Question

2

This has been happening to me for some time now.

I'm currently running Windows 7 RTM. When I try to rename a new folder that is created (by copying usually), I usually get a "Folder is in use" error. I would have to wait a while before I would be able to modify the folder name. Files behave the same way too.

I am thinking that this is because I am sharing the folder, or library, via Homegroup Sharing. Is anyone who is running Windows 7 RTM experience this as well?

EDIT 1: I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate.

edited Oct 13 at 1:26

asked Oct 12 at 7:28

Mart
31●5

	Edited question above for more clarity. – Mart Oct 13 at 1:27
	@ harrymc: That's what I usually have to do when I was on XP or Vista. Any shared folder that needs to be renamed will be automatically unshared. After the rename, it will need to be reshared. Not sure if this is the same as Windows 7, since it allows library sharing, which seems to work differently than I recognize. – Mart Oct 13 at 1:28
	@ ChrisF : I use Teracopy to handle my copying needs, which does a CRC test after the copying to verify the copy. The issue still happens though. – Mart Oct 13 at 1:28
	@ L0neRanger : Yup, it's windows file sharing, but it's shared via Windows Homegroup sharing, not the usual form of sharing we're used to in XP and Vista. – Mart Dec 14 at 12:19

ChrisF · Answer 1 · 2009-10-12 08:10:06Z

It could be that the copy is still happening in the background. This frees the UI to carry on processing user commands, but it does mean that if you're copying a lot of data you can't access it straight away.

Caveat - I'm not running Windows 7 at work so I can't double check.

harrymc · Answer 2 · 2009-10-12 08:26:24Z

In theory, it's impossible to rename a shared folder, since the share name is tied to the folder name.

If you renamed the folder, the share name would no longer be valid.
You need to un-share, rename and then manually re-assign the share and the permissions.

In practice, the following has a chance of working:

Stop the Server service
Rename the folder
Open the registry editor and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\Shares
Double-click on a share and change the name and/or path as necessary
Restart the Server service.

L0neRanger · Answer 3 · 2009-12-14 06:05:15Z

The answer depends on various factors.

How are you sharing the folder? Is it just plain ol' windows file sharing or something like Dropbox? The latter would have some issues because it would still be uploading files you've just copied.

Also some programs running in the background like disk defragment does this. Try killing the explorer.exe process and trying again.

Mart · Answer 4 · 2009-12-14 12:27:11Z

Here's my current workaround:

I stopped using Teracopy as my default copy handler (but I have not yet uninstalled it). After copying a folder, I would go into it, and then back out. Then I could rename it. :P Else, I would just have to wait a while.

Bart · Answer 5 · 2010-01-20 12:40:23Z

0

You can unlock a file using a freeware tool named Unlocker. You can download it here: http://www.filehippo.com/download_unlocker/

answered Jan 20 at 12:40

Bart
1

bobdole · Answer 6 · 2010-02-27 08:48:04Z

Often times if you're trying to rename videos, or folders that contain videos, explorer will be trying to make thumbnails using media player, which locks the file or directory. If you sit there for thirty seconds then try again, it will work. The only way I've found to avoid this is to disable thumbnails of media files, but that's not really ideal.

Renaming Files & Folders in Windows 7

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