Force Delete

[videonastie]

Does anyone know how to force delete in OS 10.2?

I have a few crashed downloads that I can't shift???

[MontanaMacster]

force quit

[FredAkbar]

Originally posted by MontanaMacster
force quit

Wait...are we talking about force quitting programs, or are we talking about force deleting files? If you meant Force Quit, then MontanaMacster is correct...but if you want to know how to delete something that refuses to be deleted, that's an entirely different matter, involving the rm command in Terminal (and possibly using sudo).

[rainman::|:|]

well i'll assume you're talking about deleting for a minute here, since you mentioned downloads. NOTE, to use the 'sudo' command, you must have Root enabled. you will need the root password. root is very dangerous, don't play with it. if you really want to enable it, do so in Directory Access. You can try the commands without 'sudo', but it may not work, depending on how buggery the files are.

IN the terminal, type this (assuming the file is on your desktop) *exactly* how it is, with a [return] after each line:

cd Desktop
sudo rm -f filename.ext

.ext is the filename extension, which may be hidden. To get the extension, choose "get info" on the item, in the File menu. Then click on "name and extension".

So you know what you're doing to your system:

cd means 'change directory', in this case from /Users/yourusername/ (where Terminal automatically puts you) into /Users/yourusername/Desktop, which is where the files on your desktop are actually kept.

sudo invokes root, which is the poweruser on your system. again, it's dangerous.

rm is command for 'remove'
rm -f means to try to remove it, without regard to the file's permissions. Kind of the force delete you were talking about.

if you have ANY questions about this, *ask first*, you don't want to screw up your system

pnw

[altair]

dont type rm -r ..



And all you need is an administrator account to use sudo.

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by altair
dont type rm -r ..



And all you need is an administrator account to use sudo.

yes for GODS sake dont use the -r flag... i thought you had to enable root first? ah well, i've had root enabled since the first day, so i couldn't really tell you

pnw

[videonastie]

That sounds like a nightmare just to delete a corrupted download. I think I can deal with it being left there for the meantime!

CHEERS

[irmongoose]

You answered the question yourself.. just download Force Delete and away you go.



irmongoose

[Wardofsky]

I had the very same problem, I download, from VT, everytime I tried to delete it said that it was in use or something.

I'm not much of a terminal kinda guy and I hid them away for a while in a copy of Safari, cntl-Safari->Show package contents, then I started up in 9 and deleted the Safari copy.

[rainman::|:|]

Yep, you can also download 'force delete' which is easier. A little experience with the terminal isn't a bad thing, being a tiny bit familiar with UNIX might help you in the future-- the knowledge has been invaluable to me. Not hard to learn, either. But to each his own

pnw

[videonastie]

How do you use the software?

[irmongoose]

Originally posted by videonastie
How do you use the software?

Drag the stubborn files onto the application... ater a few seconds it should ask you "Are you sure", and say "yes".



irmongoose