Open file without (really) locking it?

Question

Is it possible to open a file in a way that allows subsequent deletion/renaming of its parent folder?

I know you can do this:

File.Open("foo.bar", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read | FileShare.Delete)

Which will allow for the file to be deleted when the file handle is closed. However, if it does not allow the parent folder to be deleted without error.

I couldn't find anything in the framework. Have I overlooked something, or is there a native API I can interop to.

Note: I don't care if I get an exception when using the stream of the deleted file. In fact that would be ideal.

UPDATE:

So the most promising idea was the Hardlink, however I just can't make it work. I still end up with Access Denied when i try to delete the parent directory. Here is my code:

class Program
{
    [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
    static extern bool CreateHardLink(string lpFileName, string lpExistingFileName, IntPtr lpSecurityAttributes);

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string hardLinkPath = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Path.GetRandomFileName());
        string realPath = @"C:\foo\bar.txt";
        if (CreateHardLink(hardLinkPath, realPath, IntPtr.Zero))
        {
            using (FileStream stream = File.Open(hardLinkPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Delete | FileShare.ReadWrite))
            {
                Console.Write("File locked");
                Console.ReadLine();
            }

            File.Delete(hardLinkPath);
        }
        else
            Console.WriteLine("LastError:{0}", Marshal.GetLastWin32Error());
    }
}

Answer 1

If you're working with an NTFS you can create another hardlink to the file in a temporary location, you'll avoid the file copy overhead, and the first link should still be deletable (either the file itself or a containing directory) without effecting the second.