Deleting trash is REALLY slow

[McPaul]

Trash has emptied 7 items in the last 20 minutes, and has 692 items to go.

now, I know what you're thinking: "this guy sure has a lot of crap on his system" ... but I don't. I just did a complete erase and reinstall 2 weekends ago, and have not gone through nearly that many items. I'll leave it overnight but this just seems to be taking forever.

 

[MacNut]

When did you last reboot and how fast is the system.

 

[bearbo]

i had that happened to be before... i forgot why, try cancel (and it won't cancel completely) then you'll have to restart, then when you get back, it will be all normal (i think :S)

 

[Sdashiki]

run disk utility

probably some sort of header/tree problem.

easy fix.

might have to restart from a CD to repair the hd

 

[saikyan]

Are you just emptying the trash or performing a "Secure Empty Trash" by mistake? That option behaves more like what you're describing.

 

[eegore]

Are you just emptying the trash or performing a "Secure Empty Trash" by mistake? That option behaves more like what you're describing.

I know this is a reply to a relatively old thread, but I was having the same issue, and came across a somewhat obscure way to be emptying the trash securely by mistake.

In the finder preferences, advanced tab, there is a checkbox 'Empty Trash securely'.

If you have this checked, then no matter how you empty your trash, it will be secure (and massively slow as a result). If you only want to securely empty it occasionally, uncheck this, and then use the Finder menu 'secure empty trash' option.

 

[blinkie]

I know this is a reply to a relatively old thread, but I was having the same issue, and came across a somewhat obscure way to be emptying the trash securely by mistake.

In the finder preferences, advanced tab, there is a checkbox 'Empty Trash securely'.

If you have this checked, then no matter how you empty your trash, it will be secure (and massively slow as a result). If you only want to securely empty it occasionally, uncheck this, and then use the Finder menu 'secure empty trash' option.

eegore I love the idea that you're sifting through ancient, unanswered, questions. Righting the wrongs. Keep up the good work!

 

[beowulf571]

Fix worked; unchecked the finder pref checkbox!

I've been suffering from the slows since having bought this new imac two months ago. That simple fix works. I now don't have to wait overnight for my trash to be emptied!

 

[silvercorn]

Bingo!

I know this is a reply to a relatively old thread, but I was having the same issue, and came across a somewhat obscure way to be emptying the trash securely by mistake.

In the finder preferences, advanced tab, there is a checkbox 'Empty Trash securely'.

If you have this checked, then no matter how you empty your trash, it will be secure (and massively slow as a result). If you only want to securely empty it occasionally, uncheck this, and then use the Finder menu 'secure empty trash' option.

This issue was doing my head in and your tip did the trick! Big thanks!

 

[radiowatch]

slow trash

This issue was doing my head in and your tip did the trick! Big thanks!

Where do you find System preferences Advanced tab on MackBook Pro 17", brand new systems

 

[Tumbleweed666]

Where do you find System preferences Advanced tab on MackBook Pro 17", brand new systems

Finder.
Preferences.
Advanced.