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schwine1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 13, 2008
183
4
I have several $RECYCLE.BIN folders in the Music folder on the Mac side of my computer. These $RECYCLE.BIN folders were created when I had the "Shared Folders" option enabled within VMware.

Since then, I have disabled the "Shared Folders" option and I would like to delete all of these $RECYCLE.BIN folders within the Music folder on the Mac side of the computer.

However, I am having difficulty deleteing these $RECYCLE.BIN folders, as the delete option within the Finder window is greyed out for some reason (pathway: Finder window > edit > delete), after I locate and highlight the $RECYCLE.BIN folders within the Music folder.

Thanks for any tips on how to permanently delete the $RECYCLE.BIN folders within the Music folder on the Mac side of the computer.
 

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Im sure you can do it in Terminal but im not well versed with Terminal so I wont even try to give you the commands but google can help. I notice I get these folders also and I think I deleted them on Windows, have you tried going in to the Windows side and delete them?
 
Try taking ownership of them:

  • Open up a Finder window and go to the Folder with all the $RECYCLE.BIN's
  • Now Open up a Terminal window
  • Type (In Terminal) "sudo chown root:YourUserNameHere " (make sure to include that Space and to replace YourUserNameHere with your User name)
  • Switch to Finder, select all the $RECYCLE.BIN's and drag them into the Terminal window
  • Press Enter (It will ask you for your password)
  • Now try deleting them in Finder
---------

Deleting them from Terminal:
(I would actually prefer you don't use this method, because if you do something wrong or if I made a mistake in the steps....)

  • Open up a Finder window and go to the Folder with all the $RECYCLE.BIN's
  • Now Open up a Terminal window
  • Type "sudo rm -rf " (make sure to include that Space)
  • Switch to Finder, select all the $RECYCLE.BIN's and drag them into the Terminal window
  • Press Enter (It will ask you for your password)
  • Check to see if they are gone
Note: "rm -rf" Is dangerous, you can delete large amounts of directory's and files with a single keystroke. So PLEASE be careful what your dragging into the finder window and what your typing (You don't want to accidentally type a wild card and have rm delete your entire HD).

---------

If nothing else works:

  • Open up a Terminal window
  • Type "cd ~/Music"
  • Type "ls -al@"
  • Paste the output of that command here, so we can see what the hell is up with the $RECYCLE.BIN folders
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Quad5Ny.

I tried your first method in Terminal and that worked.

All the best.
 
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