Fixing the Chrome Error: “Could not create directory for unzipping”

eddie — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:06:16 +0000

I went to install a new extension in Google Chrome / Chromium and I was getting the error message “Could not create directory for unzipping.”

This doesn’t seem to be a permissions issue, as I have full rights on the PC I’m working on.

I found this thread in which some others report the same error.

The funny thing is, it seems to go away & come back randomly, so some of the suggested permanent fixes either don’t work for everyone, or they stop working after a period of time. (Or, worse, they cause other problems.)

I did find a work around that allows you to install the extension without getting the “Could not create directory for unzipping” error.

Here is how to work around the “Could not create directory for unzipping” error:

Download the extension you want to install to your hard drive by right-clicking the install button and choosing “Save Link As”

Change the file extension from “.crx” to “.zip”.
Open the file in your favorite zip program. (I use WinRAR)
Extract the files to a folder on your hard drive
In Chrome, open the extension tab by typing “chrome://extensions/” into the location bar
Choose the “Developer Mode” link, and then hit the “Load Unpacked Extension” button

Browse to the directory containing the extracted extension files & hit “OK”.

That’s it! Chrome should now load the new extension without giving you the error message about creating a directory.

How To Delete A File That Is In Use By Another Person Or Program

eddie — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:18:42 +0000

Ah, the joys of Windows XP. Ever go to delete a file, only to be met with the annoying error message, “Cannot delete It is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.” ?

This behavior is meant to prevent you from hosing things up by deleting files that shouldn’t be deleted. Unfortunately, while the safeguards work most of the time, there are sometimes glitches, particularly with network files and background applications. Sometimes, you are not able to delete a file, even though no other program is actually using it. In other cases, you don’t really care whether another program is using the file, you just want the file gone!

Of course, the first thing you should do is make sure you know what you’re doing. If you are sure that the file you want to nuke is not an important system file, or an important part of some software package, you have a couple of options.

One method of deleting locked files is to reboot your computer. When you restart your computer, you are killing all processes that might be using the file. This usually works. But not always. The downside of this method is that it can be annoying and time consuming to reboot your workstation.

Another method is to kill Windows XP’s “explorer.exe” process, delete the file, then restart explorer. To do this, hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE to bring up Task Manager, then highlight “explorer.exe” and choose “End Process.” However, this method is not recommended: when explorer starts back up, your computer may not be in the exact state in which you left it. (For instance, you may notice that some icons are missing from your system tray.)

Fortunately, there is another way.

Unlocker will remove a file’s access restrictions that prevent your from moving, deleting, or renaming a file. The way it works is this: You install the program, and it runs in your system tray. Whenever you encounter the dreaded File is in use by another person or program message, Unlocker Assistant will pop up and ask you if you want to break the hold that some other application has on your file. You simply highlight the file you want to delete, hit “unlock,” and voila, problem solved.

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Fixing the Chrome Error: “Could not create directory for unzipping”

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How To Delete A File That Is In Use By Another Person Or Program

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