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I had created an .rtf file that had just a cut/paste from my cable company's website of channe listings. Since I recently purchased a rather large 2nd drive, i saved it there j:\channellineup.rtf. I now can't open, move, delete, rename the file. I can copy the file, but the copied file can't be opened either.

So the many experts out there of DaniWeb, from what I've described, does this sound like a corrupt file? should i tried scandisk, or something like that?
I ran spybot, and checked for virus with mcafee, but nothing looks wrong.
The computer is working fine otherwise.
Thanks to all

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Dani AI

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Good troubleshooting, . When a file can only be removed in Safe Mode it usually means a normal boot has some user-mode component holding the file or confusing the shell: common culprits are Explorer preview/thumbnail handlers, on‑access antivirus, indexing/backup services, or a corrupted file record that the regular shell refuses to operate on. Safe Mode stops most of those, which is why deletion there succeeds.

Practical ways to diagnose and fix without a full Safe Mode boot:

  • Use Process Explorer (Sysinternals) as Administrator: Find -> "Find Handle or DLL" -> type the filename; the owning process will be shown and you can right‑click the handle and Close Handle (use caution — closing a handle can crash the process).
  • If the problem is permissions, take ownership and grant yourself full control, then delete. From an elevated Command Prompt:
takeown /f "J:\channellineup.rtf"
icacls "J:\channellineup.rtf" /grant "%USERNAME%":F
del /f "J:\channellineup.rtf"

If the disk or file record itself looks suspect, run chkdsk on the J: volume to repair filesystem issues (backup first if possible):

chkdsk J: /f

If bad sectors are suspected, use /r instead and consider running a SMART/drive health check; copy important data off the drive if errors persist.

A final note: RTFs copied from websites can sometimes contain malformed content or embedded objects that confuse previewers and editors, which explains why a copied file still failed to open. If the issue recurs, check drive health and run a full malware scan in addition to the filesystem repair steps above.

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I figured it out last night - I restarted the computer in SAFE mode and I was able to delete the file. No doubt that it was a corrupted file. Just wanted to let everyone know - problem solved.

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