MoveFile and PendMoves

Files can't be moved when they're in use by the operating system or an application.

If a file is constantly in use, you can schedule Windows to move the file during startup using the MoveFile tool, available for download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/sysinternals/bb897556.aspx.

Use MoveFile exactly as you would use the move command as in the following example.

Movefile file.txt test\file.txt

  Movefile v1.0 - copies over an in-use file at boot time
  Move successfully scheduled.

The file will not be moved immediately. However, the next time the computer is restarted, Windows will move the file. If you want to delete a file that is constantly in use (a common requirement for removing malicious software), provide "" as the destination as in the following example.

Movefile file2.txt ""

  Movefile v1.0 - copies over an in-use file at boot time
  Move successfully scheduled.

The same download that includes MoveFile includes the PendMoves tool, which displays moves and deletions that have been scheduled. You can simply run the command without parameters, as the following example demonstrates.

pendmoves

  PendMove v1.1
  Copyright (C) 2004 Mark Russinovich
  Sysinternals - wwww.sysinternals.com

  Source: C:\Users\User1\Documents\file.txt
  Target: C:\Users\User1\Documents\dest\file.txt

  Source: C:\Users\User1\Documents\file2.txt
  Target: DELETE

  Time of last update to pending moves key: 2/27/2008 10:08 AM