Turned TM off... cannot delete a few files?!?!

Ok... I got sick of the space TM was taking up and turned it off. Now I have 3 files that will not delete: BOOTX, BOOT.EFI, (2nd) BOOTX
What the heck?!?! I can't even change the read/write properties to allow me to remove it unless there is a string I haven't tried?!? I also can't find a fix on here that will let me get rid of them...
thanks.

jagered wrote:
excellent work pondini!
i tried strings like that in terminal that i found on mac sites and none worked... that one was perfect.
Yeah, I avoid Terminal like the plague. One space missing or in the wrong place and it won't work, which would be fine if it put up some sort of message, but of course it doesn't!
and sorry if you took it as ranting, it was more like frustration dealing with the trash files that couldn't get removed!
Understood -- been there, done that!
From your earlier post:
and if TM doesn't duplicate backups... how then do mine get to 100+ gigs in size when i exclude my largest folders?!?! to me that shows a flaw...
There are a several possibilities, but first a refresher:
This is way oversimplified, but when TM does your first backup, it makes a folder named with the data & time of the backup. Inside it are "hard links" (sort of like aliases) to the actual backup copies of everything on your system (that are hidden somewhere else). To us mere mortals using the Finder, the hard links look like the actual backup copies.
When it makes the next backup, it does the same thing for all new or changed files, and makes more hard links (cleverly called "multi-links") to the backups of the things that didn't change. Even more unusual, the hard links are at the file level when necessary, but at the directory (folder) level when nothing in the entire folder changed. Thus each hourly backup appears to be a full backup, but of course isn't.
If you look at the sizes of each of those folders, each one will be the size of all the data on your system, and the total will be many times the actual amount used on the TM disk. That's because the actual backup copies don't "belong" to any one folder, but are counted over and over. Two plus two can equal a hundred here!
Depending on what you deleted via the Finder, you may have deleted the multi-links and some, but not all, of the actual backup copies. They're now "abandoned" -- taking up space, but not findable. The next time Time Machine does a "deep traversal," it won't realize those files have been backed-up, so it will back them up again.
Some things will cause Time Machine to do a new, full backup of your entire system (or an entire drive), including a full restore. See #D3 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
Some OSX features and 3rd-party apps can cause extra-large backups, too. See #D4 in the Troubleshooting Tip.
So, reformat your TM drive, make your partition(s), start TM up and let it do a full backup. If subsequent hourly backups seem too large, check #D3 or #D4 in the Troubleshooting Tip -- they'll show you how to figure out what's going on, and how to deal with it.

Similar Messages

Trying to use a new, larger external hard drive for my Time Machine backup. However, every time I start the backup, it gets started then fails. And, I can't delete the few files that did save on the external. Sort of a catch 22. Any ideas?

Trying to use a new, larger external hard drive for my Time Machine backup. However, every time I start the backup, it gets started then fails. And, I can't delete the few files that did save on the external. Sort of a catch 22. Any ideas?

Is it a USB hard drive? USB hard drives have the problem of not giving full speed if they are hooked up on the same bus as keyboards and mice. Double check your profiler to make sure that is not a problem. If it is Firewire, make sure there aren't other firewire devices in use at the same time. I recommend not only keeping a Time Machine backup, but also a clone, and if you do use Time Machine, to make sure the Time Machine drive or partition is at least twice the size of the original drive.

Cannot Deleted the PDF Files When Show The Preview Pane in Window 8

Dear Sir / Madam,
Cannot Deleted the PDF Files When Show The Preview Pane in Window 8.
Any solution about this issue.
Why windows 7 do not have faced this issue, but when migration to windows 8 face this issue?
Regards,
Alex Tai

You need to close the preview / document viewer before deleting.
Arnav Sharma | http://arnavsharma.net/ Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading
the thread.

Accidentally deleted a few files...

Hey, I accidently deleted a few files:
javascript.html
javascript.js
and one other I forgot, but it had to do with javascript.
Anyone know if these are important and how to replace them if they are.
Thanks.

Thanks, yeah, I already deleted them a while back thinking they caused this annoying split second pop-up window, but they weren't the ones. Anyway, I think they were part of Dreamweaver, so I'll just leave it alone until it acts up, if it ever does. Thanks again.

If turned on verizon messages to sync you messages and you don't want it anymore, where can I go to turn it off or delete it?

If turned on verizon messages to sync you messages and you don't want it anymore, where can I go to turn it off or delete it?

Where did you "turn it on"? Computer? Tablet? Phone app?
On the phone app, open messages, go to the three bars top LEFT corner, scroll down to Settings, then Manage devices to un-sync with tablet(s) or computer(s). If you don't want to use the app, then disable or uninstall it and go back to the stock app or another of your choosing.

