Hi
I have a folder full of .mov files but can't delete any of them, I get a message "File in use" but it isn't. Have managed to delete using Terminal, but that is a pain. New files have the same problem, have tried unlocking them and restarting the computer, but no joy. Thanks in advance for any help.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7)
Just to clarify, does the Account you are using have Administrator privileges and is it the account you used to create the .mov files? What program did you use to create the .mov files? If Quicktime, what version of Quicktime?
Place the videos into the trash. When you empty the trash hold the option key down at the same time.
thanks for your help, to answer both
- I have tried to put them in the trash and force delete, but finder doesn't even let me drag them to the trash
- I do have admin status and same account was used to generate clips
- just noticed it is same for all types of video files, so can't delete .MP4 and .MOV
- have used only adobe products to create these clips - premiere elements, photoshop, after effects
- I use Quicktime 10 to view the movies, but never create, re-save or edit the files with QT
cheers
Ant
Hello
you may try this
- use little app like Onyx download here
http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php
- start from an external system hard drive , then navigate to your file to delete it
- by luck if you have a second mac and a firewire cable , have a look at
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8443.html
Pierre
I had a similar problem trying to delete an MP4 file yesterday. No apps were using it. I tried repairing permissions but that did not work. Eventually I did a restart and found I could delete it.
bran_man wrote:
New files have the same problem, have tried unlocking them and restarting the computer, but no joy. Thanks in advance for any help.
Why are they locked in the first place? Normally files are not locked when created. Something is in error with the application that is creating them.
sorry my mistake, they are not locked after all, I have been clicking the account permissions padlock - I thought that padlock icon meant they were locked!
Thanks for suggestions, but a restart isn't working and I really don't want to involve 3rd party software or other computers, need to solve why it is happening in the first place.
I see.
It sounds sound like you are manually changing permissions. What are their permissions?
Should look something like:
bran_man (Me) read and write
staff read only
everyone read only
P.S when you respond to a person's post, do so by clicking on the grey Reply at the bottom of their window.
That way it won't appear that you are responding to yourself which is what you have been doing so far.
Spelling was edited by: roam
Hi
thanks for reply tip, haven't got a clue how to post in these forums! Yes permissions show I have read and write access, only reason I clicked on the permissions on a couple of files was I thought the padlock would help me delete, didn't change anything in permissions.
I think the files are in use from something called QTKitServer, some Quicktime background process?
Yes this forum is a bit of a labyrinth to navigate around. You have got the reply worked out now.
So you think something called QTKitServer is the problem.
With Quicktime and all other video applications closed;
If you open Activity Monitor (found in Applications/Utilities) does QTKitServer appear as a process?
If it does, select it and click on Quit Process.
Then see if you can delete one of those files without protest.
Hi,
great thanks we are getting somewhere. Found it is actually a process called "Quick Look Helper" and if I quit that in Activity Monitor, then DONT select the movies with Coverflow view or Quick Look I can delete them. If I look with coverflow or quick look that process starts up again and I can't move to trash - is this a bug to report to Apple or just me?
Ant
That sounds like progress Ant. From what I can see Quick Look Helper appears on OS 10.6 ( I can't investigate it as I'm on OS 10.5) and whilst I can't see any other example of your problem in particular it did cause a lot of trouble for some people by hogging memory.
With you it seems to be unable to unload itself once invoked. Whilst it is normal for a lot of processes to just sit in RAM idly doing nothing, that it fails to unhook itself from the .mov files preventing you from deleting them, I'd be inclined to call it a bug, and for what it is worth, yes report it as a bug.
More importantly for you, you have worked out how to get around the limitation it imposed on you, when it came to trashing those files. Well done.
thanks for the help, I have sent feedback to Apple explaining the problem, now fingers crossed for a proper solution. Cheers Ant
I had this exact problem and the activity monitor solution worked for me as well. Thanks Roam!!
For me, i had to force quit QTKitMovies.... in activity monitor and then quickly delete the stubborn file ASAP before QTKitMovies started up again which it would in about five seconds or so.
Another good way to get rid of these pesky 'in use' files is to relaunch the finder. Go to the finder icon in your dock, right click on it whilst holding down the alt key and select 'relaunch' from the menu.
Hope this helps.
OS X will not let me delete .mov files, error says "file in use" but files not in use, still happens after restart
