Cannot empty waste basket

[Kilamite]

Seem to have a problem. Whenever I plug in my external hard drive, a folder appears in my waste basket (something I deleted from my external hard drive). If there is data in the waste basket, I can delete everything from it but the file that is associated with my hard drive.

I get a message saying:

"The operation cannot be completed because the item 'Archive' is in use"

When I unplug my external hard drive, the waste basket is empty.

It's just a nuisance for when I delete things, I get an error message (only when my ex.HDD is plugged in).

Any help on fixing this would be appreciated.

[EricNau]

First of all, that behavior is normal. Anytime you trash an item on an external HDD, it isn't truly deleted until you empty the trash while that HDD is still plugged in. (Until you empty the trash, that file is still on the hard drive in hidden form.)

Can you think of what app might be using that file on your external HDD?

[xUKHCx]

Use "secure empty trash" if you are sure that the file is not currently in use, (perhaps it was in use when you disconnected the drive last-time).

This should over ride the error and delete the file.

Finder - Secure Empty Trash.

[DinnyHoon]

If you haven't already, try rebooting your Mac with the external HDD plugged in. It should clear any processes hogging your unwanted file.

[Kilamite]

Thanks for the replies.

I tried all the above and no luck. The folder is an empty folder too, so its not like it contains a file or something that might be in use. If I even try to drag it outside the waste bag it creates a copy, and it still remains in the bin.

[Blubbert]

You could always use the terminal. Just open it up and type "rm -rf " without quotations (there is a space after the f, its needed) and just drag the offending file from the trash and drop it into the terminal. Then just press enter, and the file should dissapear.

[EricNau]

...or, if that doesn't work, do you have a Windows machine handy?

[Kilamite]

You could always use the terminal. Just open it up and type "rm -rf " without quotations (there is a space after the f, its needed) and just drag the offending file from the trash and drop it into the terminal. Then just press enter, and the file should dissapear.

That seem to do the trick cheers.

I had to show hidden files and folders and find the file within the hard drive (was in .trashes/501/) and dragged that into the terminal with the "rm -rf " command.

Cheers!

[bankholdup]

I am having the same issue.

Unfortunately I have not been able to resolve it with the solutions provided here so wondered if anyone had any further advice.

After 'showing hidden files and folders' the item I want to delete also appears in the .trashes/501/ folder - the issue I have is that the item I want to delete is a folder that contains several other (empty) folders.

when I try the rm method through terminal I get -

rm: /Volumes/WORK/.Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Pictures/Sample Pictures: Operation not permitted

parent folder -

rm: /Volumes/WORK/.Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Pictures/Sample Pictures: Operation not permitted
rm: /Volumes/WORK/.Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Pictures: Directory not empty
rm: /Volumes/WORK/.Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Videos: Operation not permitted
rm: /Volumes/WORK/.Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures: Directory not empty
rm: /Volumes/WORK/.Trashes/501/from PC: Directory not empty

I have tried deleting the parent folder and also working backwards from the deepest folder but nothing works! The folders are all showing up as empty.. .. Help!

[richard.mac]

try this unix command in Terminal

Disclaimer: do not blame me if this command deletes all of your work :p

cd /Volumes/WORK/; sudo rm -rf .Trashes; killall Finder

[bankholdup]

No Luck.... same sort of error...

rm: .Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Pictures/Sample Pictures: Operation not permitted
rm: .Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Pictures: Directory not empty
rm: .Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures/My Videos: Operation not permitted
rm: .Trashes/501/from PC/My Pictures: Directory not empty
rm: .Trashes/501/from PC: Directory not empty
rm: .Trashes/501: Directory not empty
rm: .Trashes: Directory not empty

[richard.mac]

can you show invisible files then drag those folders to your home folder (or move them to ~/ in Terminal) and then "sudo rm -rf" them individually while in your home directory?

[bankholdup]

I added the folder back to the drive from my Mac's trash - tried to delete it but get the same issue... I played around with it some more and it wont let me rename the folders either... it was a bunch of stuff I copied from my old PC so i wonder if it has something to do with the fact these folders are Windows defaults i.e. "My Pictures, My Videos..."

The issue seems to be more about permissions.