Environment
Novell Client 2 SP4 for Windows
Windows 7
Situation
User sometimes cannot rename a directory / folder, but later the operation is successful.
Resolution
While Microsoft doesn't provide a way for the thumbs.db to be closed in a more timely manner on Windows 7, they do provide a "DisableThumbsDBOnNetworkFolders" policy to simply disable the use and maintaining of the thumbs.db when accessing a network path. See MS KB2025703.
Cause
The Windows Explorer process (EXPLORER.EXE) actually has a file (thumbs.db) open in the directory that is being attempted for rename, and therefore the directory is not allowed to be renamed. Eventually, the file is closed and the rename operation can be completed.