The key to the solution is the message that the container has an active disk artifact and the advice to remove it from the repository.
The procedure to remove the disk image from the blob repository is:
- Go to the Windows Azure Management Portal.
- Click on Virtual Machines.
- Click on Disks.
- Click on the disk.
- Click on Delete Disk.
After that, the storage account can be deleted.
Notes:
- This applies even if you’ve already deleted all of your Virtual Machines and it shows 0; there still will be artifacts under the disks tab.
- Disks are detached from a deleted VM asynchronously, it may take a few minutes after the VM is deleted for this field to clear up.
See also: Unable to delete VHD, “There is currently a lease on the blob…”