I deleted a widget but when I try to empty the trash is says it can't be deleted because it is in use.

I have used right click to look at package contents and deleted all the files inside and emptied those in the trash with no problem. If I do a 'get info' is says zero bits on disk. I have used a couple of app that 'force delete' and that doesn't work either.

Also tried to delete the widget via Terminal and that didn't work either.

I left the widget in the trash and shut down my computer for several minutes and then reboots and it still will not delete the damn thing.

Any suggestions how to get rid of it? Thanks in advance.

Try disabling Dashboard in System Prefs > Mission Control and shutting down/restarting to see if you can then delete it.

Turned off Dashboard and rebooted. Still won't empty the trash and gives same message that it's in use.

I have managed to delete all files and other folders but 2 folders. When you right click for package content there is a folder called 'contents' and a folder inside 'contents' called 'MacOSX'. I deleted everything but those 2 folders. I am unable to move the MacOSX folder if I try to move it, it just moves a copy. The only 2 items are a folder called 'Contents' and a folder called 'MacOSX'. Have tried renaming the 'Contents' folder and it still won't delete. Unable to rename the MacOSX folder.

This is beginning to sound familiar, and if I'm on the right track, a similar problem was solved many years ago by the poster's booting into another volume and running Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility > Repair Disk. (Depending on which version of OS X/macOS you're running, you may be able to run the equivalent repair - "First Aid" in Sierra - from your boot volume.)

Whenever that happens to me (running Lion 10.7.5), I just use the empty Trash option in OnyX (http://www.titanium.free.fr). It has never failed to do the job.

Thanks Artie. I must have been having a brain freeze because I've used this method before to delete unneeded language files. I booted into my clone on an external HD. Navigated back to the file, moved it too the Trash and emptied the Trash and it was gone.

Had the same problem with that widget on my clone, it would not empty and kept getting the same 'file in use' message. Rebooted into my internal HD, and then deleted the widget on my clone.

There are so many of these little tricks it is hard to keep them all in the front of your mind when something goes wrong.

Grelber, I tried using Cocktail force empty trash and that would not work either. I did not try OnyX, however.

Just remember:

There is an advisory in Onyx that SECURE delete is not recommended for use with Fusion and/or SSD drives.

(P.S. For further reference, if desired, there is a thread elsewhere in this forum discussing that subject.)

For the purpose and application required here, secure delete is probably not necessary.

I've always had a much easier time dealing with problems on other people's Macs than dealing with the same problems on my own; I get flustered when it's my own machine.

And add to that the fact that problems like yours don't come up all that often any more, so I've now got to dig for solutions that were on the tip of my tongue not that many years ago; and as it worked out, you came up with an easy solution that I had forgotten about.

I'm curious, though, if Repair Disk would have worked.

I am using El Capitan on my mini. I did run Disk Utility > Repair Disk and that came back with no problems and I still could not delete the remaining files of the Widget.

I also used Tech Tool to Repair Permissions and that did not help either.

How about trying OnyX as suggested earlier?

You have to entertain the idea that one or the other of the (empty) files in Trash has characteristics/content that your computer refuses to delete (because doing so might cause irreparable harm to your system).

This may actually be the answer. The original post did not specify the items, just that they were part of the package contents. To me, that in itself is a risky process. Why not just delete the entire widget package? The remaining items may be, in some unknown way, System components.

Try : SuperEmptyTrash


http://faqintosh.com/risorse/en/sys/setrash/

I use it all the time - especially when I want to delete TRASH files/folders from my EXHD or Thumb Drives.

It has been around for a decade - and it's FREE - but still works with SIERRA.

Note: You need to have admin privileges to install and operate . . . which, I presume, you have.

What I was trying to delete was a Widget. I moved it to the Trash and tried to empty the Trash. Said file was 'in use' and it clearly was not in use. After trying several ways to delete it, I opened the Pkg Contents and started deleting the individual files which I was able to do until I got down to 2 folders: Content and inside that folder was a folder called MacOSX. Both folders were completely empty.

While those 2 folders were in the Trash, I rebooted and tried to empty the Trash again. Didn't work. Ran Disk Utility > Repair Disk. Said everything was ok. Still couldn't empty the Trash. Used TechTool to Repair Permissions. Still couldn't empty Trash. Tried to force empty Trash using Terminal. Still would not empty Trash.

Finally booted into my clone and navigated back to the folders and deleted both of them. Rebooted into my internal HD and navigated to the Widget on my clone and deleted that one as well.

I do not see how an empty folder in a Widget that I downloaded and installed could be critical to operation of OS X.

