Sometimes trying to delete virus or spyware files, you will get this error:

"Cannot delete FILE: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."

Here is how to overcome the file protection.

I hate this error...Access Denied! Damn adware / spyware has got the file locked... and now I've got to figure out how to unlock it.

1. Change your system so you can view and edit your hidden and system files.

2. Close all programs. Sometimes a currently running program will have locked the file. Typically this won't work, but you'll feel silly missing it.

3. Boot to safe mode. Booting to safe mode will often disable spyware programs that might be holding access to the files in question. You might as well stay in safe mode for the rest of the process.

4. Force stop unknown programs and processes. CTRL-ALT-DEL will bring up the task manager that will allow you to kill unknown programs and processes.

5. Sometimes it is just easier to delete the file in a dos box. To open a command box:

- Click Start
- Click Run
- In the textbox type cmd.exe and click OK
6. I'm not going to try to teach DOS here, but the command to delete a file is the following:
del \folder\file.exe

7. If you still can't delete it, you can clear the attributes of the file. If you need details on this, you can read more about it here. The dos command for this is the following:
attrib -r -s -h trojanfilename
After doing this you will still need to delete the file with one of the methods described above.

8. If none of the above work, you can use a specialized file deletion freeware program such as Move On Boot.
Hope this help someone out there.