How to stop .avi files from locking up in Windows Explorer
If you've downloaded a corrupt .avi file in Windows then you may have noticed that if you try to delete, rename or move it that explorer complains that the file is in use. This is because Windows is trying to load the whole file to generate a preview image for you. You can turn this preview off by doing the following:
1) Open the 'Run' dialog box from the start menu (Start->Run or press the Windows and r keys together):
2) To remove image preview, type and hit enter
regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll
3) To readd image preview, type and hit enter
regsvr32 shimgvw.dll
4) To remove media preview, type and hit enter
regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll
5) To readd media preview, type and hit enter
regsvr32 shmedia.dll
Note: I found this information copy+pasted on a forum so I don't know the original source.
