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Locked Files - can't delete. Help!


LabRat
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Ok, I got these weird / shitty norton antivirus trial for windows that found it's way onto my mbp (pretty sure from my pocket hard drive). I've thrown it into the trash but it won't empty these files out because they're "locked". How else can I get rid of these? They're taking up valuable Mac space... Stupid windows crap lol

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I think onyx has a force empty trash as part of it's array of cleanup options. Try that.

Sometimes norton may have an uninstalled utility on their site. Try that.

Also removing norton from startup items if its still in there (system prefs, accounts, startup items) then restarting the comp and try delete them.

One of those solutions always works for me

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You need to have the Developer Tools installed.

Open a Terminal window and type (without the quotes)

"/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a l " You can use wildcards. "/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a l *" for example will unlock all files in the current directory.

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hit cmnd-I to launch the inspector and un-check the "locked" checkbox for the offending file. I know this is slow but that's the purpose of locking a file...to prevent it from being casually deleted. With OS X we can prevent casual deletion with permissions so this is less of an now and locked files are a now a PITA. I agree, Apple should enable the option-empty trash combo for OS X.

Y

ps. do you know about shift-cmnd-delete then return shortcut in the finder to empty your trash? Better then nothing, but no option overrides are available that I know of

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  • 11 months later...

with windows there is this

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Sys ... cker.shtml

Get rid of error message like Error deleting file or folder, cannot delete folder: it's being used by another person or program

Written by Bogdan Popa on February 1st, 2012

Windows is continuously being improved and updated, therefore it make sense to stumble across errors once in a while. However, there is one tool that can be used to prevent a certain type of errors from occuring: Unlocker is the solution to messages like Cannot delete folder: it's being used by another person or program or Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Unlocker is a very light software solution that helps rename, move or delete locked files with a single click and through a very simple yet efficient interface.

When it comes to interface, Unlocker's is quite basic, but this is all one needs when trying to perform such an operation. The app also comes with an Assistant that sits quietly in the System Tray and opens the main window when one double-clicks its icon.

Basically, the software adds an entry within the context menu of Windows Explorer, and it can be launched whenever a file triggers the aforementioned error messages, and the app unlocks all the processes that are accessing it. If this is not possible, it performs the requested task after computer reboot.

Unlocker is currently supported by the latest Windows editions, including the 64bit ones, provided the dedicated installers are used, thus ensuring seamless integration with the operating system.

The conclusion is as simple as it gets: Unlocker is a must-have tool on all Windows workstations. Millions of Windows users are stuck with locked files every day, so Unlocker should be given at least a try. It is free and the performance of the host computer is not affected by running this software, quite on the contrary.

So with a mac there is this (sorry dont have a mac)

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12697/locker

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