I downloaded the Trash It app, and finally got it to delete the old back-up files by using secure empty trash. Hurrah!!
THANKS! Luann On Nov 29, 2012, at 6:56 PM, John Robinson wrote: > Don't know if this helps or not, may be an easier way that someone will send. > > John > > > On Nov 29, 2012, at 5:44 PM, Luann Johnson wrote: > >> I think my problems are due to a user problem. >> >> A couple days ago I accidentally drug my time machine back-ups from my >> external drive to the trash. Never could get them out, copy them back to >> external drive, delete anything in the trash, or even shut down the >> computer. Eventually decided there was nothing I really needed in those >> back-ups, and I'm not sure what I did, but was finally able to empty >> everything from the trash except the back-ups. >> >> I am now trying to delete the back-ups in the trash. I keep getting this >> message: "The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error >> occurred (error code - 8003). Get option to either stop or continue, but >> nothing happens either way. >> >> Now, once again, I can't delete anything from the trash, and really need to >> delete lots of unnecessary stuff. >> >> Suggestions? >> >> I have an iMac 11.3, intel core i5. >> >> Thanks. >> >> Luann >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> MacGroup mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.math.louisville.edu/mailman/listinfo/macgroup > > > Error -8003 or other problems with emptying the OS X Trash > The OS X Trash may sometimes give people problems where files cannot be > deleted. Usually if you come across a file for which you do not have write > privileges, the system will prevent you from moving it to the Trash. But > there are instances when odd permissions setups for files can result in > bizarre errors when you try to delete them. > > <TrashIcon.png> > The OS X Trash may sometimes give people problems where files cannot be > deleted. Usually if you come across a file for which you do not have write > privileges, the system will prevent you from moving it to the Trash. But > there are instances when odd permissions setups for files can result in > bizarre errors when you try to delete them. > One such error may be: "The operation can't be completed because an > unexpected error occurred (error code -8003)," but others include a simple > warning that you do not have enough privileges to perform the delete action. > Permissions > Regardless of the specifics of the error, if you cannot empty the Trash, then > it is highly likely that in some hidden way you do not have enough privileges > to delete the files in the Trash. This usually happens when you are managing > files from external disks, but it can happen with any file on the drive. > OS X implements access control lists, which are an extensive way to manage > permissions on files, and can sometimes result in bizarre permissions > interpretations by the system since you can enter multiple different control > entries for a specific user or group account. The entries are inherited and > given priority based on when they were entered, which can sometimes lead to > extensive and complex permissions rules for a file that stretch way beyond > merely allowing "read" and "write" access. For instance, ACLs can allow you > to fully read and write to a file, but not delete the file from the system's > directory. > When this occurs, the Finder may show the file as being fully accessible by > you, but in reality there are more restrictions under the hood, and when you > try to delete the file you will be presented with an error. Luckily > permissions errors such as this can easily be overcome by emptying the Trash > using alternate methods, or even delete and rebuild the hidden Trash folders. > Deleting the Trash > The first method is to use the OS X "Secure Empty Trash" option, which is is > available in the "Finder" application menu. This may or may not work, but is > worth a first shot. > The second option is to use a utility like "Trash It!" to empty the Trash, > which will force the Trash to delete and also rebuild the Trash folders if > they are the source of the corruption. > The last option is to use the Terminal to manually perform the same tasks > that Trash It will do. This is only recommended for people who are familiar > with the Terminal, but can be done by copying and pasting some of the > commands here. The commands will remove files using "root" privileges, which > if done incorrectly can result in data loss, so be sure you have them entered > properly in the Terminal. > Remove the home directory's ".Trash" folder > sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash > This command runs the "sudo" command, which will elevate the rest of the > command to the permissions of the super user (the root account) so the > remaining command will run unhindered. This can be run before any Unix > command to essentially force it to run without errors. The "rm" part of the > command is a standalone Unix command for removing files, that is given the > options "-r" and "-f," which "recursively" remove files, and "force" them to > be removed within the bounds of the current user's permissions. Since we're > running this as root, there should be no problem forcing the files to delete. > The last part of the command is the target, where the tilde character > represents the home directory, the slash is the root of that directory, and > the .Trash part is the target folder. > Remove local filesystem's ".Trashes" folders. > For all of the hard drives mounted on the system, first type the following > command, followed by a single space: > sudo rm -rf > This is the same command as above, without the target folder entered. At this > point you can drag any one of the mounted disks to the Terminal window to > complete the path to that hard drive. It is very important that you do not > press enter at this point because doing so will tell the command to delete > all files on that hard drive. Instead, we will need to specify the hidden > Trash folder to delete. > To do this, you will need to delete the trailing space that was placed in the > command when you dragged the hard drive to the Terminal window, and then > complete the command with "/.Trashes" so it appears as such (for the > Macintosh HD): > sudo rm -rf /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/.Trashes > With the command set up like this, press enter and the command will complete > and remove the Trashes folder at the root of the specified hard drive. > Multiple Trash folders? > You might wonder why the Trash folder in your home directory is called > "Trash" whereas the Trash folder at the root of drives is called "Trashes." > This is because the one in your home folder is only for you, and files from > your home directory that you place in the Trash are put directly in this > folder. > On the other hand, files on mounted filesystems are viewable by all users and > cannot be copied to your home directory from another drive when you place > them in the Trash. Since all users can see these drives, the system calls the > Trash folder "Trashes" and creates multiple individual Trash folders within > it for each local user account. The folders are labeled with the user ID > number of their designated user accounts, and files a specific user delete > from this drive are placed in this user ID folder within the "Trashes" folder. > > > > _______________________________________________ > MacGroup mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.math.louisville.edu/mailman/listinfo/macgroup
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