So I got a request for help the other day that started out just looking like a perms issue. Seems a file on a network share could not be deleted, and the error message the user got was "Access Denied." Seemed pretty straight forward. I hit the share, found the file, and deleted it. Problem solved. I updated the user, who pinged me back 30 seconds later saying it was still there. Uh oh….maybe I deleted the wrong file. I browsed through to the share again, and sure enough the file was there. Okay, I must have whacked the wrong file.
So I confirmed the target of my delete key wrath with the user, made sure I had the right file this time, and deleted it. "Gone" I typed to him in IM. "not" he replied back. And he was right, there it was staring me in the face, laughing quietly, mocking me. Okay, so this time, thinking maybe my aging MS Natural Elite keyboard was having issues with the coffee I spilled last week (there was so much Jameson’s in the cup I figured it would evaporate right out,) I right-clicked the file with my mouse, then clicked delete. This time, I too got the "access denied." I have the habit (good or bad, you make the call) of always shift-deleting with the keyboard, and when I shift-clicked the delete it did disappear, only to reappear when I hit F5. Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot???
So I arrived at the conclusion you probably already suspect, we had on our hands a file that was possessed by a demon. Lacking salt, sulfur, or the Winchesters, I had no choice but to perform the rite of exorcism myself. First I tried the built-in Windows method, right-click, Send to
That didn’t work…the file just sat there, and now it was flipping me off. So next, I opened an administrative PowerShell and entered this command. Careful, this is case-sensitive. Substitute your filename where I have gp5791.exe.
PS>file-invocation -ritual exorcism -filename gp5791.exe –Exorcizamus te -omnis immundus spiritus -omnis satanica potestas -omnis incursio infernalis adversarii -omnis legio -omnis congregatio et secta diabolica -in nomine et virtute de Bill Gates [enter]
And that spanked me back with an error 0×0000666. Okay, joking aside, what we are dealing with is an open file that is locked. Server 2008 (and the RSAT tools) have a little nugget called Share and Storage Management. This tool has some great functionality, and is akin to the old share management in previous versions. To identify who has an open file, launch the tool (either from your workstation or the server) and do this.
- On the Actions menu, click Manage Open Files…
- Scroll down the list of open files until you find the one that is plaguing you.
- Then, you can either call the user to ask them to close the app that has the file open, or you can just click Close Selected. Since 40% of the time, they won’t be there, and 65% of the time, they won’t know what app has the file open, I tend to just click Close Selected and call it a day.
So next time you have yourself a possessed file that just won’t quietly go away to the recycle bin, check to see if it is locked. Close it, and you should be good to go. And speaking of possession, here is my all time favourite Sarah McLachlan song. She has the most haunting voice of anyone in modern music, and I just lurve the set and sepia tone used throughout this video. If I could get a photoshop effect of a scratched film, I might actually update my avatar image.
Direct link for RSS and email subscribers…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itydwcyywBc
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Since we’re on the subject of 2008 file shares, have you ever encountered Cluster shares that appear to be read-only (little lock on the icon) when in fact they aren’t? I won’t even get into the Cluster shares that randomly appear with ~1 at the end.
Between these weird issues and some “undocumented features” in the UAC, I’m a little turned off by the 2008 R2 interface.