Windows – How to sleep in a batch file

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How to pause execution for a while in a Windows batch file between a command and the next one?

Best Answer

The correct way to sleep in a batch file is to use the timeout command, introduced in Windows 2000.

To wait somewhere between 29 and 30 seconds:

timeout /t 30

The timeout would get interrupted if the user hits any key; however, the command also accepts the optional switch /nobreak, which effectively ignores anything the user may press, except an explicit CTRL-C:

timeout /t 30 /nobreak

Additionally, if you don't want the command to print its countdown on the screen, you can redirect its output to NUL:

timeout /t 30 /nobreak > NUL

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Windows – How to find what process is holding a file open in Windows

I've had success with Sysinternals Process Explorer. With this, you can search to find what process(es) have a file open, and you can use it to close the handle(s) if you want. Of course, it is safer to close the whole process. Exercise caution and judgement.

To find a specific file, use the menu option Find->Find Handle or DLL... Type in part of the path to the file. The list of processes will appear below.

If you prefer command line, Sysinternals suite includes command line tool Handle, that lists open handles.

Examples

c:\Program Files\SysinternalsSuite>handle.exe |findstr /i "e:\" (finds all files opened from drive e:\"
c:\Program Files\SysinternalsSuite>handle.exe |findstr /i "file-or-path-in-question"

Command line – batch file calling another batch file

Use the CALL keyword:

call foo.bat file1.txt
call foo.bat file2.txt

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Windows – How to find what process is holding a file open in Windows

Command line – batch file calling another batch file

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