We are having a problem(in windows SAS Version 9.1 on a network server) where during a proc sort the dataset that is being sorted to itself locks and we can not get access to it. The problem is when SAS sorts a dataset to itself it creates a tempory file with an extension of .lck. During the sort it locks the orginal file so that no one can access it during the sort. When the sort finishes correctly the orginal file is freed and the .lck file is delete. However if the sort does not complete correctly the orginal file remains locked ,administrator has to free it and the lck file is saved. All the SAS processes after that fail so the job fails. We've been working with SAS support and they claim something is touching (like a anti-Virus) the file during the sort or we have a SAS server that to weak or a bad disk drive. We tried everything nothing has worked.I was hoping someone has run into this problem before and can help.