Help! Can't empty trash after using Monolingual

[boshuter]

I have a fresh install of Snow Leopard and after reinstalling the apps I wanted, setting preferences, etc., I ran Monolingual to get rid of the extra language files and keyboard layouts. I chose the "send files to trash" option in Monolingual and after it finished I tried to empty the trash. There are now 7 folders in my trash named for different languages, each contains 2 files named "Dictionary.dat" and "bindict". When I try to empty the trash it pops up that these files are in use and can't continue. For some unknown reason it won't empty any of the other stuff I sent to the trash either because of these language files.

Can anyone tell me how to get these files out of my trash so I can empty it? Better yet, what caused this problem in the first place? I just want to get this cleaned up and working without problems so I can get Windows installed on here.

BTW: Using SL 10.6.2

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

restart your computer, then empty the trash.

 

[boshuter]

restart your computer, then empty the trash.

Believe it or not... I thought of that on my own ...... doesn't help

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Believe it or not... I thought of that on my own ...... doesn't help

Well I could tell you how to use the terminal to delete it, but you'd have to use sudo, which can be a little dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

Over all I would never, in a million years, use Monolingual, considering it can cause all sorts of problems for programs like Photoshop. There are many things those sort of cleaning programs can screw up, like the situation you're in.


sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*
then type your admin password and hit return.

 

[boshuter]

Well that worked just fine. My trash is empty and I'm able to send files to it and empty it as usual.

Since you don't like apps like Monolingual, how do you recommend getting rid of all the excess junk that OSX installs? I just wanted to get rid of as much useless junk as I could because I plan on installing Windows and allocating 200gb for it and app. 50gb for SL. I have to use Autocad and Mastercam daily, so Windows has to be the primary OS for me.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Well that worked just fine. My trash is empty and I'm able to send files to it and empty it as usual.

Since you don't like apps like Monolingual, how do you recommend getting rid of all the excess junk that OSX installs? I just wanted to get rid of as much useless junk as I could because I plan on installing Windows and allocating 200gb for it and app. 50gb for SL. I have to use Autocad and Mastercam daily, so Windows has to be the primary OS for me.

Firstly*, I would not have bought a Mac if all the computer work I do involved Windows. Simply because, while Macs are nice, computers are tools. A Mac isn't going to do anything a PC won't unless there's no software to do what you want.

Second, I don't clear out that stuff. It's not like it's bothering me just because it takes a few GBs. Computer storage is cheap. If I run low on disk space (less than 50GB free) then I'll get a new hard disk.

Now that you've used Monolingual there's no telling what important resource may have been removed that causes some third party program to fumble and crash.

*although I do understand the draw to Macs. I'm not saying you shouldn't have bought one, since it's your money and OS X is a very nice OS to use. I chose OS X for Aperture, although I could have easily gone with Windows and used LightRoom.

 

[mac2x]

Well that worked just fine. My trash is empty and I'm able to send files to it and empty it as usual.

Since you don't like apps like Monolingual, how do you recommend getting rid of all the excess junk that OSX installs? I just wanted to get rid of as much as possible. I just wanted to get rid of as much useless junk as I could because I plan on installing Windows and allocating 200gb for it and app. 50gb for SL. I have to use Autocad and Mastercam daily, so Windows has to be the primary OS for me.

Since SL doesn't install gads of printer drivers by default like Leopard did, I wouldn't worry too much about it. There isn't any 'junk' there. SL overall is a lot slimmer than Leopard.

 

[boshuter]

Well I'm not "drawn" to Macs, and I knew that I would have to install Windows on it to use the software I work with. This is the second Macbook I've owned, the first was a black one that I purchased with a bad motherboard and repaired. I really liked the look and build "feel" of it, I didn't keep that long though and really never thought I'd own another Mac. A couple months ago, I saw one for sale on a forum, again, advertised as having a bad motherboard. I bought it for $150 with the restore disks and SL. When it arrived I unpackaged it and just hit the power button, it booted right up and has run perfectly for the two months I've had it. I wish this one had the c2d cpu instead of the core duo, but for what I'm using it for it does fine. I do most of my drafting/design work on my desktop and only occasionally have to use the laptop for that work.

I disagree that all those languages and keyboard layouts are not junk, if they don't need to be there, they are junk... and that goes equally for anything in Windows that doesn't really need to be there. I just get frustrated because I know how to get rid of the stuff I don't want in Windows and I'm lost as to how to do it in OSX. I like the look of SL but would sure like to dump a lot of things in it, like the Mail program, Itunes, Ichat, things like that that I just have no use for. In Windows I can strip almost anything out of the OS that is not useful to me. To be fair, all this can probably be done in OSX as well, I just haven't found out yet how to do it.

 

[mac2x]

SL was barely 10 GB on my new iMac that arrived the other day...don't know what all the fuss is about.