empty waste bin 120GB 16,000 items best way old 2016 imac

[etaf]

i thought i posted this the other day
empty waste bin 120GB 16,000 items best way old 2016 imac

intel 2016 imac - at whatever OSX was around that year

for various reasons the waste basket is now 120Gb 16,000+ items out of 1TB harddrive

its a friend i remotely connect to - best way to empty this old very slow imac - is it to select a screen full and delete permenataly OR should i just use empty waste bin

 

[Bigwaff]

OR should i just use empty waste bin

Just empty waste bin. It may take some time but shouldn't impact performance too drastically as the HDD churns.

 

[ignatius345]

The first thing I would ask is whether this Mac has an up to date backup of any kind. I would make sure that's done before deleting 16,000 files. This can be as simple as plugging in a portable hard drive, setting it to be used as a Time Machine destination, and then letting one complete backup finish.

In any case, once you're satisfied that it's safe to delete these files, just moving them to the Trash and then emptying it will be just fine.

 

[etaf]

Thanks for all the quick replies
@Bigwaff - thnks i will do that when all the photos have been put into folders and copied onto a harddrive

@ignatius345
yep, it uses 2 harddrives perioically swapped - so it currenly has one in with timemachine running - i have also copied the waste basket and we have delt with the accidentally deleted items by various kids using the imac , and also as i copied i ensured time machine copied onto the 2 harddrives as well

but time machine odes not copy the wastebin