Cannot unlock file

[nvrdun]

First post, new Mac owner. When I imported all my iTunes music, one file somehow made the transfer in a locked status. I tried to delete the item and I was told that I cant because it is locked. When I go to "get info" it shows the item as locked, but it is grayed out so I cant click on it. I then tried dragging it out of the trash and put on my desktop to try and unlock it, that did not work. So now when I try and drag it back to the trash it get a message saying that it is in use by another program and I cant move it. I have tried all kinds of stuff to get rid of this file but I am having no luck at all.

 

[mikef1182]

I am having a similar issue. When I upgraded to Leopard two folders on my external hard drive we marked as "locked" I tried to uncheck the lock box but nothing happens.

Any suggestions from anyone?

 

[RobertC]

Log into an administrative account, go to Applications - Utilities - Terminal. Enter the command sudo chflags -R nouchg , making sure you include the space. Then drag the files to the terminal window, so it says chflags -R nouchg /Users/UserName/Folder. Press enter and enter your password (by the way your password won't show up as you type it). You should be able to delete it then.

 

[lifeafter2am]

You are awesome! I finally got rid of those stupid Boot files from my timemachine backup!

I tried chmod but that didn't work, now I know a new command!

 

[SamPE]

Sometimes the cause is that the folder the files are contained in is locked thereby locking all files contained within. Simply Get Info in the folder and unlock it. Not as cool as a terminal fix but might help somebody.

 

[lifeafter2am]

Sometimes the cause is that the folder the files are contained in is locked thereby locking all files contained within. Simply Get Info in the folder and unlock it. Not as cool as a terminal fix but might help somebody.

Yeah, with stupid time machine files that doesn't work.

 

[RobertC]

You are awesome! I finally got rid of those stupid Boot files from my timemachine backup!

I tried chmod but that didn't work, now I know a new command!

Thanks, when I was having this problem I searched it and found the solution on the Apple Support site.

 

[hugh023]

files that are not there.

Hi, I was having some similar trouble with some files in the trash. They wouldn't empty and would only copy themselves from one location to another. I evan tried a complete clean and install (10.4.10) but they were still there!

So looking through the threads I found this one and tried the offered solution.

But when I dragged the file to the window, I got the message that there was no file or directory by that name. Hmmm!

Anyone encountered this problem?

The files concerned seem to be associated with an old copy of Bryce 3D (which used to run in classic mode on my old eMac and include a folder labeled 'cache' with an orange text border (empty as far as i can see), a file called ShockwavePlugin.class, and folder titled 'metoas' with a green text border within which is another (seemingly) empty 'cache' folder.

On emptying the trash the following files are locked
objects.rcs objects.pxl
edges.rcs edges.pxl
backgrnd.rcs backgrnd.pxl

They don't take up much space but it's a hassle when I have to empty the trash.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hugh

 

[RobertC]

You could try Shift - Option - Empty Trash and Option - Empty Trash to see if they will work.

 

[hugh023]

They've gone. . . Thanks muchly

 

[geedubb]

Sometimes the cause is that the folder the files are contained in is locked thereby locking all files contained within. Simply Get Info in the folder and unlock it. Not as cool as a terminal fix but might help somebody.

Thanks for the advice all. The folder is the one that is locked - tried the terminal fix and tried the 'get info' idea - the boxes will not let me click them away (both shared and locked are ticked) ... any other thoughts?