KatsBits Community

General Category => FAQ on games, gaming & IT => Topic started by: kat on April 11, 2019, 12:10:10 PM

Title: Delete *.asf files
Post by: kat on April 11, 2019, 12:10:10 PM
ASF files are data containers a little like MP3 files, that can contain video and audio information but for some reason Windows, particularly Windows 7, has trouble deleting or moving them once created (typically this might be done converting or exporting a video in another format to *.asf using VLC or similar software), which can cause Windows Explorer, or the PC being used, to hang or become unresponsive.

To delete *.asf files try the following;

1) open the Command prompt with administrative privileges (right click cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator").

2) browse to the containing folder, either 'cd' up ('cd..' down) the directory structure;
Code: [Select]
C:\>cd social
C:\social>cd IMVU
C:\social\IMVU>cd furniture
C:\social\IMVU\furniture>

or 'cd' the full system path to containing folder;
Code: [Select]
C:\>cd social\IMVU\furniture
C:\social\IMVU\furniture>

3) type; "del /f [filename.asf]" (where 'filename.asf' is the name of the asf file to be deleted - exclude '[' & ']') then hit Enter;
Code: [Select]
C:\social\IMVU\furniture>del /f filename.asf
If the system appears to hang open Task Manager (right-click the Task Bar, select "Task Manager") and see if "dllhost.exe" is running (the exe is invoked into high usage state when dealing with .asf files and the removal process). If it is (it should be using high resources), select it and click the "End Process" button bottom-right. This kills the process and frees the system to delete the file (it should be deleted outright, bypassing the Recycle Bin).

4) (optional) reboot to make sure the processes that should be running, are.

The above avoids the need to download and install other unknown applications and software that may themselves present issues.