RE: " I do not see how an empty folder in a Widget that I downloaded and installed could be critical to operation of OS X."

-----------------------------------------

Well, actually, there are HIDDEN files even though a folder may "appear" to be empty. ONYX has a tool that will reveal any such hidden files.

In ONYX Preferences, go to: Parameters / Finder / Misc Options. Click the box marked "Show Hidden Files and Folders." TaDa. These magically appear throughout the entire system.

There are also other apps which can be toggled to serve a similar function: Invisible, to name just one.

http://www.northernspysoftware.com/software/invisible

If there are no hidden folders and files making a nuisance of themselves, then give SuperEmtpyTrash a try (as mentioned in an earlier post).

http://faqintosh.com/risorse/en/sys/setrash/

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did look for invisible files and there were none, just the DS_Store file.

Click on the DS_Store file and try to delete it with SECURE DELETE in Onyx.

Then, try to again with the folder.

BTW: Have you tried SuperEmptyTrash?

As I reported yesterday I was able to delete what was left of the Widget by booting into my clone on an external HD and then delete the remaining empty folders, Contents & MacOSX, and did the reverse to delete the Widget on my clone.

Douglas's problem has not only already been solved, it's been solved without the assistance of a third party app, which I think is the most suitable solution to any OS X/macOS problem.

(If the widget can be deleted in toto, I don't see how a single component can be so critical as to not be deletable individually.)

We crossed in the mail, Douglas.

Sorry . . . I thought from your post #43891 the widget folder was still giving you grief.

When you asked how an empty folder would cause a problem, I hadn't realized at that time that you had actually got rid of the folder in question, but that it was still causing a problem.

Ditto. Apologies.

Ahem.

"Third-party apps" can sometimes be easier to use and every bit as efficient. With a little bit of internet homework, one can sort out the good from the bad.

It looks as though Douglas had the problem solved way back in post #43874 - although, to be honest, this is not as clearly stated as it could have been. Hence, the several posts which followed (i.e. describing the problem in further detail even after it have been resolved added to the confusion, I think).

When you've got to first do "Internet homework", and then d/l, install, and learn how to use a third party app to get the same results you can get within the OS, itself, both "easier" and "every bit as efficient" may not even rise to the level of moot.

I don't disdain third party apps; I'm running a slew of them. But I don't go running for one until I've in one way or another exhausted the possibilities Apple has given me, and YES, researching within the OS and learning something in the process is well worth the time and effort it may take...more worthwhile in my eyes than d/l'ing and clicking like an automaton.

In a sense, it comes down to either owning your Mac or allowing it to own you, and I prefer to be in the former position!

I'm not sure how much more clearly than


Douglas could have put it.

Perhaps it is just me, but I was confused as to why the postings continued AFTER the problem had been fixed . . . so I (wrongfully) assumed the problem was not yet resolved.

You're not alone; I, too, was confused by the posts that followed Douglas's posting the fix.

RE: " . . . get the same results you can get within the OS . . . "

----------------------------
To each his own.

As an example: Apple has done away with SECURE DELETE for Trash. I imagine there is some work-around within the OS using Terminal . . . BUT "Permanent Eraser" makes it so much simpler. It was easy to locate on Google, simple to download and install, and easy to use. Ta Da!

Personally, I like researching third-party apps. In the process, I often stumble across something else I wouldn't have otherwise found - or even thought to look for. I use Pogue's series of books if I wish to dig deeper into the OS itself . . . or post an inquiry on FineTunedMac.




* early 2011 MBPro with Sierra (no SSD or Fusion Drive)

I've got no issue with third party apps; I cruise MacUpdate every day and bookmark items, including trash apps (I'd have recommended Trash It!, which has a longstanding sterling reputation.), that sound potentially useful to either me or others, but I never DEFAULT to a third party app, rather I try to work within my OS until I've established either that it can't deal with the problem or that it can, but in a more cumbersome manner than I care to deal with.

As interested as I am in keeping up with third party software, I'm more interested in avoiding it in favor of my OS, and trash, which has always been a particularly fascinating and frustrating aspect of OS X/macOS invariably sucks me in. (There's a quick, easy secure delete via Terminal option which I'd opt for rather than installing yet another app, but admittedly, not everyone is comfortable in Terminal.)

Bottom line for me remains I'd rather own my deuced Mac(hina) than allow it to own me.

To each his own.


FWIW: Whether using Terminal or a 3rd party app, I have never felt "owned" by my Mac. I am not even entirely sure what that means . . . but, regardless, I am not losing any sleep over it.

