Error when using gcc (minGW) to build .exe with same filename? - c

Question

I've been trying to build another .exe file with the same name in minGW, but everytime I run the command: gcc file.c -o file.exe I run into the problem of:
c:/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/mingw32/9.2.0/../../../../mingw32/bin/ld.exe:
cannot open output file main.exe: Permission denied
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
But, if I run the same command with gcc file.c -o file2.exe the command executes fine, and I can compile my C code. Is there any way to build .exe files with the same name?
My C code is a simple "hello world":
#include<stdio.h>
void main(){
printf("hello world");
}
Thank you!
Updates:
checked task manager, but the .exe is not running in the background.
I have writing permission to the folder
My antivirus doesn't seem to be the problem
I can edit and delete the file.exe "by hand". I used command line to rename it to file1.exe, but when I tried to rename it back to file.exe I got an "access denied". Even though I am running command line as an admin.
file.exe is just a generic name to ask this question instead of giving the
name of my project

Answer 1

Looking at this question: Command prompt access is denied
I saw a comment that helped:
Noting C:> in your question, your Windows root drive is usually write protected, you may find that simply changing directory to somewhere without that protection may also help. – Compo
And indeed, having my file in the root drive was the problem. Sorry I didn't provide enough information for those who helped. But thank you so much for the help!