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Can't delete a file

I can't seem to get rid of this file. Everytime I empty the trash with the file in it the file stays there along with all the parent folders. The only wat I can move the file is by moving it while it is in it's parent folder. If I try to move the file to the trash by itself i get

"The operation cannot be completed becuase one or more required items cannot be found. (Error code -43)"

This makes no sense becuase i can see the file sitting right infront of me. The file was a part of an adobe program. It looks like it is a legal statement for the program in vietnamese.

(Filename: Tiếng Việt.html)

...

I just tryed to create another file with the same name in order to over write the file but it didn't work. According to the system the file I am looking at does not exist... 😟

Message was edited by: John D. Williams

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 13, 2006 2:49 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 13, 2006 2:58 PM

Can you drag the file/folder to your desktop? If so, you should be able to delete the file using Terminal.

Applications > Utilities > Terminal

sudo rm ~/Desktop/<filename>

If it's a folder, you'll need to do


sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/<foldername>

Of course using sudo assumes you're either an admin or have been added to the sudoers file. It may not even be necessary, depending on the file permissons and ownership. Anyway, deleting the file from the command line will not put the file in the Trash, rather it will delete it competely. Keep in mind that the syntax in Terminal is case sensative, so 'r' is different than 'R'. Also, using the tab key to auto-complete will help if you get a 'file not found' error. Hope this helps.
7 replies
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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 13, 2006 2:58 PM in response to John D. Williams

Can you drag the file/folder to your desktop? If so, you should be able to delete the file using Terminal.

Applications > Utilities > Terminal

sudo rm ~/Desktop/<filename>

If it's a folder, you'll need to do


sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/<foldername>

Of course using sudo assumes you're either an admin or have been added to the sudoers file. It may not even be necessary, depending on the file permissons and ownership. Anyway, deleting the file from the command line will not put the file in the Trash, rather it will delete it competely. Keep in mind that the syntax in Terminal is case sensative, so 'r' is different than 'R'. Also, using the tab key to auto-complete will help if you get a 'file not found' error. Hope this helps.
Reply

Jul 13, 2006 9:51 PM in response to John D. Williams

Restart from any Mac OS X 10.4 installation disk capable of starting up your machine and use the Disk Utility to repair your hard disk; this has worked in a similar situation.

If it doesn't work, you may not be able to delete the file through any Mac OS X based method; certain characters in file names will prevent the system-level calls from properly targeting the file for deletion. In this case, you can get rid of the file by connecting the computer to a machine which has Mac OS 9 installed with a FireWire cable, starting up the iBook with the T key held down, and deleting the file that way. Another method is to back up all your other data and erase the disk.

If you don't want to or can't do either of those two methods, enter the following into the Terminal, which is in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder:

sudo mv

Drag the enclosing folder into the Terminal window, and then type in a space followed by '/private/var/root/Library/' without the quote marks. Press the Enter key, and type in your administrator password; nothing will appear on the screen while you are typing it.

(14216)
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Sep 15, 2006 12:23 PM in response to John D. Williams

HA! I have EXACTLY this same problem! Same file and everything. Mine is the same file in a folder called Legal. I have tried Coctail-didn't work, changing the name of the file-won't allow, splitting the files up-won't allow. It's from some Adobe program. I get the error it's in use, and can't be found as well. But it's the EXACT same Vietnamese file name.
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Sep 15, 2006 12:45 PM in response to sysadmin

Ok tried this Terminal route and nothing. I moved it to the desktop, tried terminal and still it sits. I can't separate the .html file from the folder and when I try I get error 43. I can move the folder wherever I want but just can't modify it or delete it no matter what I try. Oh well, I guess I can just tuck it away in a folder called "undeletables"
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Sep 15, 2006 1:21 PM in response to Teledude

Yeah, Adobe created a file with an illegal character in the file name (it's the strange accented Viet Namese "e"). OS X can't cope with the illegal character. One guy discovered you can create a new account, move the folder containing the illegally named file into the Shared folder, log in to the new account, move the folder into that account, log out and back in to your regular account, then delete the new account and all its files. Or you could just leave it somewhere obscure and forget about it, it doesn't take much space....
Francine

User uploaded file
Francine
Schwieder
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Can't delete a file

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