Tip-Of-The-Week

February 23, 2007

From the Free Computer Consultant

http://www.FreeComputerConsultant.com

Delete that undeletable file

I came across a free utility today that will come in handy the next time your anti-virus program finds a problem, but reports that it is unable to take action.

Maddening isn't it?

After all, if it can't take care of the problem, how are you supposed to? Unless you're a pro anyway.

The utility is called MoveOnBoot. And it isn't just for deleting infected files. There can be other files that you need to move or delete but Windows tells you that the file is in use and therefore it's powerless to complete the task you've asked of it.

MoveOnBoot will let you arrange to have a file moved or deleted the next time Windows is restarted; which naturally can be right away.

This isn't the only way to skin that cat

Of course, you can always boot into safe mode, or use a boot utility to boot to a command prompt with NTFS access, but that's more complicated than necessary and outside of many user's comfort zones.

The free version of MoveOnBoot, listed under "Old Version (FreeWare)" is no longer supported. Gibin software would rather sell you their current version, of course, and the price looks very reasonable.

My advice is to try the freeware, and if you think you have sufficient need for the latest MoveOnBoot or the other utilities included in the package, go ahead and buy it.

Next time Trend Micro tells me that it can't deal with an infected file, this is what's coming out of my toolbag. (P.S. - Yes, I noticed the wrong date on last weeks tip, sorry about that.)

Hope this information is of use to you, that's it for this week.

When was the last time you backed up YOUR PC?

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The Free Computer Consultant