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Emptying trash
- Thread starter YMark
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The Trash is for items you want to delete. Not items you might want to delete. Create a folder and call it "Recycle?" or "Trash?" to store things you think you might want to delete.
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Sorry to sound rude, but if you read that statement outside of any computer context, youll realize how ridiculous it is.
Check this thread.
At message 35 or so there's an AppleScript that you can copy and paste into the editor, then make it one of the Finder scripts. Use it to choose files in the trash you want to delete selectively.
Although it's good advice not to put things in the trash you don't want to delete, there are times when you want to trash just items from certain drives. Apple would be wise to make its trash functions more robust.
mt
Well since the statement is in computer context, I guess it isn't ridiculous.
Thanks MT, I'll give that a try.
Think of this scenario ... You're in an office where employees sometimes have to share computers. You have a thumb drive where you need to delete the items on it so you can transfer data to another workstation. How do you clear the thumb drive while leaving the workstation intact?
That's not such a far-fetched scenario ... in my office we sometimes have to switch around because personal laptops or desktops are being serviced by IT.
You COULD move the items in the trash into a separate folder, clear the thumb drive, then move everything back, but that's just plain stupid. And there's no reason why the Finder can't be smart enough to selectively delete files.
Sure, I'll side with the UI nazis who think it's lousy computing to treat the trash like a folder. And adding individual deletion of files might give stupid users the opportunity to scale new heights of stupidity. But keeping people from doing stupid things isn't the role of an OS.
Apple should consider how the Finder handles trash and offer some alternatives.
mt
Im not saying it shouldnt be able to selectively delete files. All Im saying is that if youre not ready for a certain file to be deleted, why would you put it in the trash in the first place?
Tell me about it dude. It sucks. I had some really nasty mince beef that had been in my fridge for a month so I put it into the trash. When I decided to empty it, the bag burst and I got rotting beef juice all over my left leg.
The worst bit was that I had some books and a shirt that I didn't know if I wanted or not in there too. I pretty much decided I didn't want them anymore. Man, that juice got everywhere...
I've decided to only put only what I know I really don't want into the trash and to empty it more often. My carpet still reeks of dead cow.
The worst bit was that I had some books and a shirt that I didn't know if I wanted or not in there too. I pretty much decided I didn't want them anymore. Man, that juice got everywhere...
I've decided to only put only what I know I really don't want into the trash and to empty it more often. My carpet still reeks of dead cow.
Like I said, it's lousy computing ... but in a similar vein ... If you go through the Mac OCD thread (not sure where it is), every third person says they can't stand to have anything in their trash so they're constantly emptying it. I think that's pretty lousy computing, too. We all make mistakes and constantly emptying the trash just means you'll make them more often.
What I do -- and I'm not suggesting this is the "right" way -- is empty the trash maybe once a week, maybe less. I wait till it looks like there's a few hundred megabytes. My hard drive has 50-some gigabytes, small by today's standards. But I'm so far from filling it up that what I've got in the trash isn't an issue.
In that light, defending better computing habits can be a waste of time. And, again, Apple should rethink how the Finder handles the trash.
mt
Haha I cant stand having stuff in my trash either. I guess it probably would be a better habit to add a recurring iCal event that automatically emptied it once a week. But then again, I have Time Machine and Im careful enough Ill feed my OCD
If you didn't want to delete the file to begin with why did you put it in the trash?
You do realize the trash is practically the same thing as another folder.
Also there is the "put back" option.
Well, if I'm not mistaken (and I could be since it's been awhile...) the Windows Recycle Bin allows you to selectively delete things. It would be a useful thing in a multi-user environment.
I wouldn't care one way or the other if Apple added this feature. However, it still comes down the fact that putting a file in the trash that you are not prepared to have it deleted is nonsensical.
Why would you put a file, that you might want to keep, in a place where it is a hair's breadth away from being deleted???? Especially in a multi-user environment where you have no control over who might empty the trash.
Create a folder and call it "Recycle?" or "Trash?" to store things you think you might want to delete.
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No, it really wouldn't. That would encourage people to use the Trash as a storage folder and implementing permissions for each user as far as what they could delete (only files they put in the Trash? Anything that is put in the Trash by anyone? Some combination of the two?) would be either redundant (in the former case) and/or a huge mess (in the latter).
If you have a multi-user environment, use separate accounts.
