Solution to "The process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process"

Today, technology advances extremely fast, and for that reason there are more and more programs, commands and even errors to be aware of. One of them is called "The process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process." Although this is quite annoying, the truth is that it is not without solution like many others.

This error will be discussed below; First, what it consists of or what it means will be explained; then it will be explained exactly what causes it. And finally, we will leave you the solution to "the process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process" with details.

We hope that each of the explanations that we leave here will be useful to you to be able to solve this error and learn more about the subject.

What does this error mean?

Basically this error appears when a Windows user tries to run the Netsh command in this operating system. It should be noted that Netsh is a command that offers multiple network configuration options. This error can appear in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and even in Windows 10.

Many times this happens when users try to right-click on a website that has an MMC (Microsoft Management Console) or IIS (Internet Information Services) snap-in.

What causes this error?

This error is extremely annoying, but the truth is that it does not happen by chance. In Windows there are at least three reasons why this can happen; now each one will be mentioned, and then the solution will be said.

Not have administrator privileges

This error happens "The process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process" because the terminal does not have administrator privileges. Because the Netsh command works as a network revision and modification command line, it needs to be run as an administrator for it to work.

Another process is using port 80 or 443

This error also occurs a lot in terminals that use the IIS system (Internet Information Services, for its acronym in English). Since this type of terminal can use several network ports at the same time, this error can sometimes appear if some other process is using either of these two network ports.

ListenOnlyList subkey is not set correctly

Another reason this error could occur is that the ListeOnlyList registry subkey is misconfigured. This will make it impossible for the computer to access the IP address.

How to fix this error

Although this error is quite annoying, the truth is that it is not irremediable; By knowing what causes it, you can find the solution to "the process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process." Three of them and how to implement them will be shown below.

Run the command as administrator

The first solution to "the process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process" is to run the Netsh command as administrator; To do this, you have to press the Windows + R keys. Then type "cmd" in the dialog box and then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter; this will open a raised symbol. Finally, when UAC requests it, you must click on "Yes" to have administrator privileges.

Use another IP address range

In case the previous method did not work, another solution could be to use a different IP address range; This will help correct possible DNS problems. The commands to be able to change the IP address in this case will be the following:

netsh int ipv4 set a dynamic port tcp start = 10000 num = 1000

netsh int ipv4 set a dynamic port udp start = 10000 num = 1000

Resolve the IIS port conflict

Another solution to "the process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process" applicable to this case is to use Netsat.exe to find out exactly which processes are occupying ports 80 and 443. To use this solution there will be than to press the Windows + R keys, then type "cmd" in the dialog box "and then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. to open a raised symbol.

When the UAC indicates it, click on "Yes" to give administrative privileges. Then, inside the raised symbol, type the command netstat -ano to run the .exe utility. When having a return, you have to browse the list of active connections and check if ports 80 and 443 are being used by another process.

If these are used by another process, the elevated command prompt will have to be closed. Then you will have to press the Windows + R keys, then type "regedit" and press Enter. This will open a Registry Editor, and when UAC indicates you have to press "Yes" to have administrative privileges.

Being inside the Registry Editor you have to navigate in the following direction HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HTTP\Parameters\ListenOnlyList.

If there is no subkey of ListenOnlyList, do not create another; one of the default IP address can be used. First you have to stop the HTTP service, so you have to keep the Editor in the background. You have to press Windows + R, then "cmd" and then Enter "; then you have to enter the following command and press Enter again:

netstop http

When asking if you want to continue in the operation you have to press "Y" and press Enter and then enter the Editor. While there you have to look for the invalid IP addresses and eliminate them. Once this is done, you have to restart the system, and then start the HTTP service by pressing Windows + R, then "cmd", press Enter and type the following command:

netstart http

By doing this, the error "The process does not have access to the file because it is being used by another process" will disappear and you will be able to enjoy the administrative privileges of this program.