Can't delete trash because items are locked, but I can't find them

When I used the mac backup software, it backed up EVERYTHING including applications and settings, etc. After I lost my harddrive, I replaced it from my external harddrive, but it put things on my computer that were already there on my new hard drive, like the application support and the caches. So, I dragged everything I didn't need into the trash, and attempted to delete them from my external hard drive (in my mac trash). However, nothing will delete, because it keeps stopping and saying things like "The operation cannot be complepted because the item 'wmphelp.htm' is locked. I will press continue, but there is an infinite number of things that are locked, and I always just end up pressing 'stop'. You might say just to unlock them, but I cant find them in the trash, there are too many folders, and too many locked items. I have about 5,700 items in my trash in all. And I can't drag it out of the trash either...it only copies it...
Is there a way to override what is locked? Change preferences of all? Force the trash to delete? It is making it so I can't even delete simple files and because of this I have no more room on my hard drive.
What can I do???
P.S. I just now noticed that it is on a loop. 79 items that are locked, and then it starts over with the list. Ahhhhh!
Message was edited by: Carolyn Dunlea

Restart the Mac in safe mode holding the shift key on startup.
If Secure Empty Trash doesn't work from the File or Finder menu (I'm not at a Mac now, so I don't remember where that is found), try my software Force Empty Trash from this page*:
http://www.macmaps.com/software.html
Given the number of files, wait a couple hours before double clicking the Trash to discover whether or not it has emptied.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

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