I was getting this error intermittently and I suspected it was due to latency issues with regard to our network.       After some searching and hair pulling, I discovered that there is a SAS startup/configuration variable that allows me to increase the amount of time that SAS waits before declaring/throwing a 'File Lock' error.      For version 9.4, the SAS startup configuration file is located at (in Windows):     c:\program files\SASHome\SASFoundation\9.4\nls\en\sasv9.cfg The following configuration option variable was set by adding a line to the above referenced sasv9.cfg file -FILELOCKWAIT 20 This option/value compels SAS to wait up to 20 seconds before throwing a 'File Lock' error.  You can/should experiment to see how long you need (i.e., there is nothing sacred about the 20 value).  As with any configuration file, attention must be paid to where the new line is inserted.  Guidance is provided in the existing configuration file. After you restart SAS, you may check that the new values by executing proc options; run; This has solved my problem.  Your mileage may vary.  ... View more