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I created simple wpf application (WpfApp1). I run it and everything was working fine. Then I tried to rebuild the solution and I received an error.

Error: Unable to copy file "obj\Debug\WpfApp1.exe" to "bin\Debug\WpfApp1.exe". Access to the path 'bin\Debug\WpfApp1.exe' is denied.

I restarted VS, cleaned and rebuilt the solution, checked by 'handle' if anything was blocking WpfApp1.exe file (handle "pathToTheFile\WpfApp1.exe"

result: Nthandle v4.1 - Handle viewer Copyright (C) 1997-2016 Mark Russinovich Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

No matching handles found.)

and I checked permission to the folder by right clicking on the folder -> properties -> security (3rd tab). I'm logged under local account with administrator privilages and I'm able to create, rename etc. other files in \bin folder but I'm not able to do anything with WpfApp1.exe file. I also run VS as an administrator and tried to do the same, but the error apeared.

I work on: win10 home, visual studio 2017 community (15.4.0)

EDIT: repair and reinstallation of VS hasn't helped.

After rebuild proces, .exe file from \bin is set as deleted, but somehow the file still exists on the disc as a 'ghost' file. In that moment access rights to the file are changed by OS and an owner of that file is unknown (I can't see it because of lack of permission. Before rebuild proces I had full access to the file.) If I restart OS, then the proces of deletion of the file is completed and the file doesn't exist anymore.

ael
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  • Did you exit/stop the previously-run process? If a program is running as a process it is actually open and cannot be removed or written but it doesn't show as a 'handle'. – dave_thompson_085 Oct 11 '17 at 10:39
  • Disable the installed anti-malware product and try again. – Hans Passant Oct 11 '17 at 10:47
  • @HansPassant I have only McAfee and Windows Defender installed. – ael Oct 11 '17 at 11:46
  • @dave_thompson_085 I have restarted OS and it fixes an issue for a moment. But I created another app (WpfApp2) the same way and the issue came back. My first step was running the app, then I stopped it by closing Wpf window or clicking red square under VS (I did both). I don't know if this stops previously-run process. – ael Oct 11 '17 at 11:57
  • McAfee does not belong on a programmer's machine. Defender won't hassle you. – Hans Passant Oct 11 '17 at 12:06
  • Closing the (only) window _should_ exit the process if everything is correct, but possibly something isn't correct; I don't use VS so don't know what its GUI features do. To _check_ whether a process is still running use TaskMgr or `tasklist` or since you seem to like SysInternals tools (as I do) ProcessExplorer aka procexp. – dave_thompson_085 Oct 12 '17 at 09:54
  • @dave_thompson_085 I used TaskMgr and Resource Monitor and I don't see any proces with name 'WpfApp1'. Under CPU tab in Resource Monitor there is no proces related to WpfApp1.exe file. I belive the proces is finished if I close WpfApp1 window. Please look on 'edit' section under main post, I put there some new observations. – ael Oct 12 '17 at 14:33
  • @HansPassant your clue regarding to McAfee was correct. Only there was required to restart OS also. – ael May 16 '23 at 09:47

1 Answers1

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I had that error, it was unable to copy it, other times saying it was unable to delete it. (and bear in mind there is the obj\debug\blah.exe and the bin\debug\blah.exe and the issue can potentially apply to both of them)

I think what happens is visual studio first tries to delete it(them) and if that succeeds(or if it's already deleted), then it tries to copy it.

You can try to delete it yourself and then you see there's some issue with deleting it.. So you can try closing explorer windows, and using eg unlocker and file governor. I think you will find that it's probably not visual studio that is locking it. When I tried closing visual studio I still couldn't delete the file, so I can see that visual studio would have an issue deleting the file!

Supposing you manage to delete it so visual studio would manage it or not need to. So now there's the error about it not being able to copy the file. I see you checked permissions on the directory..that's good And if you find you get an error along the lines of not being unable to write to the directory, it may be a permissions issue , or it may be being low on disk space! Though I see in your case it was an anti-virus locking the file and the program you were using to check handles didn't pick that up. But this answer shows some other causes and approaches that may be helpful to others that have the issue.

Added

Another cause is a known issue with certain anti-malware, such as Malware Bytes see here. You can go to the bottom right tray icons and hover over them to see what they are, see if any anti-malware is running. Try quitting if it is and see if that helps.

And another possible cause that has also been shown to affect visual studio when building a project, is the "Application Experience" service which is in Windows 7/8/10 and should apparently be started. Apparently it is 'stopped' for many people. Windows 2008 R2 - Kernel (System Process PID=4) is locking files and folders

barlop
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