Thanks Gunslinger and Tom.
I tried the safe mode and it didn't work, but the unlocker tool is amazing (yes I read up on it and was very careful). What an amazing tool!
It turns out that the file was running on explorer.exe - so temporarily closed this prog and renamed the crack.exe to goodbye - it worked!!!! Then a simple delete - restarted my lap top and all is well.
I even managed to delete a horrible folder (empty???) that has been sitting in my documents since the beginning of time (same process as before).
Again then - thank you very much.
Sk2u