I cannot empty the trash in OS 9

stroszek

There are 28 empty folders in my trash can that I cannot get rid of. When I empty the trash I get this error:

Quote:

The item "Empty Folder" could not be deleted, because it contains items that are in use. Do you want to continue?

I have tried multiple times, and restarted, but nothing seems to help. Does anyone know what I should do about this?



Thanks!

ghost_user_name

Could be a filesystem glitch. I used to see this kind of thing on rare occasions in Mac OS 9.



Boot from the install CD and try repairing your disk with Disk Utility.

stroszek

Quote:

Originally posted by Brad

Could be a filesystem glitch. I used to see this kind of thing on rare occasions in Mac OS 9.



Boot from the install CD and try repairing your disk with Disk Utility.

Thanks for the response Brad. By Disk Utility, would I be correct in assuming that you mean Disk First Aid?

paul

rebuild your desktop file (bootup holding cmd and option)

and or buy disk warrior and run that...



I assume you DO NOT have X installed, yes?

ghost_user_name

Quote:

Originally posted by Stroszek

By Disk Utility, would I be correct in assuming that you mean Disk First Aid?

Whoops! Yeah, that. It's literally been years since I used Mac OS 9.

dmband0026

Do a clean install of OS X on your computer, it'll obliterate those suckers!

bunge

Try holding down the option key when you empty the trash.

stroszek

Thank you everyone for your responses. I still have not gotten anything to work. This is where I am now:

Quote:

Originally posted by Brad

Boot from the install CD and try repairing your disk with Disk Utility.

I booted from the OS 9 CD and ran Disk First Aid. It said that there were problems, missing records, if I remember correctly that Disk First Aid could not fix.

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul

rebuild your desktop file (bootup holding cmd and option)

and or buy disk warrior and run that...



I assume you DO NOT have X installed, yes?

You are correct. No OS X here

I rebuilt my desktops, but to no avail.

Quote:

Originally posted by DMBand0026

Do a clean install of OS X on your computer, it'll obliterate those suckers!

I would love to. But I run a beige G3, and I can't really afford new hardware and software at the moment.

Quote:

Originally posted by bunge

Try holding down the option key when you empty the trash.

Tried this too. I didn't get the error messages, but it didn't get rid of the folders either.



I guess Brad's suggestion of running Disk First Aid identified the problem, but now what do I do?



I have two drives, and all of the offending folders are one one drive. The only things I can think of are:

1) Back it all up, and initialize the drive.

2) I have Norton System Works, but I'm fairly confident that Norton caused the problem in the first place, so I'm hesitant to try to get him to fix it.

3) Drive to Durham and steal a G5 from the Apple Store (I'm kidding, by the way, should anyone of importance be reading this...)



Thanks for the help so far everyone!

jambo

Try taking them out of the trash, use DropZip or DropStuff to compress them, making sure you have the preference turned on which deletes a file after compressing it and then delete the compressed file.



Bit of a work around but it works, you sexy hunk of a man

ghost_user_name

Quote:

Originally posted by Stroszek

I have two drives, and all of the offending folders are one one drive. The only things I can think of are:

1) Back it all up, and initialize the drive.

This would be your best (cheapest, quickest) bet. If you've got errors that DFA can't fix, you're just bound to have more trouble coming later.



For the future, you may want to snag a copy of Disk Warrior. Everyone here finds it do be far more reliable than Norton. A quick search will find several threads of people bashing Norton and praising Disk Warrior.



Best of luck, Stroszek.

stroszek

Quote:

Originally posted by Jambo

Try taking them out of the trash, use DropZip or DropStuff to compress them, making sure you have the preference turned on which deletes a file after compressing it and then delete the compressed file.



Bit of a work around but it works, you sexy hunk of a man

That ddin't work either. I tired but I got this error:

Quote:

An error occurred durinf the Stuff operation (File not founf). Error #-43

But thanks anyway, sexy. By they way, even if it didn't work, you still get points for boosting my self-esteem first thing in the morning.

Quote:

Originally posted by Brad

This would be your best (cheapest, quickest) bet. If you've got errors that DFA can't fix, you're just bound to have more trouble coming later.

OK. If this doesn't work, I may be forced to go for option 3 Thanks, everyone!

reg

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=8198



Symptom

A message says that a file cannot be emptied from the Trash. If a file cannot be emptied from the Trash it may be that the file is locked, or a sign of serious directory damage.



Solution

Try these steps to empty the Trash:



Hold down the Option key while emptying the Trash.

Start up the computer with extensions off and empty the Trash.

Start up the computer from the Mac OS disc and empty the Trash.

Verify and repair the disk with Disk First Aid or other appropriate repair utility.



If the file is locked, hold down the Option key while choosing Empty Trash from the Special menu. If it is a hard disk error, it is important to repair the issue since it may become worse and other files may be damaged or lost.



To repair the hard disk's directory structure, start up the computer from the Mac OS disc and verify or repair the hard disk with Disk First Aid. If Disk First Aid finds an error but is unable to repair it, consider backing up the hard disk and reinitializing it with Drive Setup or other appropriate utility.



There is one more technique you can try, but depending on the cause of the issue, it may not work. If the following steps don't help, or if the issue reappears, you should initialize the hard disk to completely correct the issue.



The following file and folder names are not important, just the concept.



1. Create a folder on the desktop called Test.

2. Drag the file in question from the Trash to the Test folder.

3. Open the application program used to create the file. (If you do not have the original application, use SimpleText.)

4. Create a new file, and save it to the desktop with the same name as the problematic file.

5. Drag the file you just saved from the desktop to the Test folder. You are prompted to replace the file. Replace it. This should eliminate the file.



If this technique does not work, and emptying the Trash still does not erase the file, back up hard disk and reinitialize it using Drive Setup or other appropriate disk formatting utility.



This is what Apple suggest. I hope you don't have to initialize your drive to solve your problem.



reg

formerlurker

Quote:

Start up the computer with extensions off and empty the Trash.

That would be my first suggestion - use the Shift key at startup, and make sure to keep holding it down until the desktop appears and the system is completely done booting up.