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littlewaywelt

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 4, 2007
243
0
I've never locked any of my folders (at least intentionally) on pc or mac, yet somehow after my data transfer, one of the folders seems to be locked. I can't throw anything in it away. Anytime I try to drag something to the trash a popup comes up requesting a password. I enter my standard pw but it doesn't seem to delete.
 
Open a Terminal window. (from Applications, utilities)

in the terminal, type chmod 755

then drag the problem folder from the Finder to the Terminal window. the terminal command should now include the path to the folder. Hit return. then try to delete your folder.
 
can you get info (right click, get info OR command+i) and uncheck the box that says lock.

are you a system administrator, since my admin account has no problem deleting locked folders.
 
can you get info (right click, get info OR command+i) and uncheck the box that says lock.

are you a system administrator, since my admin account has no problem deleting locked folders.

notsofatjames - I am guessing the folder is not locked as you suspect, since the user us being prompted for a password. That's why I suggested changing the permissions....
 
rename the file to delete
make a text file save it as delete

over write the new text file over the file you want to delete.
becuase you have just created a text file named delete, and the locked file is delete, the text file should save itself over.

drag the "delete" file into the trash. done
 
notsofatjames - I am guessing the folder is not locked as you suspect, since the user us being prompted for a password. That's why I suggested changing the permissions....

i get prompted for a password when deleting a folder thats got locked in the Get Info screen. I was just trying to save the OP some terminal usage. Terminal can be scary.
 
i get prompted for a password when deleting a folder thats got locked in the Get Info screen. I was just trying to save the OP some terminal usage. Terminal can be scary.

Really? Are you signed in as a non-admin? I don't get prompted for a password when I delete a locked folder. but I'm logged in as an admin.

And yes, Terminal can be scary. I have a warning in many of my screencasts telling people they can wipe out files in Terminal.
 
total newbie error. very weird to be going from a power user to a newb...

I didn't have my mouse configured for right clicking. After right clicking I was able to bring up a box and uncheck the locked icon, so I could delete it. Thanks very much for the help!
 
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