Unlocker vs LockHunter: which one should you get for your “file unlocking” needs?
October 6, 2009 47
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Most of us know, or have heard about, Unlocker. On the other hand relative few of us have heard of LockHunter. Yet, both are excellent “file unlockers”. So, which one is better to have, and why it is better? Lets find out.
Before I delve into the discussion on Unlocker and LockHunter respectively, let me explain really quickly what I mean by “file unlocker” for those that are confused. Have you ever tried to move, delete, rename, or modify a file (or folder) and were slapped on the wrist by Windows because either the file (or folder) “is in use by a program”, you are “denied access” (even though you have administrator access to the computer), or something similar? I know I have run into this problem many times. Most of the times whenever this problem happens, it seems like even if you close all possible open programs you can think of, you are still unable to move, delete, rename, or modify that bloody file. Windows can be nasty like that (often times there is useless activity, that you are not aware of, related to handles, DLLs, blah, blah going on in the background even after you stop using a program). So to combat this problem, “file unlockers” were created. A file unlocker, in layman’s terms, terminates all open connections/links to the file in question and allows you to do what you want with the file. Now if you continually and repeatedly get an error when trying to move, delete, rename, or modify files, you most likely have malware installed on your computer and a file unlocker will not solve all your problems (it can still help though). However for the every now and then stubborn file, file unlockers can be very useful.
Now onto the core part of this article: Unlocker vs LockHunter. The first thing you should know about these two utilities is Unlocker is somewhat of a “veteran” while LockHunter is the “new kid on the block” (in fact LockHunter is still in Beta). However, in LockHunter’s defense, has been actively developed in 2009 than Unlocker (Unlocker’s last release was in 2008). That being said, Unlocker and LockHunter both can do the following:
- Detect and display all processes, DLLs, files, programs, etc. currently locking the file (or folder) you want to unlock
- Unlock the file (or folder) in one click
- Selectively close detected processes (or close them all)
- Delete the file (or folder) once unlocked
Additionally, both Unlocker and LockHunter create right-click context menu entries so you can easily unlock files (or folders).
As you can see, the core features of Unlocker and LockHunter are the same; both will give you the similar ability to unlock files or folders. There is only one major difference between the two…
- LockHunter officially supports Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7 and works on 32-bit and 64-bit.
- Unlocker officially supports Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista (although it seems to work fine on Win7) but only works on 32-bit.
…and a few minor differences:
- When LockHunter deletes a file, it deletes it to Recycle Bin so you have a chance of recovering it if you decide later on deleting it was a mistake or whatever. Comparitvely, Unlocker deletes it to… well I don’t know; wherever prema-deleted files go to I guess. What I am trying to say is, files deleted with Unlocker do not go to Recycle Bin.
- LockHunter has a much more aesthetically pleasing and organized interface than Unlocker.
- Unlocker has some sort of “assistant” that is supposed to you do something, which I was unable to test because it doesn’t work in Vista or Win7, while LockHunter doesn’t.
- Unlocker allows you to rename or move files from within the program (in addition to deleting them) while LockHunter does not (however you can always rename or move files using native Windows commands after you unlock them).
- Unlocker does not have much of an interface outside of initiating it via the context-menu whereas you can always launch LockHunter separately or via context-menu.
- Unlocker is a 255 KB download while LockHunter is ~1.2 MB.
One potential pro Unlocker may have over LockHunter is Unlocker is able to complete any task after a reboot if it is unable to perform the task right then and there. I don’t know if LockHunter is able to do this or not because the developer does not specifically state the feature nor have I run into an issue (yet) where LockHunter told me to reboot my computer.
So, in conclusion, both Unlocker and LockHunter are very similar, and very useful programs. What will be the ultimate factor in a decision of Unlocker vs LockHunter is “which one works on my computer”. Personally, since I run 32-bit user and have a choice of both, I like LockHunter’s superior interface (why not have eye candy when it is available) and therefore prefer it over Unlocker. Which one do you use? Feel free to comment below.
You can grab Unlocker and LockHunter from the following links:
Unlocker
Version Reviewed: 1.8.7
Supported OS: 32-bit only Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
Unlocker homepage [direct download]
LockHunter
Version Reviewed: 1.0 Beta 3
Supported OS: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7
LockHunter homepage [direct download: 32-bit | 64-bit]
@Bill Gates II: Oh you are talking about Windows’ Resource Monitor? LOL I thought you were referring to some third party app!
@Ashraf: Same :)
@Ashraf:
LOL
Yea, in general I try to use things that are part of Windows in the first place to do stuff, it’s there any ways, why get something else that takes up extra resources (I admit that there are times when other things do it better but sometimes I think that the better is not worth it).
