Other applications running

Close down Nprotect, leave explorer and systray running.
Hidden apps would show up in the close program dialog box.

In addition to what shows up in the system tray, there are a number of back ground programs and processes.

For 9X, you are somewhat limited in being able to use just Alt-Ctrl-Del to view the list of running programs.

I would start form a cold boot, and shut down all the back ground programs.
This way, both memory and the swap file will be at their minimum usage.

If you still have problems, try shutting down explorer.
This will simulate a minimal startup.

If you still have problems, I would try running AdAware from Lavasoft www.lavasoftusa.com
Some of the adware that is out there is very sneaky.
You might also need a sytem monitor utility to find out what is getting in the way of your disk cleaner.

Chas

You are likely to get this (or a similar) error message in any of the following cases:

1. The drive (or any folder on the drive) is shared.
2. The drive's health is being monitored by third-party software (such as Norton Utilities).
3. The Norton Protected Recycle Bin is enabled (as appears to be the case on your computer).
4. Third-party software (such as Diskeeper) is monitoring fragmentation status and has scheduled a defrag.

Hope this helps.