Owned By Root...WTF does that mean?

[zuggerat]

ok i installed this cisco systems program for my schools wireless hotspots and i realized i dont need it now and when i try to drag it from the application folder to the trash can it says it "cannot complete this operation because the item is owned by it's root"...wtf does that mean?...and how do i get rid of this retched thing!?...please help. thanx

 

[Counterfit]

looks like you'll be taking a trip to visit my friend and yours, Terminal. no follow closely:

sudo rm -f drag/file/here/for/path

that should work, but I think someone with more experience should verify this before you try it. Being owned by root means that only the system or root/super user can modify, move, or delete it.

 

[zuggerat]

why does this happen?

 

[Counterfit]

I wish I knew. Probably because of how it interacts with the system it requires some sort of special access or permissions of something. But remember, DO NOT TRY THIS UNTIL SOMEONE ELSE VERIFIES IT!

 

[jaykk]

If you are afraid of terminals, you can try this.

Get Info -> Ownership & Permissions -> unlock the paddle lock -> Change owner to your userid

Then you can drag it to trash. It works sometimes.

 

[jaykk]

Sorry for the double post.
I will try to explain why it happened as far I know.

All unix system have high security for files system, meaning, you can delete/modify files created by only you. It prevents you from deleting/modifying some other user's files - like ur family members accounts if they share the same system. ( You can even prevent anyother user from viewing ur files as well.. Unix is secure to store any sensitive information )

Then there is a super user who owns most of the core OS specific System files which only a root user can delete/modify. Mac OS X requires you to authenticate with a password before you create/delete/update files in any location than your HOME folder. If some installation asks for your password, they are modifying/creating files in location other than your HOME folder. Thats why its not easy to write a Virus for Unix systems since it requires somekind of authentication to update System files. But if there is a unix virus, it can destroy your HOME folder still your system will be up and running and other user won't loose their files.

I am assuming when you install CISCO software, it asked for your password, so it requires password to remove it as well.

 

[LimeLite]

Another way to delete root owned files is to log into the root account. To do this, open HardDrive -> Applications -> Utilities -> NetInfo Manager. Once you've opened that, go to the menubar and select the "Security" menu. Choose Authenticate to get access to the rest of the menu. Choose "Enable Root User", make a password for the root user, then log out of your account. From he login screen, you'll have to select the box that says "Other..." if you use icons to log in. Then for username enter: root, and for password, whatever password you made. It'll log you in to the computer and you can delete the files you want to, because the root account can manage everything. If you want, you can even disable the root account when you're done.

 

[advres]

limelite is 100% right - make sure you are careful in root user mode though because if you deleat certain things you can really f things up - the file you want to erase is no big deal though.

sometimes if you log into os9 if your system supports it than you can trash a lot of files you couldn't trash if you were logged into osx

 

[kirktalon]

Thanks for this thread it just helped me out.