Trash will not empty!!

I know this topic's been tossed around the internet but they all seem outdated and I seem to have a specific problem. Any help or advice is enormously appreciated

Here's the problem: I open the trash, click 'Empty', confirm, the "trash sound" is made, BUT the files are still in the trash.
Option-Empty Trash doesn't work.
Secure Empty Trash doesn't work.
I have repaired permissions and restarted, numerous times.
According to 'Get Info' I have permission to read and write
The only way to remove files, it seems, is to use a program like Trash It! or a command line in Terminal.

I would like to not have to resort to these alternative methods just to simply empty my trash.

I recently installed MacKeeper, tried it for a day and then AppZapped it. This seems to be the major system change to have occurred since this problem with the trash started. May be nothing but...

Quirk: If I trash files from a flash drive they'll appear in the trash can (as you all know). I am able to delete these files while the files that were deleted from my mac still remain.

Again, BIG THANKS to anyone who has advice on this annoying little problem

System:
Snow Leopard 10.6.7
iMac 21.5 in. 3.6 GHz Intel Core i5

I know you said you would rather not resort to these options but I have used the following a few times when this has happened to me and nothing else would work, then everything returns to normal again.
This is the terminal code to use...

1. Launch Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder or search Spotlight for Terminal

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

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*



p.s. you can copy and paste the code above to make it simpler.

Hope this helps

- Simon

Thanks bunches for the tip Buzzard! I had not seen/tried that Terminal command before. It cleared out the trash, which was nice I restarted immediately afterward, created a folder, trashed it, and tried to empty the trash, but to no avail, the folder was still there

I don't get any error messages upon trying to 'empty trash'. Just the 'sound' with no effect.

Does anyone know a permanent fix to this problem or a potential cause?

Thanks again for the response Buzzard

No problem at all, what you could try though is the same tip I gave but after it has emptied repair permissions then.
It's a bit of a stab in the dark but could help until someone else comes in with another idea

- Simon

Since your issue started with MacKeeper, I would suggest you reinstall it and use it's uninstaller to remove it.

Always use the uninstaller with apps that have their own installer.

So Buzzard, after relentlessly searching for a definite solution, it turns out yours was pretty much correct. I just didn't use it correctly So thanks!!!

When I tried your advice I typed:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/* which didn't yield any results.
My guess is that the /* was looking for a particular file in the Trash

I eventually just typed:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash
which deleted the entire Trash folder (if I put something in the trash it would delete it immediately).

Upon restart everything was back to normal!
The whole thing may have been a problem with a hidden .DS_Store file in there.

Just so you know, I guess THANKS!

No problem

- Simon

Thank you for the advice:

Using Terminal and typing: sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash

It worked and I'm now able to empty my TrashCan

THANK YOU!!!!!

It does make me happy when my old posts are still helping people glad it helped you SusanRC

- Simon

when i attempt to empty the trash i get "error code -0833" ... Can anyone give me any advice how to empty my trash ... thanks much