How to find out what processes have folder or file locked?

Question

How do you go about querying running processes to find out what folders or files they have locked? (i.e. you go to eject a drive and you're told that it can't be ejected because it's in use)

I'd like to either get an "off the shelf" download, or write a .NET 3.5 app to do this (primarily a Windows question).

Indistinctive

#226302 – Nobelium

Answer 1

Process Explorer will show you this. Ctrl-F will let you search for a file and list the process(es) that have that file open/locked. You can then close that handle using Process Explorer.

There's also a command line utility called oh.exe available for download. See here for more details

Serosa

Process Expolorer is my tool of choice for this. It also allows you to close the handle. – Laughter

Good point re. the handle closing. I'd forgotten that. Answer amended – Serosa

However, don't close the handle unless you're willing to have the program crash, freeze, burn your house down or hold all your data ransom. The program won't expect the handle to close until it decides to close it, so who knows what havoc it will cause when this assumption is violated :) – Tenner

Answer 2

LockHunter is a great context menu tool for Windows.

Indistinctive

Good tool - just does what it says! – Insoluble

This is good when you don't know which file in a folder has a lock. It will tell you the locks on any files within a folder or drive. – Jenifer

Answer 3

One of the first things I put on my Windows dev machines is WhoUses. It's nice because it's open source too.

Discredit

Link is broken :( – Ditzel

Answer 4

http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/ (freeware) has a special UI for exactly this situation.

Lymphoblast