Can't drag icon on Desktop to Trash, + another Trash problem

"The item "FB814B00" can't be moved to the Trash because it can't be deleted".
I have two such files on my Desktop, different only in the name number:
I have been using MS Office Excel but Excel is presently not running. When I drag the files to the Trash, a "+" sign attaches to the icon, indicating that it is about to be copied somewhere. If I Double-click on it, nothing happens. I can drag other files to the Trash.
Also, if I try to empty the Trash I get:
" The operation can’t be completed because the item “P6290780.JPG” is in use." Stop Continue. Pressing "Continue seems to do nothing. I have searched for “P6290780.JPG”  using Spotlight and have four of them: Two on my Carbon Copy cloner bootable Backup external HD; one in iPhoto as a
Thumbnail and one in iPhoto in a folder called "Masters". I cannot find an open opy of that file.
Now, I have just noticed that there is only one file in the Trash. It is “P6290780.JPG”. Spotlight did not find it.
This seems to be a Mac problem rather than an MS Office problem.
Any ideas please?
iMac mid 2011, OS 10.7.1

Solved both problems by Restarting the iMac.
I have had a Mac since the dark days of 1996 and an Apple speaker at a big London exhibition advised restarting the machine about three times per day. This was, as I remember, to clear out accumulated corruption etc. As a result, I did that (but every two days). When I got my new iMac (mid 2011) and Lion 7.1 I thought that those days were gone, but presumably not. (My Mac had been running for about 7 days since the last restart.)

Similar Messages

  • Can't drag icons on desktop or anywhere

    Running on a iMac OS 10.9.3. Today I plugged in a "WD My Passport" external hard drive to copy files over onto my computer (this hard drive is formatted for a Windows computer but I could still read and copy the files, just not write onto it). After that I couldn't move or drag any files/folders on my desktop or anywhere in Finder.
    I already tried opening up the Desktop View Options and changing the Sort By to None. I also tried going into Desktop Info and making sure my Sharing & Permissions setting were set up for me to Read & Write. Neither of those worked.
    Anyone have any idea what could be wrong? Any help would get super appreciated!
    UPDATE: I restarted my computer and now it's working. I know, duh. Sorry haha.

    Restarting is the first and easiest step when troubleshooting. Glad it's working for you now.
    Format as exFAT if you plan on using that external on both Mac and Windows computers. Mac Extended (Journaled) if it will only be used on Mac computers.
    If you format it exFAT do that on a Windows computer as Mac screws up the formatting and it then can't be read on Windows computers. Doing it on a Windows computer it can be read and written to on both Win and Mac.
    Formatting erases contents on a drive. Copy the data to another source before formatting.

  • Can't drag icons out of my dock

    I can't drag files out of stacks (Downloads or Application folders) or app icons off my dock. I reset my SMC when I rebooted and it worked but then I reboot the next day (today) and it won't work anymore. Do I really have to reset SMC every time I boot up? I recently downgraded from Yosemite because it is incomplete and full of bugs and now I have this issue.
    OS X: 10.9.5

    For downloads, go to your user folder downloads and remove them there. Same for Applications. To remove alias from the Dock hold down the command key while dragging them from the Dock.
    If that does't work, go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. Then try a Dock reset.
    Try doing a Dock restart using the following Terminal command:
    killall Dock
    Log out/in and test. If that doesn’t work, you need to look in your user Library/Applications Support/Dock for the .db. Use the Finder “Go To Folder” command. Enter ~/Library/Applications Support/Dock.  Move the .db to your desktop.
    Then try a dock reset.
    Applications/Utilities/Terminal enter the command
    killall Dock
    Log out/in test. If it works okay, delete the .db from the desktop.
    If the Dock is the same, return the .db to where you got them from, overwriting the newer ones.

  • Can't drag icon from customize screen to tool bar on Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet.

    On my Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet, win 8.1, I am unable to drag the 'download' (arrow) icon from the customize screen on to the tool bar.
    I was able to drag the 'search' icon from the screen to the tool bar.
    Why can I drag one, and not another?
    Thanks,
    WoodyB

    You can click the "Restore Default Set" button to restore the default toolbar setup if there is a problem with customizing the toolbars.
    You can check for problems caused by a corrupted localstore.rdf file if you continue to have problems.
    *http://kb.mozillazine.org/Corrupt_localstore.rdf

  • Can't drag icons across pages

    I uploaded all my iPhone apps and now I'm de-cluttering the mess. Few icons move across pages and the empty pages don't close. I can't move folders across pages at all. What trick am I missing?

    It can be done, but from my personal experience it takes a special touch.  An easier way would be to connect your iPad to iTunes, open the device, click on apps and you can use your mouse to drag icons from page to page and even create folders, by dropping one app into another (when you do, a name the folder bar opens as well).

