“7 Days to Windows 7,” A NetPass Blog Series Day 3: ‘File in Use’ Folly

Almost any Windows user has, at least at some point in time, experienced a “file in use” error when trying to edit or remove a document that is currently opened in another application. This common gripe among Windows users over generations of the OS occurs even if the document is not in ‘exclusive mode.’ Can’t recall this? Let me refresh your memory. Ever tried to delete a document from the desktop while that document was opened in an instance of MS Word, the MS Office word processing application? You’ll get a “file in use” or “access denied” notification which really is an error that is telling you that the document cannot be removed because it’s opened somewhere, in some application.

For many, this has resulted in panic because the user may not be readily familiar with error syntaxing (the way current Windows versions reports the error – see figure 1) and may assume they’ve done something wrong and caused some kind of problem with a program or their computer in general. For others, the result is mere frustration associated with multitasking and file conflicts. If you’re like me and my colleagues here at NetPass, we run a multitude of programs typically with a multitude of files within each program. Trying to locate a file that we’re trying to delete so we can close it within whatever program it’s running in can be cumbersome and time consuming. Bottomline, while “file in use” conflict reporting that disables the ability to perform delete tasks may offer some form of a fail safe, the way Windows has notified users of said conflicts in the past has been confusing at best.

So we we were exteremely pleased to discover that the researchers and developers took note from the likes of Linux and Unix and incorprated a much improved “file in use” nofitication system in the Windows 7 OS. The improvement comes mostly in the syntax. Users will now be prompted with a much more user-friendly dialogue box (see figure 2) titled “replace me with original?” along with some helpful basic information about the file and, more importantly, why it can’t perform the action being attempted.

We are confident Windows users will celebrate what to some may seem like only a small improvement in the grand scheme of all things Windows 7. But when you get one of these “file in use” notifications, and chances are good you will at some point, you may just consider it one of the single most welcomed improvements in the OS overall.

Monday is day 4 of our blog series “7 Days to Windows 7” and you’ll definitely want to tune in as we’ll be on the topic of security upgrades in the  new OS.  Thanks for visiting http://blog.netpass.com.  Have a great weekend.

NetPass, LLC is an Interactive Advertising and Multimedia Agency located in Central Florida. Information contained in this post has been researched and reported individually by the author. Any statements, opinions, or views expressed herein are the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of NetPass, LLC or its ownership. NetPass, LLC is not affiliated with or contracted by Microsoft or any of its affiliates, wholesalers or distributors for the purposes of this series.