SSD drives and the SSD component of Fusion drives are capable of only a finite number of write operations. Because secure delete, whether provided by Apple or a third party app works by the simple expedient overwriting the erased data on the media several times it shortens the lifespan of the SSD media. (That is the same reason third party disk utilities caution against optimizing SSD or Fusion drives.) Additionally Apple's new APFS file system, already fully implemented in iOS 10.3, has features that make secure erase and volume/file optimization essentially irrelevant and pointless.

Even though your MBP, and many others, still has rotating rust media, Apple is always building for the next generation of devices it is reasonable for them to remove features from the OS that are dangerous or ill advised in the current and future hardware generations.

Thanks for the added info, joemikeb.

I do only the minimal stuff on my MBPro - emails and google searches. Occasional YouTube and Skype. Dictionary and Calculator.

I do not use it for DVDs (it has the slot drive) OR for playing music (don't even know how to use all the features iTunes has to offer). No photoshop or fancy film editing. No video games. Pretty basic usage.

So . . . I will continue along until my "old rust bucket" gives up the ghost or it can no longer handle the latest OSX updates - whichever comes first. (hehehe)

The odds are no longer being able to handle the latest updates will get you long before the "old rust bucket" gives up the ghost. MacOS support typically only goes back four years or five at most.

By the way, an iPad Pro would do everything you described, less costly, and is arguably easier and less complex to manage.

I'd have guessed that OS X/macOS would treat secure erase similarly to the way (as we recently discussed in another thread) it's treated disc drives and trackpads, i.e. intuitively, wherein it knows what you're running and gives you the applicable options.

When I updated to SIERRA, I "lost" the option of SECURE ERASE. That is to say:

1. neither with the tab(s) that use to appear when a window was opened to view TRASH contents,

2. nor using the FINDER's "drop down" menu.

Since I had not changed the HD which came with the 2011 MBPro, there was no intuitive action on Sierra's part to recognize that the machine did not have a SSD or Fusion Drive - but removed the Secure Delete option for Trash anyway even though the "old" (original) HD was still in place.

Thanks for the info.

I also already have a iPad Pro (bought new in October 2016) . . . for as long as it can serve me, that is.

RE: MacOS support typically only goes back four years or five at most.


-----------------------------------------------------------

I just hit the 6-year mark, so fingers and toes are crossed.


P.S. I still have the G5 PPC desktop from 2006. Nobody wants it, I imagine. I think the last OSX it could use was Mountain Lion. Roar!

Nor, I guess, in /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility > Erase.

I realize that that's what happened, and I remain surprised by it, because secure erase is a very desirable feature for the many people who are still running spinning rust.

Edit: There must be a way to secure erase a HDD without booting into an earlier OS than Sierra; would booting into Sierra volume 2 and running turn the trick? (Note: rm -P is limited to three overwrites.)

Hmmm.. Both What to do before selling or giving away your Mac - Apple Support - 12/2016 and How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support - 1/2017, which were released after Sierra, discuss erasing a disk via Internet Recovery, and Disk Utility for Mac: Erase a volume using Disk Utility (released two days after Sierra) notes


which implies that secure erase is available in Disk Utility with a HDD.

VERY !

Is the secure erase option that doesn't exist within macOS 10.12 present in its recovery partition?

Can anybody clarify?

Thanks!

As are mine!

This is interesting: my daughter's 13", Early 2008 MacBook (purchased in August 2008) originally shipped with OS X 10.5.2 and maxed out at 10.7.5, while my 13", Early 2009 MacBook (purchased in February 2009, only 6 months later) originally shipped with 10.5.6 and maxed out at 10.11.6. Wow, that's an enormous difference!

I just upgraded the 2008 Macbook to a 13", Mid 2012 MacBook Pro (the one that was just discontinued in October 2016), because it was a phenomenal value, but I'm now scratching my head wondering just how long Apple's going to support it with macOS upgrades.

Oh, well... Worst case scenario is I'll have to make amends for shortsightedness by buying her a new Mac, which I'll do with a sad , before the 2012 is dead.

RE: " . . . which implies that secure erase is available in Disk Utility with a HDD."

-----------------------------------

As best as I can tell, SECURE ERASE still exists in DISK UTILITY . . . but only for external thumb and hard drives.

The "erase" tab is greyed-out in DU in regard to the internal HDD.

Careful! Are you looking at the erase tab as respects the drive/volume into which you're booted? That will always be greyed out.

Interesting that secure erase exists for thumb drives; shouldn't they be subject to the same limitations as SSDs?

