unlock files

I'm kinda new at this so forgive me if I'm a bonehead.
I made a contribute site, then wanted to disable check in check out. All the files have duplicate locked files remaining on server and they take eons to ftp. Is there an easy way to delete them all? I delete on server and they mysteriously are still there...I first thought it was a DWMX ftp problem, but same deal with GoLive.
Yipes! Any help is appreciated.