thumbs.db won't delete

Question

Level 1

37 points

thumbs.db won't delete

Iv been trying to clean up my system, get rid of old things and trash them. However, I'm having trouble with some thumbs.db files. Most will trash and delete, but there are a few that keep telling me they are locked. When I try to empty trash they won't go away because they are locked. But, even using spotlight I can't find them anywhere other than the ones in the trash.

Any ideas how I can get rid of this? Plus, for some reason Iv gone from 1 now to 3 ... they multiply.

Mike

14" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1.07GHz, 768 Ram, 40GB HD, Safari3.0.4, Camino1.5.4, Airport Express, Bluetooth.

Posted on Jan 27, 2008 12:57 PM

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Answer 1

smithrj

Level 4

1,541 points

Jan 27, 2008 1:28 PM in response to atomicluck1

You can force by pressing command and delete. If that does not work there's a way with Terminal.

Ray

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Answer 2

atomicluck1 Author

Level 1

37 points

Jan 27, 2008 1:48 PM in response to smithrj

Ray,

That doesn't work. All it keeps saying is that the "thumb.db" is locked. Since Iv never been a PC user it's my guess that the thumb.db came along with a downloaded file or e-mail from friends. Probably nothing wrong with it being in the hard drive, but I'd still rather they weren't there. What worries me is the locked comment. What else is it doing???

Mike

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Answer 3

smithrj

Level 4

1,541 points

Jan 27, 2008 1:59 PM in response to atomicluck1

I worry about giving advise concerning the Terminal, yet you can open the terminal and type in the command( rm -r .Trash/) no parentheses. This should work. Post back with results.

Ray

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Answer 4

atomicluck1 Author

Level 1

37 points

Jan 27, 2008 2:09 PM in response to smithrj

Ray,

Here is what happened when I did that.

Macintosh-4:~ mar$ rm -r.Trash/
rm: illegal option -- .
usage: rm [-f | -i] [-dPRrvW] file ...
unlink file
Macintosh-4:~ mar$

Now what?
Mike

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Answer 5

smithrj

Level 4

1,541 points

Jan 27, 2008 2:16 PM in response to atomicluck1

I will give you a site you can download a program to force delete with.

<http://www.index-site.com/software.html>

There are many on there, pick the right one for your system.

good luck, and post back with happy results.Ok, Mike

Ray

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Answer 6

atomicluck1 Author

Level 1

37 points

Jan 27, 2008 2:21 PM in response to smithrj

Ray ...

Thanks for that link. It worked and no problems.

Mike

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Answer 7

smithrj

Level 4

1,541 points

Jan 27, 2008 2:23 PM in response to atomicluck1

Great, you very welcome.

Ray

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Answer 8

Jan 27, 2008 2:38 PM in response to atomicluck1

You need to unlock the file. First drag it out of the trash to your desktop. select it in the Finder once selected go to file and select get info. You can un-select the lock button and then drag the file to the trash and empty.

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Answer 9

smithrj

Level 4

1,541 points

Jan 27, 2008 5:00 PM in response to Joseph Raccuia

Didn't I answer this 15 minutes before your reply? Not that it matters, but the question was marked answered and than you add your input. I wish I could give you the star, I don't care of them anymore.

Ray

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