Undeletable files in Windows XP

Problems with older scanners and printers are very common when upgrading to XP.

Start by logging out and logging on as Administrator.

Administrator rights / privileges are different from being logged on as the administrator.

Next, check with UMAX for a XP driver for the scanner.
I looked, UMAX does NOT have the driver for XP available as a download. The US version of the CD with the scanner software is $14.50

Scansoft does have a couple of utilities to remove Omnipage files from a PC. So problems manually removing the files is a known issue.
They did not list any updates for either version 8 or 9.

The listed updates were for versions 11 and 12.

You may need a specific update from Microsoft for your older version of Omnipage or the scanner to function.

Another thing that you can do if you have Norton SystemWorks, is to run the Windows Registry cleaner to remove most remnants of the scanner and Omni-page files.

Chas

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.

Close all open programs.

Open TASKMGR.EXE from the Run command or by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC

Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.

Leave Task Manager open.

Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory where the undeletable file is located in. At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.

Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.

Close Task Manager.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;243514
You need permissions to delete a file are you a member of the Administrators group? (you need a minimum of {modify} to delete.

Is it telling you the filename is too long?

Delete the file in DOS mode

Start >Run >cmd {enter}
Navigate to the folder the file is in, i.e. if its in c:\folder\anotherfolder\file, type "cd c:\folder\anotherfolder" {enter} The coomand prompt shoud change to let you know you are in the correct directory.
Type "dir /x" {enter}
The offending file will be listed like (filena~1.xxx)
Take note of the name and type "del filena~1.xxx" {enter}

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Try to take ownership of the file

Right click the file
Select the security Tab
Select properties
Select Advanced
Select Owner
Find the User or group you wish to give ownership to and select
Click apply

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;268019

Now try and delete the file

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If your hard drive is formatted with FAT32 you can boot with a boot disk and Delete the file from DOS. (del filename.extension)
If you hard drive is formatted with NTFS you can boot with a boot disk and, if you lucky enough to have a copy of NTFSPro from http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/ntfsdospro.shtml you can boot to DOS mount the NTFS volumes and delete it from there.

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Is the file flagged as ?System??

Strt > Run > type CMD >Click OK
Navigate to the folder in which the file resides (i.e. cd c:\folder\folder\ {enter})
Type attrib -r -s -a -h filename.extension {enter}
Del filename.extension {enter}

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Is the file in use?

If either the OS or another program is using the file you cannot delete it

You can with ZAP Included with the Microsoft SMS 2.0 Resource Guide and the Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit 4.5. or you can download it here
http://helpdesk.kixtart.org/KixUtilsTasks.asp
WARNING make sure you know what your deleting first!

Oh i had the same problem,these files become stacked and are due to long paths,use the tool available at http://pathtoodeep.com ,it is a free tool which will search and resolve all such long path files