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HELP! can't delete some of the folders in a users home directory?!

P

pm99

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 11, 2012
2
0
Hi folks,
first MR post!

I just used 'Symboliclink' service to create a symbolic link to my documents folder (among others) which I moved to my network attached storage (NAS - a WD my live book 2TB). I've deleted the originals. i.e. I copied my 'documents' folder to my NAS then went back and deleted it on my HDD and replaced it with the symbolic link (which has an arrow icon vs the system documents icon).

This seems to work fine for me (the administrator at home), but when I go to do this with my other family users, I go to delete the original folders (under the home directory) but I cannot delete it. System says "foldername - can't be modify or deleted because it's required by MAC OSX".

What's happening? I'm running OSX Lion 10.7.2 on a macbook pro. I'm trying to free up disk space on my HDD which is nearing capacity (180 of 200G). It's driving me CRAZY I tell you!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys and gals!!
Come on give me your best guess (best answer gets a thumbs UP!) :D

pm99
 
Last edited:
If you are sure you are not attempting to delete system folders (Be very sure of this) Try holding down the OPTION key at the same time as you try to delete the folders. A word of warning....If OSX is throwing you that message, It's doing it for a reason. You could wind up with an unusable Mac requiring reinstallation of OSX.
 
Macman45 said:
If you are sure you are not attempting to delete system folders (Be very sure of this) Try holding down the OPTION key at the same time as you try to delete the folders. A word of warning....If OSX is throwing you that message, It's doing it for a reason. You could wind up with an unusable Mac requiring reinstallation of OSX.
Click to expand...

Already tried that, doesn't work. :( The Documents/Music/Movies/etc folders all give the same error message whenever you try to do anything to them, option key or no option key.
 
NMF said:
Already tried that, doesn't work. :( The Documents/Music/Movies/etc folders all give the same error message whenever you try to do anything to them, option key or no option key.
Click to expand...

I guess it's down to the App then. I'm not familiar with it, but it must make changes somewhere....Have you tried a permissions repair?
 
Macman45 said:
I guess it's down to the App then. I'm not familiar with it, but it must make changes somewhere....Have you tried a permissions repair?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what that is... and I'm not dealing with a specific app here, rather the standard "Music" directory in Home. "Documents" and "Movies" are the others I would like to change and/or remove.
 
Macman45 said:
Disk Utility permissions repair:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1452


I would also suggest you run "Verify Disk" from the same location.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1782

See if you can get the folders deleted after running these.
Click to expand...

No dice. My problem isn't that something isn't working as it should; things are going exactly as they should be. I'm asking for the work-around method that allows me to modify/remove/rename/etc the standard Music, Documents, and Movies folders. If you are able to modify these yourself then you probably restored from a prior machine's backup at some point. A standard Lion install will not let you modify these folders by default. A workaround is needed.

...and it must exist somewhere, right? It's kind of blowing my mind that I can't easily fix this problem.
 
NMF said:
Bump. Someone has to know how to do this.
Click to expand...

I assume your trying to move users home directories to a NAS. If so, symlinks is not the best way to go about it. Under Lion esp. it does treat those folders in a special way.

What I recommend is use the advanced settings to redesignated a User folder location on the NAS. It will make it seamless compared to what you're attempting.

1) Copy a users folders over to the NAS location
2) Open System Prefs > Users & Groups > Right click on a user and select Advanced setting
3) Set the home folder to the NAS location.

Don't remove the local copy until you've tested the new location under the user's login to make sure it all works well.
 
Wild stab in the dark,

Have you tried shift boot into safe mode & delete.

If that fails open terminal & sudu rm / location etc, return. but make sure you know what your deleting.
 
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