Guest Post by Robin Capper of the ‘RobiNZ CAD Blog’

AutoCAD Architecture projects are best moved via the Project Browser interface (below). It’s usually a simple matter of selecting the Project, Right Click > Move Project… (1) and selecting the destination. AutoCAD Architecture moves the entire folder structure (even non-ACA folders) and initiates a re-path to update project file links.

Occasionally this process strikes a hitch as AutoCAD Architecture warns about project file(s) being “in use”.

The first step is to check nobody is actually working in the project! Having eliminated that you may still get this warning, It appears to be related to Windows file locking rather than AutoCAD Architecture itself. I wonder if a bad application exit, or Windows logoff, leaves the file locked and apparently “in use”?

I’ve found one way to overcome this and re-establish control is to edit, alter, every file in the project under your own logon. A quick way to achieve that is to view the folder in explorer, easy via Project Browser Right Click > Show in Windows Explorer (2), and toggle a file attribute like Read Only. You will be prompted to apply the to the folder, sub-folder and files. Then change the attribute back and you should find the “Files in use” warning does not occur when AutoCAD Architecture attempts the move.