I just booted into my recovery partition, and secure erase wasn't an option, either because I'm running an SSD or because I've failed to see through the murky Apple docs to which I linked.

Re: ". . . the erase tab as respects the drive/volume into which you're booted? That will always be greyed out."

-------------------------------


That is correct.

I do not have a Recovery Partition on the MBPro HD, so cannot speak to that.

HOWEVER, I made a spare/backup "Install Thumb Drive" of Sierra from the download before installing Sierra on the MBPro. When I reboot in Recovery Mode using the thumb drive, the DU gives the option to erase/secure erase anything that is mounted - internal and external - including the originally installed HD never removed from my MBPro.

Hope that helps.


P.S. This is getting a bit away from the original WIDGET question. Should a new thread be started? Or simply end this sideline at this point?

If you're running Sierra you've got a recovery partition, but it doesn't show in an option boot; you've got to do a command-R boot to reach it, and I imagine it will allow a secure erase if your thumb drive does.

It sounds like your recovery partition is recognizing that you're running a HDD rather than a SSD.

(Maybe the Mods can detach the last bunch of posts that pertain to this matter and start a new thread with them.)

RE: " . . . If you're running Sierra you've got a recovery partition."


---------------------------------


Just checked. The RECOVERY PARTITION is there. I've always used the thumb drive if/when needed, so - to be honest - never went looking for the RP on the HD (and just assumed it wasn't there).

And, yes, the RP has all the same erase options as using the thumb drive DU.

While we have gone astray, we may have answered the "secure erase" question at least as respects entire drives, if not as respects partial contents.

Secure erase of a thumb drive will reduce its lifespan but with externally connected drives MacOS sees only the logical structure of the drive and has no way of knowing what the physical media is. A thumb drive looks like rotating rust and vice-versa.

Disk Utility > Get Info on both my thumb drive and SSD external shows "Solid State: No".

I wonder why it makes a commitment?

My "Get Info" does not indicate the type of HD on the Mac . . . only that it is formatted as "OS Extended (journaled) and its GB size.

You did not say how your external drives are attached, but the type of data required for Disk Utility to determine the drive type is not provided in most of the bus standards, certainly not in USB or Firewire. (That is why SMART values cannot be determined for external drives.) I can only guess at why Disk Utility makes a "commitment" is this is a situation that is not provided for in the Disk Utility code.

There are two plausible reasons that this situation is not provided for...

1. The least likely reason being an oversite in the code design
2. The more likely reason, there is no reasonable way to determine the specific situation

In either case the report is erroneous and you might wish to submit Feedback to Apple.

NOTE: I have reported this through the beta problem reporting system as well.

AN ASIDE: I had preciously reported a problem in iOS through the beta problem reporting app, and yesterday I got an email asking me if I had tested the problem since installing the iOS 10.3 beta 5 and to report back whether or not it was fixed. Out of the 100+ reports I have submitted that is the third I have had feedback on, but it is nice knowing they really do listen.

Sounds like you did your Get Info on your HD's icon on your desktop rather than on its listing in /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.

RE: "Sounds like you did your Get Info on your HD's icon on your desktop . . . "

-------------

Oops. I just noticed in your earlier post that you were referring to EXTERNAL drives.

FWIW: I did check the INTERNAL in Applications/Utilities/DU and that "Get Info" says it is a 500 GB SATA Internal Physical Disk - no further specs on the kind of disk.

What version of MacOS are you using? In either El Capitan (OS X 10.11) or Sierra (MacOS 10.12) the info button in Disk Utility yields a lot more data than you are seeing as you can see in these screen shots of both an SSD and a Rotating Rust drive.

Yes . . . it shows more info, but I only mentioned that which was specific to the post i.e. no where is it stated in "Get Info" that the disk is a HD.

In this regard, all that is listed for me is that it is a "Physical Disk" (and "Hitachi ######### Media.)


Note: MBPro with Sierra.

Did you scroll down to the bottom of the listing where it says Solid State: No or maybe Yes?

Yes, scrolling down does show that "SSD : No."


However, the information I provided was merely to indicate that the "Get Info" does not call the disk a HD - just an internal physical disk by Hitachi.

Just wondering: Should a new thread be started here . . . We have moved well beyond the original discussion of Widgets. Anyone looking for info on HD/SSD will not likely look under a heading called "Delete Widget."

Both drives connect via USB, so it's understandable that Disk Utility can't identify them as HDD or SSD.

If there's no reasonable way to determine the specific situation, then Disk Utility's reporting as if a determination had been made is, indeed, an oversite in the code design.

Feedback submitted.