trash wont empty

[brendu]

okay let me start by saying i know how to solve my problem, i just dont know why it happens.. here we go.

i just installed vlc player from a downloadable disk image. then after installing it i threw away the .dmg file. I have not ejected the disk image and i know this is why i cant throw it away... the thing i cant figure out is when i try to empty the trash i get the message "The operation can't be completed because the item "vlc-1.0.3.dmg" is in use." Then it prompts me to either stop or continue. No matter which option i click, the trash does not empty. Nothing happens. What are these two options supposed to do? ive always wondered... sorry if this post was confusing.

 

[*LTD*]

Open up a Terminal window. It's in Utilities.

At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

(Actually, I think a restart would fix your problem, too.)

I've experienced this issue as well. The problem usually goes away on its own, anyway.

 

[brendu]

Open up a Terminal window. It's in Utilities.

At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

(Actually, I think a restart would fix your problem, too.)

I've experienced this issue as well. The problem usually goes away on its own, anyway.

well my problem was resolved by ejecting the disk image. then i can empty the trash. Im curious what the "stop" and "continue" options are for since neither of them have ever done anything for me when this scenario occurs.

what does your terminal prompt do exactly?

 

[*LTD*]

well my problem was resolved by ejecting the disk image. then i can empty the trash. Im curious what the "stop" and "continue" options are for since neither of them have ever done anything for me when this scenario occurs.

what does your terminal prompt do exactly?

The Terminal gets you behind all the eye-candy and in full control of Unix, which is essentially OS X. It's a Unix operating system.

A Google search will reveal tons and tons of useful Terminal commands, from the complex to the very simple. What you can't do in Prefs panes you can likely do through the Terminal. Might also save you some $$, too. Less need to install 3rd party apps and little utilities that do such and such. In some cases they're convenient, and in some cases you're paying for something that can be done by a simple Terminal command.

Just be careful. The Terminal is the most powerful tool in OS X.

 

[PurrBall]

Continue will delete the rest of the stuff in the trash, stop will abort.

 

[brendu]

Continue will delete the rest of the stuff in the trash, stop will abort.

ah, thank you.. thats what i was looking for.

 

[mac2x]

The Terminal gets you behind all the eye-candy and in full control of Unix, which is essentially OS X. It's a Unix operating system.

A Google search will reveal tons and tons of useful Terminal commands, from the complex to the very simple. What you can't do in Prefs panes you can likely do through the Terminal. Might also save you some $$, too. Less need to install 3rd party apps and little utilities that do such and such. In some cases they're convenient, and in some cases you're paying for something that can be done by a simple Terminal command.

Just be careful. The Terminal is the most powerful tool in OS X.

Very much. Be extremely careful with the rm -rf command; used improperly it can wipe out entire directories, such as your home folder. And when you delete something via the Unix command line, it's gone; permanently. Always add -i to the rm command because it will prompt you for confirmation.