[vja4him]

I still cannot empty the trash! Tons of error messages keep popping up:

The operation cannot be completed because the item "wmphelp.htm" is locked"
-- WMPIcon.gif is locked
-- windowshade.gif is locked
-- whatsnew.htm is locked
-- volume.gif is locked
-- viewinginfo.htm is locked
-- upgradingwmp.htm is locked
-- understandingwm.htm is locked
-- understandingstream.htm is locked

and hundreds, maybe even thousands of similar messages appear!! I must empty the trash. What can I do???

I don't see any of these items in the trash?

Help ... !!! Thanks.

[Spheric Harlot]

Hold down the option key as you empty the trash.

I can't remember if 10.4 did, but in 10.5, the little dialog that tells you the items are locked actually explicitly explains that you can hold down the option key when emptying the trash to override this.

[vja4him]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Hold down the option key as you empty the trash.

I can't remember if 10.4 did, but in 10.5, the little dialog that tells you the items are locked actually explicitly explains that you can hold down the option key when emptying the trash to override this.

That trick worked! Trash is empty. Thanks!

[mkerr64]

you can also do as follows:

use terminal and type this:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

[AKcrab]

Originally Posted by mkerr64 

you can also do as follows:

use terminal and type this:

And with a typo, erase Very Bad Things™...

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by mkerr64 

you can also do as follows:

use terminal and type this:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

A well-misplaced space will erase the entire drive.

Excellent advice for a problem much more easily solved.

[Simon]

sudo rm is fine. As long as you don't do it with a path. Navigate to where you want to use it first. Then nothing bad will happen.

cd ~/.Trash
pwd
sudo rm -r *

The second line is to make sure you are where you think you are.

[Spheric Harlot]

Option-Empty Trash is the safer, simpler, and equally effective solution.

He could just erase his entire disk and reinstall a fresh system, and then copy all his stuff back over from a backup, as well.

That would work great, you know.

[Simon]

Stop acting like an ass.

There's nothing wrong with knowing several different ways to get the same thing done. That's what a forum is for. Everybody can then chose for themselves what they like best.

[bindigok]

Also, Onyx works well. There was one time when the option option didn't work and I had to use Onyx to empty trash, then it worked.

--bindigok