Endpoint Encryption

I use PGP Desktop

I can't Shred file,. It says: "File/Folders failed to shred"

I don't know why and how to shred the files.

Please support me

Please clarify your operating system and version number, your PGP version, how you are attempting to shred the files, if this is an exact quote of the error, and what type of files you are attempting to shred.  Are you able to shred some other file?

I found this post through a google search and I am having the exact same problem.  I just upgraded to Window's 7 x64 from XP.  I never had this problem with XP.

I am currently running pgp desktop version 10.1.2.  I get the exact same response,   "File/Folders failed to shred"  This happens both with a right click select of the file and also by dragging the file into the desktop shredder icon.  I have tried both PDF and videos files and still get the same error.

I can't find anything on this specific error message - I will be able to search further when I'm on my Symantec computer Monday morning.

Is this while in an admin account?  Please read the PGP Release Notes to see if there is any known conflict within your system.

It's been years since I experienced this, but there was a time when I could not shred files until I changed the AV software I was using.  You might want to see if disabling your AV software makes a difference.

AVS did not make a difference.  I did some trouble shooting and might have narrowed things down for you.  The only place that I can't shred files is inside a PGP virtual disk.  All other drives on my computer allow items to be shred.

I could shred items inside my PGP virtual disk while using XP with no problems.

I'm using PGP 10.2, and just tried this on my FAT32 formatted Virtual Disk - there was no problem. If you are eligible for an update to 10.2, you may want to give this a try.  You might also want to try mounting to a different drive letter or different folder to see if this makes a difference.

I also tried shredding files I have located on a second and different PGP virtual disk and that failed as well.

I've not been able to find anything more with further searching on this error.  Any chance, the file, folder, Virtual Disk, or the pgd file itself is set as Read Only?

I have a user that is having the same problem, however she cannot shred files from any location. I have tried reinstalling pgp but I am still having trouble with this one computer there are not even any errors in the log. We are using 10.2.

If this is a limited user account, I'd suggest trying it as an admin account.

Use the handle utility from Microsoft to determine which process, if any, has the file open. For example, if the file c:\users\suhaib\documents\foo.pgp is failing to shred I can see which process has a handle to the file with the following command:

handle c:\users\suhaib\documents

I am having the same problem -- any files I try to shred give me the "Files/Folders failed to shred" error message.  I am using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit with PGP Desktop 10.2.0 Build 1672.

Did you try the handle utility to see which process is using the file?

Hi, we started seeing this same problem on both XP 32-bit and Win7 64-bit clients when we began testing 10.2.0 code a couple of months ago (no problems with this on 10.1.2.50), and we have no resolution yet. The problem is present in 10.2 MP3 as well. I've tried using "handle" as suggested, but I'm either not using it correctly - or no process is using the file. I'm running handle once I submit the file to be shredded, but before I click on YES to confirm the shred.

I'm curious - are any of you who are reporting this problem running PGP in an Active Directoty environment? We use LDAP. A friend of mine tested our client in an AD environment - and shredder worked without a problem. Maybe this is nothing...

I do own the files I've tried to shred - and while we run UAC in Win 7, in XP I am an Admin on the system.

We set the Shredder policy on Universal Server - and we don't allow clients to change the Options on their clients.

Not sure what else might be relevant...

Try the PsFile utility or the command "net file" to see if the local file is in use by a remote system.

The files I try to shred are not in use by a remote system or any other program.  PGP Shredder always gives the "Files/Folders failed to shred" error.  Please tell me how to resolve this erro so that I can use PGP Shredder.

Sorry to hear that neither the handle nor the PsFIle utilities helped with this problem.

Using the Process Explorer utility from Microsoft do the following when PGP fails to shred a file:

1. Leave the PGP window titled, File / Folders failed to shred open
2. Start Process Explorer
3. Select Find from the menu bar or alternatively press Ctrl+F
4. In the Handle or DLL substring field type the full or partial name of the file that cannot be shredded

Step 4 hopefully will return some results allowing you to progress or solve this problem. Alas if this does not work, and no other users are able to help, you will have to contact Symantec support for help.