Cannot delete or edit Illustrator files

When I attempt to save changes to an Illustrator file, or delete the file, an error message says this cannot be done because the file is being used by another person or program. I've used AI10 for a couple of months, but this problem just started happening yesterday.
What is causing this, and how can I fix it?
I am running Windows XP Professional, but have read of this problem happening with other OS.

After poking around a bit, I found that the problem seems to be connected to the thumbs.db file, which also refuses to be deleted. So I created a new folder and copied all but the thumbs file into this one, and turned on the Do Not Cache Thumbs function. The copied files can now be edited and saved. If I hadn't wanted to turn Thumbs off, I suppose I could have created a separate folder just for the files handled by Illustrator, and never used thumbnail view.
Although I haven't uncovered the root cause yet, this is a quick fix to help me finish my project at least.
I will look into the other possible causes when I get a chance, but after a quick look, my printer settings are the same as always, and although some of the files have a dash or underscore in them, I've got hundreds of files like that and haven't experienced a problem before (not to say that's impossible, just not likely).

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Cannot delete or edit Illustrator files

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