  • Running MacOS 10.8.4  Contacts 7.1 (1170) can't drag cards from one folder to another.

    I am running 10.8.4 with contacts 7.1 (1170).  I find I can't drag cards from one (any) group to another group.  When I restart it shows the card and indicates that it should accept it as it isn't in that group.  But doesn't move cards.  Then it no longer gives any indication the cards are moving when I drag.  When I shut down and restart it gives indication the cards are moving but none move and then no longer gives any indication when I drag.  I am syncing with icloud.

    Problems such as yours are sometimes caused by files that should belong to you but are locked or have wrong permissions. This procedure will check for such files. It makes no changes and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
    First, empty the Trash.
    Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):
    find ~ $TMPDIR.. \( -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 -o -acl \) 2> /dev/null | wc -l
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
    The output of this command, on a line directly below what you entered, will be a number such as "41." Please post it in a reply.

  • Can i drag files from one computer to another

    can i drag files from one computer to another

    You can, if you want to transfer files between macs I advies to use AirDrop(wi-fi needs to be enabled). Use shift+command+R, this will take you to your AirDrop in finder. Do this on both computers and you should see the user of the mac where you want to transfer files to.
    If the seconds computer is a Windows, you can alway use a USB Drive, External Drive, through Dropbox(install dropbox on both computers and download the files that you need on the second computer) and if the file is small even mail.
    Regards,
    Jeroen

  • Can't drag docs from desktop onto the HD icon.

    I am no longer able to drag documents onto the hard drive. I get an error message: The item “xxxxxx” can’t be moved because “Macintosh HD” can’t be modified. Do I "authenticate" or run to the apple store. I've had this computer for 2 years; updated to 10.6.7  several months ago. Today the problem started. Please advise.

    Select Macintosh HD instead. If you use the authenticate option, you'll be asked to provide your password. The file will then be moved or you'll get a similar error message, in which case you'll need to unlock the drive from the Get Info window or elsewhere.
    (58433)

  • Can't Drag Icons

    I'm working in OS X 10.2.8 and all of a sudden the icons on my desktop won't move. Also, cannot use selection tool to move objects when working in Illustrator CS2 or Corel Draw.
    I've read all the posts listed here and tried every suggestion to no avail. Can anyone offer a new or different suggestion?
    I'm working on a G4 which did not get along well with Tiger, when I tried to install that upgrade a couple of years ago, so that's why I'm still on the old operating system. Which was fine for me until this.
    Please Help,
    Debi

    Welcome To  Discussions Debi!
    "...I've deleted all my plists..."
    Did you put the whole Preferences folder, located in HD > Users > Your Account > Library: HERE, in the Trash?
    Have you emptied the Trash?
    "...I've done a desktop cleanup on re-start."
    Please explain what you did to clean up the Desktop.
    Have you run Repair Permissions?
    Are you logged in with an Admin account?
    Navigate to HD > Users > Your Account.
    Click once on the Desktop folder to highlight.
    Press the Command + I keys to Get Info.
    Click on the ▼ Disclosure Triangle for Ownership & Permissions.
    -What is displayed after You can ? S/B Read & Write.
    Click on the ▼ Disclosure Triangle for Details.
    -What is displayed for:
    Owner: ? S/B Your account Short Name.
    Access: ? S/B Read & Write.
    Click on an open area of the Desktop.
    Press the Command + J keys.
    In the View Options window, if Keep arranged by is checked, uncheck it.
    Actually, for now, uncheck all four of the arrangement options.
    Close that window.
    Will the items move now?
    ali b

  • Can't drag files from desktop to project files window

    Im using the latest premiere pro version, 7.2, and while I can drag files from my desktop to the project window in premiere 6, for some reason its no longer possible in premiere 7.2
    whenver I try to drag audio or video files from my desktop or any folder to the project files window at the bottom left I get a forbidden sign or circle with a diagonal so the only way to import files is through the import menu, which is less straightforward and slowlier
    Ill be happy to provide more data if required
    thanks
    PS: obviously Ive already created a sequence so the problem is not that

    The latest version is 7.2.2 (33)
    Upgrade to that and see if it helps.

