My computer is on a network, and I routinely use Win Explorer to do file
management on the network drives from my (Win XP) computer.

I'm often prevented from deleting or renaming folders because I had a file
in that folder open in an application (Word, Acrobat, or even a "view" of
that folder in Win Explorer itself). Needless to say, I've closed the
document, closed the application, closed all applications, etc. The only
remedy is to restart Windows (log out, log in).

I can recreate the problem using only files and folders on only my c:\drive,
so though I see it more on the network, I know the problem lies with my
computer.

I'm pretty sure it's not a spyware-type problem, and have narrowed it down
to the complexity of the Win XP user profile system.

My question is, is there a way to organize Documents and Settings so that it
doesn't hang on to "expired file handles" (just to make up a term for it)?