I found that I cannot delete any file or folder that has the extension .drc. The system responds as if something has a handle to the file or folder in question. Even in the command shell I get an "access denied" when attempting to delete.
I found this after discovering that I couldn't delete a temporary install folder created by delphi 7 trial that had a couple of files of this type. Windows file explorer thought that they were of type "Drivecrypt Container". Then I remember that I might have installed this app ages ago and since uninstalled it, but obviously it didn't do a good job of cleaning up after itself. I quickly found on an faq for Drivecrypt that these files can be renamed and then deleted (same for a folder). But if I create any file folder on any type of partition anywhere (ntfs/fat32) I get the same.

I removed all registry enries (shell extension, file association etc) and checked the services - nothing.

So my question is this - what and how is windows applying this security to the delete (rename is ok) and how do I get back to normal???

why dont you check task manager wether they are running as a program or not and then try and end the programe then delete it