.trash is busy while trying to empty trash

I'm trying to increae disc space by deleting files. When I attempt to empty trash I get a message that .trash is busy, so it can't empty. In my haste to remove excess, might I have mistakenly moved an important file to trash? If this is not a problem, I guess I can just do secure empty trash, correct?
Thanks for your kind assistance (and thanks, Steve)

Here's the exact message: "“.Trash” can’t be opened right now because it’s being used by another task, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Trash. Try again when the current task is complete. " Note that this message has been appearing for a couple hours, so I assume any tasks are complete.

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Error 8003 while trying to empty trash

Hello,
I'm getting this error quite often while emptying trash and I have to use application named Trash It. But is there any real solution to this?
1) Yes, I have manually deleted Time Machine backup from external HD, actually many times (due to some problems it was backing up around 15-20 GBs daily quickly filling my drive). It never gave me this error though.
2) I have used Disk Utility, it says there are no issues with HD and permissions were fixed.
There is no pattern to this. Like today I wasn't able to delete two screenshots from desktop (moved to trash, error 8003) and I had to use Trash it. External HD wasn't even connected (Time Machine HD).
Any ideas? At worst I hope Lion will be DVD burnable (I saw some tips on net how to do it) and I will be able to format HD and make clean install.
Thanks.

I always delete whole backup, never just particular file. Should be save according to site you pointed me at:
Sometimes you may want to delete ALL backups. Sounds easy, but like so many things, it depends on the circumstances:
If there is other data on the volume, you can delete the Backups.backupdb folder, but it will take a very long time (as there may be from several hundred thousand to a few million files), and you may have trouble with locked files and/or permissions. If possible, it’s much better to delete the backups individually as above, or copy the other data elsewhere temporarily, erase the volume with Disk Utility, and copy the data back. (This is why a separate partition for Time Machine backups is advised.)
I see the "you can". :-)

Error while trying to empty trash on mail

hi there,
i use my gmail account on the mail app and i often get an error messages after im trying to move mails from one folder to another as i quit, then i hit 'ok' and the only way i can quit the app is using 'force quit',
any idea what is wrong??
thanks!!

I always delete whole backup, never just particular file. Should be save according to site you pointed me at:
Sometimes you may want to delete ALL backups. Sounds easy, but like so many things, it depends on the circumstances:
If there is other data on the volume, you can delete the Backups.backupdb folder, but it will take a very long time (as there may be from several hundred thousand to a few million files), and you may have trouble with locked files and/or permissions. If possible, it’s much better to delete the backups individually as above, or copy the other data elsewhere temporarily, erase the volume with Disk Utility, and copy the data back. (This is why a separate partition for Time Machine backups is advised.)
I see the "you can". :-)

Error code 8003 when trying to empty trash

I searched the Internet for a while trying to find an answer to this, but I can't seem to come across one. On my own I was able to determine the cause for the problem, to some degree, but I don't know how to fix it. I have repaired my permissions.
Every time I try to empty my trash with the office update installer package "15089Office 2008 12.2.5 Update" in it I get the message: "The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003)."
I'm not sure what to do. Figures it is a Windows program causing me grief. All I want to do is put it in the trash and get rid of it forever. I honestly have no idea why this isn't working.
Does anyone have a suggestion?

Hi s:
Here is a thread that seems to have addressed the problem. Hard to tell, but some program called trash it appears to have worked with the code:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10452955
Barry

Trying to empty the Trash.

Trying to empty the Trash. Get a message that it can't be done because "501" can't be opened because it is busy. How can I work around or turn this "501" off?

did you try a "secure empty trash" in finder menu?

