Question

I need to shut down my application and then delete the executable. I am doing it by kicking off a low priority batch job and then immediately shutting down the exe. Is there a better way?

Answer 1

As long as any code from an executable is in memory, it cannot be deleted, but there are some other things you can try:

• Telling MoveFileEx to defer the delete until next reboot is one approach typically used by install/uninstall code.
• Use the Task Scheduler to schedule cmd.exe /c del c:\path\myprog.exe to run 60 seconds from now, then quit promptly so it has a chance of succeeding.
• A batch file works well and can actually delete itself because a batch file is closed between lines.

If you’re using the batch file method, consider something like the following:

:loop ping -n 6 127.0.0.1 del /y %1 if exist %1 goto :loop del byebye.bat 

The ping command here is being abused to insert a delay, since sleep is not a standard command on Windows. The loop enables the batch process to bide its time until it can actually remove the executable.