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Can't Delete "Work Work File"?

post #1 of 4
1/25/11 at 2:05pm
Thread Starter 
Hello!

I'm not sure what the origin of my problem is, but I suspect has something to do with Microsoft Word (holding back all biased comments), because at about the time I downloaded a teacher's assignment in Word format, a strange, unrelated file appeared on my desktop called "Word Work File D_1405282090," and I have no idea what that means.

The problem is that I can't delete, move, or open it. The only explanation I get is, upon trying to send it to the Trash, "The item can't be moved to the Trash because it can't be deleted."

Gee thanks.

It's an eyesore on my desktop and furthermore completely nerve-wracking to think I can't control my own computer's content.

What could be going on here?

Thanks! :]

(PS, I apologize if this is the wrong category; since I don't know for sure it's a Word problem I won't post in the Third-Party forum.)
MacBook Pro, 3rd Gen iPhone
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MacBook Pro, 3rd Gen iPhone
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post #2 of 4
1/25/11 at 3:02pm
You can try changing the file permissions using either the get info panel or terminal. Terminal is in your /Applications/Utilities folder. You can type:

sudo chmod 777 <drag file here>

then hit return and try deleting or you can just type:

sudo rm <drag file here>

You should be careful with the last command as it deletes things immediately so you should make sure the pathname is correct. Dragging files into the window reduces mistakes.
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post #3 of 4
1/25/11 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin View Post

You can try changing the file permissions using either the get info panel or terminal. Terminal is in your /Applications/Utilities folder. You can type:

sudo chmod 777 <drag file here>

then hit return and try deleting or you can just type:

sudo rm <drag file here>

You should be careful with the last command as it deletes things immediately so you should make sure the pathname is correct. Dragging files into the window reduces mistakes.

Hmm. I did what you said but it seems I cannot drag that file into the screen, just like I can't drag it anyplace else. I tried the same thing with another file and it did drag into the Terminal.
MacBook Pro, 3rd Gen iPhone
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post #4 of 4
1/26/11 at 10:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremiah2911 View Post

Hmm. I did what you said but it seems I cannot drag that file into the screen, just like I can't drag it anyplace else. I tried the same thing with another file and it did drag into the Terminal.

Type in:

ls -al ~/Desktop

into the terminal and if the name of the file shows up in the list, you can type the name into the terminal manually after the sudo rm command.

So you'd type:

sudo rm ~/Desktop/Word

then hit tab at the end to make sure you are deleting the right file as it will fill in the name. Then type in the password.
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