Finder stalls forever when trying to empty trash

Occasionally, about once a day or every other day, when I try to empty the trash, it'll bring up the progress bar, but it'll say 0 items regardless of how many items are in the trash. It'll stall, the Finder uses up 100+% of CPU, fan goes wild, and it'll stay like that for, as far as I can tell, forever. If that happens, I'll bring up the force quit window, select Finder and click restart. The finder quits, the empty-trash-progress bar disappears, fan slows down, but the Finder does not come back up... The dock seems to be working, but if I click on something to launch it, it won't launch anything. Basically it won't respond to anything. Applications that are already running at this point will continue to run, but behaves strangely, and sometimes won't respond. If I press the power button, it brings up the shutdown/restart option, but selecting one of the options don't seem to do anything, so I end up having to force shutdown by holding down the power button.
After I restart it, there's no problem emptying the trash. It seems to only happen when I've had my computer running for a while, and I can never predict when it'll happen again.
Secure erase trash is disabled.
I've had this issue at least from 10.6.1, and maybe 10.6 as well. Upgrading to 10.6.2 did not resolve it.
Anyone have the same issue, and/or have any clue what might be going on?
EDIT: I'll also add that after this crash happens, and I restart the computer, Spotlight rebuilds the index all over again... so I wonder if Spotlight is crashing when trying to empty trash...?
Message was edited by: doxa

The first and easiest thing I'd try would be the Trash itself.
Go to /Applications /Utilities/Terminal and launch it.
At the prompt, copy and paste this commandsudo rm -rf ~/.TrashPress Return.
You will be asked to enter your admin password. It will be invisible.
Enter it and press Return.
Log out and back in or restart.
Let us know.
-mj

When trying to empty trash, (securely or not), I get this: The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003).

When trying to empty trash, (securely or not), I get this: The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003). FWIW, there are nearly 3000 items in my Trash - although this does not seem the source of the problem.

Have you read for possible solutions over in the "More Like This" thread over here?----------------------->

"Flies are in use" error while trying to trash - help?

Hello!
I have 2 old Macs - a PowerMac G4 that's on it's last legs, and an old PowerBook 5300cs!
Well, as the G4 is wearing out, and the Powerbook's floppy drive is dead, I wanted to make sure all of the files are saved.
So, Today I booted the G4 into FireWire target disk mode, and coppied THE ENTIRE HARD DRIVE onto my external USB drive. (only 4.8 GB, wow)
It seemed that I had copied some of it before - a couple of folders - and so I trashed them as well.
Then, I had a great idea - the old Powerbook was previously completely isolated from the rest of our macs, but the PC card ports work! So, I took a SD memory card adapter (which is a PC card), with a 1 Gig SD card, and dragged the Mac Hard Drive over to it. After nearly 2 hours, all 520 meg (the entire hard drive) was on the SD card.
Then, I copied the files from the SD card to my Powerbook's Desktop. I burned them to a CD, and trashed the folder. (I also made a back up copy on said USB HDD) Then I tried to empty the trash.
It deleted almost all of the files - besides half a dozen files that "are in use"
Exact Error:
"The operation cannot be completed because the item "(insert item name here)" is in use."
It's the same for all of the following - just change (insert item name here) to the names below.
The 5 from the Powerbook (OS 8) are extensions:
Apple Built-In Ethernet
Apple Ethernet CS
Apple Ethernet LC
Apple Ethernet NB
Apple Token Ring NB
The one from the G4 (OS 9.1) is:
localized.rsrc (I believe it was from the "Palm" folder in Applications)
It won't let me erase them, despite the fact that they're from old computers, old OS(es), and shouldn't be in use by anything.
So:
1. How do I tell what is using them?
2. How do I make OS X think they're not in use, and OK to erase?
Thanks,
Dan
15" 1.67 Powerbook G4 (non-HiRes), Slot loading iMac DV SE Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1G RAM on PB, 384 MB iMac.

