Removing locked files from trash can

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Hello.
I´ve been trying to empty the trash can on my imac (osx 10.6.8). When doing so i get an error message saying that there are some files that cant be romved. Usually I use the commad chflags in the temrinal and this would do the trick. But this time the command is not working.
I follow these steps:

1.Open Terminal. It's located in /Applications/Utilities.

Type: chflags -R nouchg

Note: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet.

2.Double-click the Trash icon in the Dock to reveal the contents of the Trash. If necessary, arrange the Finder window so that a portion of the Terminal window is still visible.
3.Press the Command-A key combination to select all files in the Trash.
4.Drag the files from the Trash to the Terminal window.
Note: This automatically enters the pathname for each file. This eliminates the need to individually empty multiple Trash directories, particularly when multiple disks or volumes are present.
5.Press Return. No special text message will be shown indicating that the command was successful.
6.Empty the Trash.


But like I said before this is not working. Is there another way to remove these files from the trash can?

Any help is mot appreciated.
 

IWT


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Hi Ramfreak, welcome to the Forum.

Terminal scares me so I never use it; but there are other solutions possible.

If you go Finder>Preferences>Advanced and click the box "Empty Trash Securely", this often miraculously does the job. Sometimes, you may need to restart your Mac for Empty Trash Securely to work, but rarely in my experience.

If that doesn't work, there is a free App called OnyX, widely used by Forum members. You must download the version specific to your OS (Leopard, SL, Lion, ML all have their own versions). The first time you run it, it will check the SMART status of your Drive(s) then ask for your admin PW. Now you can click on Utilities and from there, select "Trash". This will empty all your trashes. It has never failed to do so with me.

But try the first suggestion first. You may be surprised!

Ian
 
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Hi Ian, and thank you for this warm welcome :)
This is great advice right here, I wasn´t aware of this, and I´m also very scared by the terminal, I dont want to mess things up, but this is the only way I found on the apple site to remove these type of filer.
Once i get home I´ll try what you say here and I´ll let you know how it went.
Cheers!
 

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