File on desktop can not be deleted?

[danyak]

Finder says the item is being used by another task. try again when task is complete. There is nothing runnning and it has been on my desk top for weeks with several tries to delete it. ANy help would be greatly appreciated. Oh yea its a pdf.sit file and when I try to open it it says error has occured while expanding. Archive may contain damaged content. error #17538 but that doesn't matter anyways as I just want to delete it. Thanks in advance.
Dan

 

[SilentPanda]

You downloaded it with internet Explorer didn't you?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107426

 

[Gymnut]

Boot up into OS9 if you can and trash the little bastard from there.

 

[iDean]

OS X? Open terminal.app
cd ~/Desktop (or wherever it is located)
rm -rf pdf.sit

 

[yellow]

Originally posted by iDean
rm -rf pdf.sit

FYI: The -r flag is only needed for directories when one wants to recursively remove all files and subdirectories in the specified hierarchy.

 

[maradong]

Originally posted by yellow
FYI: The -r flag is only needed for directories when one wants to recursively remove all files and subdirectories in the specified hierarchy.

exact...

 

[5300cs]

nothing like using the command line to kill the occasional stubborn app or remove files. rm filename should do the trick.

 

[lmann]

has your computer been restarted since you donwloaded the file ??

 

[danyak]

deleted it thanks-in OS 9 was the trick-NT

NT

 

[Gymnut]

I'm not all too familiar with removing files via the terminal but I do understand that if you're not all too sure what you're doing you can do some serious damage. I think sometimes, while the advice is with good intention, is not very helpful when dealing with someone who's accustomed to a GUI.