HT1925 cannot delete C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\

I am tryng to remove & reinstall iTunes and cannot delete C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\ because the folder or a file in it is open in another program. No clue what that other program would be.

See Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates for some tips on cleaning up... Unlocker might be the tool in this case.
tt2

Cannot delete Entourage database file

Aloha,
I am running Entourage (v11.3.6) from Office 2004. At some point in the distant past I had to rebuild my database, and created a backup copy of the existing database. That file, originally named "Database" takes up 2.49 GB.
Much later, I decided to delete that file to retrieve the 2.49 GB of disk space. However, emptying the trash causes a kernel panic. I tried a command line "rm" and got a kernel panic. I tried booting into safe mode, but it did not allow me to even try to delete the file. I tried "cat < /dev/null >! Database" and got a kernel panic. (This is a trick that can empty a file that is currently open and being accessed by a process, often a system process that you don't have complete control over.)
Permissions are wide open, the file is unlocked, I can rename it and move it without any consequences. The only thing I can't do is delete it!
I would appreciate any suggestion you have for further attempts.
Thanks.

Thanks for your help. I solved the problem. Apparently journaling does not allow files larger than 2096640 to be deleted. Turning journaling off via Disk Utility, emptying (successfully!) the trash, and then turning journaling back on worked.
Details:
I booted into single user mode (sorry...not safe mode as I had said earlier). This time, I noticed that it said the file system was mounted read-only, and to run fsck to check the file system and then mount the file system to allow read/write. The commands I used were
/sbin/fsck -yf
/sbin/mount -uw /
Note that the "-f" option on fsck forces the check, which was required because journaling was turned on.
After mounting the file system I tried
\rm xyz
and it gave me a much more informative kernel crash. In particular, the first line read
panic(cpu 0): jnl: transaction too big (2093568 >= 2096640 bufsize 4096, tr 0x1cf8fc8 bp 0x2747fdc0
Aha! Neglecting the fact that 2093568 is not larger than 2096640, it indicated that the file size was deemed too large for the removal, and journaling may be involved.
So, I rebooted into normal mode, opened Disk Utility, selected the file system, and then selected the menu "File–>Disable Journaling" (or I could have typed command-J) to disable the journaling. Returning to the Finder I emptied the trash, and voila, no kernel panic. (And I made sure my 2.49 GB was released!)
Thanks again,
Bob

Cannot delete Time Machine file from external hard drive

Hello,
I'd like to delete my original Time machine file from an external hard drive ( Lacie mini ). I move the file into the trash bin and it constantly "deletes". At one time I left it deleting overnight and the file still wasn't trashed.
I am going to hook up Time Machine to a different, dedicated external hard drive, but I'd like to gain space on the drive that Time Machine is currently on.
I currently have Time Machine turned off ( I do have everything backed up with my home folder on another external HD ). Should Time Machine be turned on for me to trash the file? Is there a better way to delete the file?
Much thanks in advance.

V.K. wrote:
... the best and the quickest way to delete it is to erase the TM hard drive....
But what if a person doesn't want to erase the TM drive? My MacPro came with tiger installed, but since tiger-intel-retail discs don't exist, my copy of tiger is what i have. I was all manner of foolish directing TM to that drive, but damage is done. What can someone in my position do?

Windows 8.1 client cannot delete shared server files.

We have one office that has a Windows 8.1 client on the network that cannot delete files in a shared folder on their server.
The folder is a catch all folder for the copier to scan to and contains all the PDF files it creates. When the one user tries to delete any of the PDF files they get an error saying the file is in use. We have tested by deleting files from
the server and also from other workstations.
We have rebooted the computer and also tried to resolve it by specifically giving the user full rights to the folder, but the problem remains persistent.

Hi,
There are several possible reasons for your situation, you might don’t have a permission of this folder, the folder is in use, a corrupted file is in current folder.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-hk/windows/cant-delete-file-folder#1TC=windows-7 (Also applies for Windows 8.1)
First, I suggest to log on the computer with an administrator account to delete the folder and disconnect the network connection if possible, second, Run your computer in safe mode to delete the folder or files, to run computer in safe mode:
Restart your computer, meanwhile press F8 until you see the safe mode screen.
Hit enter at safe mode, log on the system as an administrator.
Find the folder or file you want delete.
Regards
Wade Liu
TechNet Community Support

E72 cannot delete corrupted music files

I just cant delete corrupted music files from my E72.
Please help!

i had the same issue with my e90 and my n900.
the only way i was able to get rid of them was to connect to my pc via cable and then delete from my pc.
give it a try. see if that helps you.

