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Delete Widget
#43869 03/08/17 01:06 AM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43870 03/08/17 01:48 AM
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Try disabling Dashboard in System Prefs > Mission Control and shutting down/restarting to see if you can then delete it.

Last edited by artie505; 03/08/17 02:41 AM. Reason: Add path

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Delete Widget
artie505 #43871 03/08/17 05:53 AM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43872 03/08/17 06:50 AM
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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.)


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43873 03/08/17 08:20 AM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
artie505 #43874 03/08/17 04:12 PM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
grelber #43875 03/08/17 04:14 PM
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Grelber, I tried using Cocktail force empty trash and that would not work either. I did not try OnyX, however.

Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43877 03/08/17 06:34 PM
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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.)


grin

Re: Delete Widget
MG2009 #43878 03/08/17 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
Just remember: There is an advisory in Onyx that SECURE delete is not recommended for use with Fusion and/or SSD drives.

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

Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43880 03/09/17 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted By: Douglas
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.

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. crazy

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.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Delete Widget
artie505 #43884 03/09/17 03:09 PM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43885 03/09/17 03:32 PM
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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).

Re: Delete Widget
grelber #43886 03/09/17 04:32 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
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.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43890 03/09/17 06:48 PM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
Ira L #43891 03/09/17 07:07 PM
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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: Delete Widget
Douglas #43892 03/09/17 07:37 PM
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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/

Re: Delete Widget
MG2009 #43894 03/09/17 07:39 PM
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Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did look for invisible files and there were none, just the DS_Store file.

Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43895 03/09/17 07:41 PM
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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?

Re: Delete Widget
MG2009 #43896 03/09/17 07:52 PM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
MG2009 #43897 03/09/17 07:53 PM
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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.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Delete Widget
Douglas #43898 03/09/17 07:57 PM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
MG2009 #43899 03/09/17 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
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.

Re: Delete Widget
artie505 #43900 03/09/17 08:10 PM
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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.

Re: Delete Widget
grelber #43902 03/09/17 08:16 PM
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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).


Re: Delete Widget
MG2009 #43905 03/09/17 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
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.

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! wink smirk


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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