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rockandrule

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 3, 2004
448
0
Jacksonville, FL
Hey guys,
My girlfriend downloaded a software program for school (to help make concept maps), and unfortunately it will not move to trash. It has been on there for about a month and it says that it is being used by something else. Any ideas?
 
What is it called? Have you tried restarting and then putting it into the trash? Unless it's got a process that starts on start-up, that should be fine. Otherwise, you may have to start in safe mode and do the same (press shift on start up, before grey screen from memory). :(
 
Duff-Man says...not being able to simply delete a pgm is unusual...if waht mad jew says is not the case, try launching the programs installer (if it had one) and see if it has an "uninstall" - any program that is not a simple drag'n'drop in or out should have an install/uninstall.....oh yeah!
 
rockandrule said:
Hey guys,
My girlfriend downloaded a software program for school (to help make concept maps), and unfortunately it will not move to trash. It has been on there for about a month and it says that it is being used by something else. Any ideas?

Boot from "Disk Warrior"

Repair your directory

Restart

Empty trash :D
 
Well, booting in safe mode (which I'm in right now) didn't allow for removal. I'll try that second idea tomorrow, it's too late to do it now. My brain isn't functioning anymore. Wish me luck. Thanks guys.
 
rockandrule said:
Well, booting in safe mode (which I'm in right now) didn't allow for removal. I'll try that second idea tomorrow, it's too late to do it now. My brain isn't functioning anymore. Wish me luck. Thanks guys.

Did you run "fsck -f" in single user mode? :eek:
 
Yenko, can you inform me a bit more about your methods? I've never had a problem with a Mac before, in about 4 years of experience, so I need some detailed instructions. Thanks.
 
rockandrule said:
Yenko, can you inform me a bit more about your methods? I've never had a problem with a Mac before, in about 4 years of experience, so I need some detailed instructions. Thanks.

I hate when that happens. :D

If you're hung up is Safe Mode, you'll have to force a shutdown. At this point it's irrelevent how you do that as long as you can do it.

Here's the proceedure:

*** Don't skip any of the steps. If you have problems afterwards, it will be difficult to assess. ***

Note: Actions are the quoted portion of the steps.

1. Restart your computer while holding down the "command-s" keys.

2. Hold the keys down until the screen turns black and white text begins to appear. You can release the keys you were holding down at this point.

3. After the screen stops writing type in the following:

fsck -f

4. Hit "return".

5. Wait until it returns an OK in the final line.
If it returns something like 'file system was modified.....' or words to that effect, repeat step 3. Else, go to next step.

6. Type "reboot" and hit "return".

If it boots normally and you still can't empty the trash, you will need to get a copy of DiskWarrior or TechTools Pro.

Keep me in the loop. :)
 
Well, that didn't work. I was wrong about Safe Mode, I had changed the background and it weirded out. Now to access Safe Mode from Jaguar it is just hold down the shift key during boot, correct? I think I'll just leave this file on the desktop, because I can't justify paying $100 for software when it's only hanging out on the desktop. Thanks.
 
rockandrule said:
Well, that didn't work. I was wrong about Safe Mode, I had changed the background and it weirded out. Now to access Safe Mode from Jaguar it is just hold down the shift key during boot, correct? I think I'll just leave this file on the desktop, because I can't justify paying $100 for software when it's only hanging out on the desktop. Thanks.

Yes :)
 
Well, if you really want to rid yourself of it, you can launch Terminal and type this:
Code:
sudo rm -Rf ~/.Trash/*
...or if you can't even move it to the Trash in the first place:
Code:
sudo rm -Rf /The/Bad/File/Path/Here/<Application.app>
(substituting the actual file path and application name of course) and enter your root password when prompted. If you haven't yet enabled the root user and set a password for it, you'll have to launch NetInfo Manager and do that first (Security menu / Enable Root User). I don't like to do that, but sometimes it's necessary.

EDIT: It's using sudo rm -Rf that I don't like doing often, enabling root user is fine. Sorry if that was unclear. Also, if you're uncertain what the file path is, type sudo rm -Rf and a space first in Terminal, then drag the file's icon onto the Terminal window and it will fill in the file path.
 
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