Cannot delete DEFAULT.BMP "file" from Desktop

A symbol labeled DEFAULT.BMP mysteriously appeared on my desktop.
When I try to trash it, I get a message saying it can't be moved to the Trash because it cannot be deleted. I tried command-i to see what it was, and if I could change its status there, but command-i didn't produce anything. As far as I can tell, it's a label, but nothing attached to it.
I'd like to get if off my desktop. Any suggestions

>Open the Terminal utility in your Applications > Utilities folder and
>enter the following command:
>
>ls -la ~/Desktop/DEFAULT.BMP
>
>
>Then copy the output into a reply to this thread so we can see what it is.
Last login: Sun Dec 2 23:40:18 on ttys000
localhost:~ Jerry$ ls -la ~/Desktop/DEFAULT.BMP
ls: /Users/Jerry/Desktop/DEFAULT.BMP: No such file or directory
localhost:~ Jerry$
>
>You can also try running the following command (copy it exactly as-is)
>to attempt to forcefully delete the file (provide your password when
>prompted to run this):
>
>sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/DEFAULT.BMP
All I got back was:
sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/DEFAULT.BMP
Password:
localhost:~ Jerry$

Unable to recreate replica as I cannot delete the xml files for the old VM on Hyper-v Cluster

My setup
There are 2 sites each running a Hyper-v 2012-R2 cluster comprising of 5 nodes each.
All the machines are in a HA state and stored on the shared clustered resource.
Initially we had replication working and it was replicating all the servers from Site A to Site B
There were some replication issues which needed me to stop the replication and redo it again, in doing so I firstly removed replication on Fail-over cluster manager on Site A and did the same on Site B.
On one of the servers I had to remove the VM, although the VM config and Disks still remain on the Site B Cluster.
I was trying to recreate the replica but it always fails with the following error :
Hyper-v failed to enable replication for virtual machine xxxxxxxx operation aborted (0x80004004).....
I followed an article to stop the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management Service and try delete the file,
When i tried to stop the service it would restart automatically and I was unable to delete the file. I put the service in disabled which kept it stopped however I was still unable to delete the files. I also tried to get File assassin which can help delete
and clear locked files but it too was unable to delete it while the service was running or stopped as well as its additional mode whereby it will delete it on next reboot.
The Article Https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/4c4f2535-81ee-4a21-a920-b5632de2be37/hyperv-old-vm-folders-cannot-be-deleted?forum=winserverhyperv
makes mention of stopping another service Hyper-V
Image Management Service but I am unable to find it on 2012-R2 server.
I have also tried to put the additional nodes in a paused drained roles state leaving only one node as the active one but it still will not let me delete the VM config
files, without removing those files I cannot re-initiate the Replication.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Can you storage migrate any other vms or resources off of the CSV that contains the XML file in question? If so you may be able to then take that CSV offline, remove it from available storage, re-add as available storage, and add to CSV Volumes. Maybe
that will clear your lock.

N95 8GB - Cannot delete any music files ??

N95 8GB
I have install some music, but have tried deleting them, via the Nokia PC Suite, and via the phone and via PC windows explorer.
But nothing happens.
You get the 'files being deleted' message, but the phone just seems to die. You then have to switch off and on again. And no files have been deleted.

i had the same issue with my e90 and my n900.
the only way i was able to get rid of them was to connect to my pc via cable and then delete from my pc.
give it a try. see if that helps you.

Cannot delete a few text messages

I was sending out around 30-40 text messages over several hours and was able to delete most replies but I have 3 that will not delete. Interestingly, these 3 were all sent within a few minutes of each other.
I have tried restarting, reloading the Hub, ending the chat from within the message but I cannot seem to remove them.
I am on the latest stable release - should I reload BB10 from scratch or perhaps wait until the next update? Is there a low-level method to remove these messages?
Thanks.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I would have thought that restarting your phone and refreshing the Hub would have done the trick. I can't think of any other low-level method of resolving that. But I usually jump right to suggesting an OS reload because I think it's a good idea to reload your current (or a new) OS every few months so maybe I'm not the best guy from which to be getting advice on this subject.
Cheers.
- If my response has helped you, please click "Options" beside my post and mark it as solved. Clicking the "thumbs up" icon near the bottom of my response would also be appreciated.

Cannot delete locked .INF file from desktop

Okay,
I go to a school where everyone can place everything into one server.
Someone put an autorun.inf virus in all the folders, including mine.
I ended up having the virus on my flashdrive, but wasn't able to delete it through a PC.
A friend said that fellow classmates have been able to delete it through Macs, so I gave it a shot. (This virus doesn't affect Macs, by the way.)
I was able to remove it from my flashdrive, but I cannot remove it from my desktop.
It's just sitting there, locked.
I can't find a way to unlock it, I've tried control+click, right click+delete...
Is there a way to remove it?
Message was edited by: RueLi

Another way that usually works. Depress the Option key when you empty Trash.
 Cheers, Tom

Turned TM off... cannot delete a few files?!?!

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for