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Can't delete locked items, tried multiple solutions. It's been months...

D

deskuser

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2008
7
0
Hi, I can't delete a large number of mp3s in my trash because they are locked. These are files originally managed on a PC, stored on an external. I am the admin account on my computer, running Leopard. Things I have tried that haven't worked:

- Restoring files to desktop to unlock them, them replacing them in the trash. They are only copied to the desktop, leaving the locked original firmly in the trash.

- Selecting "Secure Empty Trash" from Finder File menu. After typing in my password, I am informed that I do not have sufficient privileges. Admin my ass.

- Selecting "Get Info" for a file while it is in the trash, then unchecking "Locked." It won't uncheck, just blinks for a millisecond.

- When I try to empty the trash, the computer informs me that it can't delete locked items unless I press option while selecting empty trash. So, I press option while selecting empty trash. It then informs me that it can't delete locked items unless I press options while... and so on...

This shouldn't be such a time-consuming big deal.
How do I empty my trash?
Any help is appreciated.
 
i believe that OnyX can force delete these items from the trash.

maybe worth downloading it to give it a shot. be careful though, as onyx gives you lots of "under the hood" osx options, don't click on stuff unless you know what it does :)
 
Did you try the terminal command?

Open terminal in your utilities folder and type sudo rm

Then enter your password (which will be invisible) and hit enter.
 
update

Another thing I tried that didn't work

- Opened Disk Utility and repaired Disk Permissions. The repair was successful, but my admin account still does not have sufficient permission to Secure Empty Trash.

- Downloaded onyx, but the .dmg won't mount because it's "not recognized."
 
Update: tried terminal command sudo chflags -R nouchg with no success - it won't unlock the file.

Also, have restored the files to the external drive they came off of so they are no longer in the trash. Still can't unlock them.
 
So you're trying to delete files that are located on an external drive? How is the drive formatted? (FAT32, etc.)
 
Try to see if running Repair Disk in Disk Utility (for the external drive) helps.

I would guess that it's either a problem with the drive, or an issue with locked files on FAT32 drives.

I've seen some flakey behaviour on FAT32 volumes before (but not this particular issue), and if you're going to be using this as a Mac-only drive you'll be better off reformatting in the Mac OS Extended (journaled) format.
 
Update

Tried the disk repair utility, but it makes no difference.

As I use this drive with both PC and Macs, I can't change it to a Mac-only format.

Any other suggestions?
 
Update

Do you think I should restore all the files to the drive, plug it into a PC, and unlock/delete them there? If the terminal commands don't work, I don't know what else will.

Also I'm a she, not a he...
 
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