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I can't delete files!

J

jgv1965

macrumors newbie
Original poster
This is an incredible problem to have with a brand new computer, not least a 24" iMac, but there we go. I brought a lot of files over from my PC and some of them are non-functional ... such as, for example, files with a "lnk" extension (which work as shortcuts on Windows).
To tidy up the iMac I asked the finder to identify "lnk" files and it found 50. But there is NOTHING I can do to delete them once they are highlighted: not delete, not command-delete, not dragging them to trash, not going into menu and choosing the Trash option. They don't even delete individually. I have tried emptying my trash (which I didn't want to do) and restarting (which I didn't really want to do) - but nothing works.
Can anyone help?
 
how did you transfer your windows files over? Did you use some sort of automated transfer like migration assistant?

Can you delete any other file? Like can you like delete something simple like a .txt file? Or is this problemm exclusive to this .ink format?
 
Ah - great question. Yes, I seem to be able to delete other types of files. (Also, I should say, I get asked for a password when I delete the "lnk" files. Which I give, and it's the right password, but it seems strange that should happen).
 
jgv1965 said:
Ah - great question. Yes, I seem to be able to delete other types of files. (Also, I should say, I get asked for a password when I delete the "lnk" files. Which I give, and it's the right password, but it seems strange that should happen).
Click to expand...

Also, I should add, I transferred them the simplest way - by backing them up to a hard drive from the PC and then copying them from the hard drive to the iMac.
 
jgv1965 said:
Also, I should add, I transferred them the simplest way - by backing them up to a hard drive from the PC and then copying them from the hard drive to the iMac.
Click to expand...

And having re-read your email - I should (finally) add, it's not "ink", it's "lnk" (i.e. LNK)
 
Can you move the files? You might try moving them to a new folder on the desktop and then opening the terminal and doing

cd desktop
sudo rm -R [foldername]

However it's annoying that you would have to use the terminal. What happens after you enter your password? Nothing? Not even the trash sound?
 
It could probably be a permission problem, in that you don't have permission to delete the files.

Have a look at the "Get Info" of the files to check whether the Locked tick box is ticked/greyed out.

I had a problem deleting some files because of their permissions and I ended-up having to use the terminal to alter the permissions with root privileges.
 
In answer to these questions .. I have investigated. If I go into "info" on one of the files, I see there is a padlock in the botom right hand corner. So I unlock the padlock by clicking and typing my password. Then I can copy files into another file and delete them from there. (But this gets to one of the problems with Mac, which is that you haven't got the "cut" function to move and delete, or even the move function so far as I can tell, so this doesn't solve the problem of the files remaining where they were originally.)
So, with the files still stuck where they were ...
I don't know what "terminal" is and I'm afraid I have no idea how to get outside the system and type code (is that like a registry hack?). I am happy to try, just say what I should do. And thanks!
 
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