of every time I shutdown the computer (or restart),
RUNDLL32.EXE is in use, Press End Now or Windows will Automatically End it in 30 Seconds...
and it never ends it (even after the 30 seconds), so I have to stay there and press End Now every time I shut it off. Gets rather annoying, but I'm not fed up enough to check which process it is, for I have so many Unless there is a prog for it! That'd be handy.

 

[office politics]

ive asked for a program like this on many boards in the past. I've come to the conclusion that this program does not exist. Take this post to the programmers lounge, see what they can do.

 

[Inaris]

Ok guys,

here are a few tools that if used together will help you in your quest for this information. They are made by Winternal same site name and can be found here (http://www.sysinternals.com/)

FileMon: this is the first utility. It will tell you what process is doing what with your system. it is a very fast program and you will have to learn how to manipulate the data so you can understand it.
ProcXP: This is a very cool tool at it will tell you all that a process is doing while active. Even the associated files being used, but is it not super easy to read.

Good Luck

 

[Vormund]

Inaris...I thank you *much*...ProcXP let me see precisely what program was causing my hang...and it's no-more!! As I said, thanks!
-X

 

[Bjostwick]

Yes, thanks Inarus.