Okay, well it's the next time.
I was trashing some old backup folders that I didn't need (Not the ones mentioned in my last post), and trashed them. It failed. Inside the trash, was a folder named "Palm Desktop". I must have made anothe copy by accident.
Inside the Palm Desktop folder was "localized.rsrc", and two packages, both with their own "localized.rsrc" files inside English.lproj folders. So, I renamed two of them localized1.rsrc and localized2.rsrc, and draged them out of their folders and onto the first layer of the Trash (ie - just in the trash, not inside a folder inside the trash). Now, I draged them to the desktop. (planning to rename them to .rtf immediately afterwards). However, that same error I listed last time occured - where the finder crashed for a second. Last time, however, it occured when I tried to open the Localized.rtf file, not when I tried to remove it from the trash.
I rebooted. Now, the files Localized.rsrc files where on the desktop, -AND- in the trash. So, I renamed the ones on the desktop localized.rtf (and localized1 and localized2), and overwrote them. I trashed them, and Emptied the trash. It trashed the three from the desktop ok, but it wouldn't trash the original files. I renamed them .rtf, so now I have Localized(1,2).rtf in the trash.
I reboot. I drag them out, and they are -STILL- both inside and outside the trash. I repeat the overwrite-with-blank-rtf-documents-and-trash method, and reboot. Now, I make new blank text files in text edit - named Localized.rtf, Localized1.rtf, and Localized2.rtf. I drag them to the trash - it simply puts them into the trash - so now I have 2 of each file. I trash it, it deletes the empty files.
I still have the original 3. On a hunch, I remove the "Missing Sync Monitor" login item from my user account, reboot, and drag them to the desktop. Same finder crash error. I reboot again - and now i have 1 Localized.rtf file, and TWO of both Localized1.rtf and Localized2.rtf files. So, they are all sitting there in the trash, unable to go away.
Now what?
There must be a better way, one that doesn't require renaming the files, or risking the finder crashing. A terminal method perhaps?
Any thoughts welcome,
Dan

I tried to open a folder in my Documents. It does not show in any window but does show up when I am half way between windows. It did the same thing when I tried to empty the trash. It asked if that was what I wanted but I could't say yes because it was or

I tried to open a folder in my Documents. It does not show in any window but does show up when I am half way between windows. It did the same thing when I tried to empty the trash. It asked if that was what I wanted but I could't say yes because it was or

what is your question/issue here? did the folder have any content in it to begin with? screen shots of what you may be seeing?
if english isn't your native language, write it in what you are most comfortable speaking in to describe your issue.

When trying to empty my trash I get an error 8003 message.

I'm trying to empty my trash but I keep getting an error -8003 message and it will not empty. How can I fix this?

Have a look/read at the solutions in this thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2630013?start=0&tstart=0
Stefan

I'm getting error code 8003 when trying to empty trash.

I am getting an error code 8003 when trying to empty my trash. Don't it anywhere I've looked.

Read this and possibly the solution is there.
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6126_102-365518.html

Getting error code 8003 when trying to empty trash, lots and lots of stuff in there but it won't let me empty the trash.

getting error code 8003 when trying to empty trash, lots and lots of stuff in there but it won't let me empty the trash.

Thomas...
Try Trash IT for Mac > http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/8214/trash-it!
It helped users with the same issue here > https://discussions.apple.com/message/16995454#16995454

I am trying to empty my trash and keep getting error code -8003

I am trying to empty my trash and keep getting error code -8003...how do I get it to empty?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526

Trying to empty my trash and i get error code -8003 and it will not empty. Solutions??

I am trying to empty my trash ans i keep getting the error code -8003 on a popup window with the option to stop or continue. Even when selecting continue in does no continue. Is there a way around this or another way to erase the trash.

Try reading the XLab's "Solving Trash Problems" for a solution, you can find it at:
http://thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html

I tried to empty my trash and could not - an error code 8003 showed up and stopped me. What can I do to empty the trash?

I tried to empty my trash and could not - an error code 8003 showed up and stopped me. What can I do to empty the trash?

Look to the right under 'More like This' - many good sugestions there.

.trash is busy while trying to empty trash

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