Can't delete files from my mac

[ReinisK]

Hi!
I have slight problem. I am making a switch from Windows to Mac, I copied some of my old files, around 30 GB, to my new mac with the help of external HD. I placed the folder on my desktop and the problem is that, now I can't delete these copied files. When i try to delete them Mac asks for a admin password, I type the password but nothing happens the files haven't moved. I have set permission to read & write for all users. What could be the problem here? Is it that files on my old PC wher NTFS, but i copied them to mac OS X. I will be thankful for any suggestions.

Thanks in advance,
Reinis

 

[andybno1]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/389653/

 

[ReinisK]

Yes, I already tried that post, but the thing is that the files nor the folder are locked...
Any other ideas?

 

[yellow]

Leopard?

 

[ReinisK]

Yes, Mac OS X 10.5.2
BlackBook 2.4 GHz
2GB memory
HDD- 250 GB

 

[yellow]

Open Terminal.app.
Type in:

sudo chown -R username:admin

Replacing "username" with your short username, and make sure there's a space after "admin", now drag the folder from the Finder into your Terminal window and it should auto-complete the path to the folder. In the end, it will look something l;ike this:

sudo chown -R yellow:admin /Users/yellow/SecretFiles/

Hit return and enter your admin password.

Now can you delete them?

 

[ReinisK]

Excellent!
It works fine now. Thanks a lot bud, you made my day, i have been trying to solve this problem for two days, but none of my Mac using friends have had such a problem!

Thanks a lot again!

 

[Pneuton]

I have the same problem. neither this thread nor the one linked have solved the issue.
the files i cant delete come from an old window's computer that i transfered to my mac and now i cant get rid of them

i have a macbook pro running 10.5.8

any suggestion?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I have the same problem. neither this thread nor the one linked have solved the issue.
the files i cant delete come from an old window's computer that i transfered to my mac and now i cant get rid of them

i have a macbook pro running 10.5.8

any suggestion?

Select the file, press CMD+I to open the GET INFO window and look under Sharing & Permissions or if the Locked checkbox is checked.
http://mac.appstorm.net/how-to/os-x/making-the-most-of-finders-get-info-pane/

Btw, where exactly is the file located, inside your Home Directory (Macintosh HD / Users / YourUserName) or an external HDD (if so, which format (CMD+I) does it use?)?

 

[Pneuton]

It's a bunch of files that i moved directly to my desktop. they were originally from a machine running Windows XP.

the files are not locked and no permissions are set

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It's a bunch of files that i moved directly to my desktop. they were originally from a machine running Windows XP.

the files are not locked and no permissions are set

What does happen then if you select the file and press CMD+BACKSPACE or select MOVE TO TRASH from the secondary menu (right click) or dragging it to the Trash? Does a message appear?
Have you tried opening Terminal and entering rm -f and then pressing the SPACEBAR and then dragging the file into the Terminal window and pressing ENTER?
This should normally remove the stubborn file (without going to the Trash) without asking for permissions.
http://www.mac-terminal.com/files-and-folders/rm/

 

[Pneuton]

Command + Backspace just takes me up a level in the folders. right clicking and selecting 'move to trash" and dragging the file to the trash give me a prompt to enter my password, after which nothing happens.

i tried the rm -f suggestion but they still wont budge. (it says that they path is a directory)

it may be important to note that there are both files and folders that i'm tryting to delete