Comment 9 for bug 596839

Sometimes one can simply remove these files before starting the instance again. But sometimes the .lock file is locked by a hanging Python process, and can't be deleted. While we are trying to spot and squash the bug causing this, here is a tip:

* Install the command line utility "handle" http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896655.aspx

* As Administrator, run "handle instance.lock", the pid of the hanging Python process will be printed

* From PowerShell: "kill <pid>" (e.g. "kill 12345")

This issue is also tracked by http://dev.plone.org/plone/ticket/10441