Problem deleting a folder: The action can't be completed because the file is open in Everything...

[shanham67]

I am trying to delete a folder on my NAS but windows will not allow me do delete it because windows says 'Everything' has the file 'Thumbs.db' open. There is no Thumbs.db file in the folder (yes, show hidden files = true).

If I shft-ctrl-esc to windows task manager and kill the 'Everything' processes I am able to delete the folder.

2024-03-06 14 56 38.png (10.72 KiB) Viewed 1118 times

OS: Windows 10 Pro
Everything Version: 1.4.1.1024 (x64)

Thanks in advance!

[void]

Everything doesn't open your thumbs.db file directly.

The OS is likely opening this file to read thumbnail cache when Everything requests a thumbnail.
I'm not sure why the OS is hanging onto this file..



The thumbs.db is a protected system file.
It is only shown if you enable Windows Explorer -> Folder Options -> View -> Uncheck hide protected operating system files.



Some ideas:

Turn off the thumbs.db file:

• From the Start menu, search for: cmd
  Right click Command Prompt and click Run as administrator.
• In the Command Prompt, type in the following and press ENTER:
  gpedit.msc
• In the The Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
  User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
• In the right-hand pane, double-click “Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files”.
• Select Enabled.

Disable shell_item_image_factory in Everything:

• Copy and paste the following into your Everything search box:
  /shell_item_image_factory=0
• Press ENTER in your Everything search box.
• If successful, shell_item_image_factory=0 is shown in the status bar for a few seconds.