@Liam K: Smart minds think alike. :P
@Bill Gates II: I hear ya. I am kind of the opposite although I have no reason to be. I like third party apps. :P
@Ashraf:
As I said in my post, C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\avguard.tmp is usually a HUGE file that takes up lots of space on your C drive….Judging by the Avira forums, LOTS of folks want to get rid of it for this reason (including me) given that you apparently can’t move its folder to a different partition….
Also–if you want to delete something using Unlocker but are afraid to get rid of it completely, you can choose to ‘move’ it to the recycle bin temporarily till you can see if it is safe to get rid of.
I am one of those users who does not care for eye candy; just results. That is why I prefer Unlocker. However I have tried LockHunter on a 64 bit machine I have worked on and find it ok and will use it on any 64 bit machines I use. Supposedly a 64 bit version of Unlocker is supposed to be in the works, but only time will tell that story. Thanks Ashraf.
@Janet: Ah, I see.
@etim: Good advice; thanks.
@Leland: A 64-bit version of Unlocker has been “in the works” for over a year now =O. I have lost my hopes.
Also, you are are welcome.
I’d forgotten how USEFUL Ashraf’s articles are. This one a prime example. Thanks, and I hope you’ve cloned yourself several times, given all the work you do getting this articles out. Appreciated.
malwarebytes has a similar program called FileASSASIN and another program called RegASSASIN.
I can only use LockHunter because I’m a 64bit Vista user and it was simple and effective, I never would have known about it without you. Thank you so much, this is a great site and I’m so glad I found ya’ll!! I just know I’m going to learn tons here, I can’t wait for more…..
@Janet: Hi – I don’t know if you found the answer (or if you’ll see this!).
You would need to go to Extras -> Configuration -> General -> Security and then uncheck the boxes under Product protection. You’ll also need to stop avgnt avgaurd and avshadow in task manager. You should then be able to delete that file. Don’t forget to go back and re-enable the protection though.
Regards,
Damian
@Janet: Lol – nevermind – it comes right back when you restart avguard, so it must not be a true temp file in the usual scenario…
@rezidue:
The Avira guy on their forums also said Extras -> Configuration -> General -> Security and then uncheck the boxes under Product protection and then delete. But I can’t delete it. My LockHunter tells me that avguard.exe is locking it, and nothing I can do in either TaskManager or AnVir will kill the process…..I can’t find a way to turn Avira AntiVir off!
I think that it is a regular temp file that keeps growing if you don’t delete it. I imagine it should be deleted periodically and then will come back empty when the program is restarted and will once again start filling up. All I need to do now is get my computer to allow me to delete it …:-)
@janet: My avguard.tmp file was 32.5 MB (34,163,786 bytes).
After I deleted it and it came back there was no change in size. Is yours larger than that? Just curious.
@rezidue:
Hmmmmmm…..mine is exacftly the same size as yours…..! I guess you were right—it’s not a regular temp file….Especially if it came back at the same size…..Guess there is no point in deleting it, but I still would like to find out if it is possible to move it off the system drive…..
@janet: Hello again! You can change the directory under Extras -> General -> Directories, so you could put it’s application directory to another partition or possibly even an external drive/usb/sd card etc. But it would have to always be available for Avira to read/write.
@rezidue:
Wow! A million thanks! I moved it to my Avira AntiVir folder, which is on my H disk (ext HD). I imagine that will be much more efficient(?)! I have a very old (small) system, so I have all my dotTech and GOATD programs on the ext HD……
@janet: You’re welcome, glad I could help :-)
From the unlocker website:
To me this is the feature that makes Unlocker better.
I have run into a couple cases where unlocker did not work. – I had been using unlocker for years, but now for the last 6 months I have been using both lock hunter and EMCO UnLock IT. between those two I have been able to kill most anything, Also, hate that UNLOCKER installs ebay short cuts and I believe an ebay adware type program that insist on being added to my startup items. When I decline it, it trys to do it again later. Probably harmless stuff, but when I have those other two apps to use, that are some times also more effective, I now avoid Unlocker.
Personally, I think unlocker is far superior. Things unlocker does which LockHunter does not: unloads dlls, deletes index.dat files, auto delete/rename/move, handles invalid file names, delete/rename/move on reboot, command line access. For those of you that still prefer LockHunter but want the reboot feature then I would recommend FileASSASSIN by Malwarebytes.
@etim: You can find that information on the website. “What is Unlocker Assistant? Unlocker Assistant stays in your system tray bar and automatically launches Unlocker if you are trying to delete/rename/move a file that is locked. So for those who use Unlocker Assistant, no need to right click files or folders anymore. This feature can be deactivated during the install.”