  • Bought a laptop. Can't drag icons to toolbar as bookmarks

    OK, I have Win-XP, SP3, and just downloaded FF 10.0 this week.
    Can someone at mozilla please take into account older people with vague memories? So that from now on, if i key the below on major search engines:
    "how to drag bookmark/icons to toolbar as shortcuts"
    I'll get the answer, instead of spending hours of time trying to find the answer? I searched high & low (i believe the same thing happened last year with my other identical laptop).
    Now i just bought another laptop, same as my other one, and the circus is starting again, trying to figure out how to get the shortcuts dragged to my toolbar.
    '''For example:
    Just now I tried dragging the orange/blue Fox-Icon from
    BOTH: this web page
    AND the toolbar above (which states mozilla.org)'''
    ...tried dragging them to the File/Edit/History/Bookmarks bar.
    No dice, instead:
    2 more Tabs popped up.
    For me, that's very non-intuitive.
    So once again:
    (1) how to enable dragging of icon/shortcuts to toolbar?
    (2) how to ensure that in future, i can find answers intuitively via a simple web-search such as forementioned?
    btw, i also couldn't find a Subscribed-Topics (or User-CP) area, so i can check whether & where i asked this question the last time. And i'm practically sure i did ask this same question, and that the answer was, that i'm supposed to drag the icons. Except that's not working for me now!

    btw, on a tangent, I also had AVG pop up a balloon to the effect that FireFox is taking a toll on available memory (or something to that effect). Does FF 10.0 indeed guzzle memory? I don't need fancy apps.. Never did, and never will, so i hope it's not glutting the system.

  • Can't drag items from desktop to Captivate 6.1 64bit

    I updated from Captivate 6.0.1 to 6.1 (both 64 bit) and can no longer drag items from the desktop or Adobe Bridge to a Captivate project.  I reinstalled 6.0.1 and could.  Again updated to 6.1 and again could not.  The Import to library button and the import PhotoShop menu items work fine.
    Any ideas?

    Hi There,
    Welcome to Adobe Forums.
    We have checked that in a local user account we can drag items from the desktop in Captivate 6.0.1 but not in Captivate 6.1.
    After logon to the built in administrator account of the computer you can drag items in Captivate 6.1 also. It is because of the permission, now dragging requires all kind of permissions on the computer.
    Thanks
    Vikas

  • Can't drag photos to desktop

    I often drag photos out of iPhoto onto my desktop, for various reasons, to work with them. I've done this for forever. All of a sudden, with a certain set of photos, it won't let me do this. When I try to place them on my desktop, instead of getting the little green plus sign, I get a white circle with a slash through it. This is only happening with a few photos that I edited (that's never mattered before). I don't know where to begin to figure this one out. Any ideas? Thanks.

    I had that happen to me several months ago. I somehow got several thousand photos that refused to be edited or moved.
    It turned out to be a corrupted external hard drive that I knew was failing and I copied my photos to my newer drive before the drive totally gave up. However, the copied photo libraries were corrupted.
    Fortunately, I had followed Old Toad's advice* to make copies of the library6.iPhoto files, and I had backed them up to another external drive BEFORE the old drive ruined the photos. Although I copied the photos to a new drive, I did not do a back up again, so my library6.iPhoto files were still backups from the good photos.
    I was able to retrieve these files from my backup iPhoto Library, and reimported all the 'good' photos from them to replace the 'bad' ones. It was tedious, but I recovered all but two photos!
    Hopefully you have backups of your iPhotoLibrary?
    *OT's advice from his signature:
    +TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.+
    +I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.+
    One thing I did that made it easy to see which photos were bad, was to mark them with the 'Hide' command. I had all of them in albums, and didn't hide them, but since they were marked with that X it was easy to identify them and put the good photo where it belonged. I had all my photos arranged chronologically, so it was very important to put them back in order.

  • Safari 3.2: Can't drag images to desktop!?

    Hi there.
    I just downloaded Safari 3.2 - and I can no longer drag images to my desktop. When I try to do this, the image converts to a weblog or pagesource ( instead of a .gif, jpeg, .png - like it did with the previous version)
    Anyone else having this problem? And how can I fix this?
    Thank you

    sorry for my post. I was able to solve it. I made iPhoto find the library again. I put my whole iPhoto library on the desktop and then I opened iPhoto and made it find the library on the desktop. And then it worked! And after that I put my iPhoto library back to where it should be, opened up iPhoto and made it find the library again. And now I can drag pictures to the desktop again
    hmm... I wrote kinda crappy... well I hope you understand anyway...

  • Can't drag windows across desktops

    Since upgrading to Mavericks I am no longer able to drag/move application windows to adjacent desktops. The only way to do it now it to move applications around in Mission Control which feels very cumbersome and un-intuative. Is this a "feature" now or is there a hidden setting somewhere that will allow me tobe able to do this again?

    The default in preferences GENERAL is "open folders in tabs instead of new windows"
    UNCHECK this
    then when you hold down CMD + double click      you get a NEW WINDOW!
    unless that box is unchecked, youll only get a new TAB

Maybe you are looking for