from https://superuser.com/questions/294826/how-to-purposefully-exclusively-lock-a-file#649819 > Simpler solution: In the directory of interest run from cmd line: ``` notepad >filetolock ``` > As re-directed stdout, it will remain locked until the application (notepad) is terminated. > >Note that the "filetolock" will be overwritten by the re-direct, so you probably don't want to use an existing file of any importance. An empty "filetolock" won't matter to the application you're trying to test, as the app won't be able to open it anyway.