Unable to delete files from Time Capsule disk

A while back I copied my user folder from my iMac on to my Time Capsule disk, which is mounted as a drive on my iMac's desktop. I now want to delete that copy. After some struggling with locked files I have managed to get it so that all I have left is a small hierarchy of folders containing no files. When I try to delete any of these folders, though, I get the error message: "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items." Info says that I have read & write privileges to every folder in the hierachy.
Can anyone suggest a way that I can get rid of these few remaining folders? They are really bugging me!

Some of you are going to love this!!
Ok, after talking with someone at Apple, I was reminded of a simple Unix Command to do the job, even on Time Capsule. Here's what worked for me:
Time Capsule is connected to my Mac, via an Ethernet cable-- I don't know if this matters or not, maybe it will work over the wireless connection too, let me know!
You'll need to pull up Terminal in Applications > Utilities. It's a dangerous tool that Unix and Linux people use with skill all the time, but you have to be careful, cause it will cause permanent changes-- that is what I want here, of course. Just be extremely careful, ok? You have been warned.
type "cd /Volumes"
press Return
Now you're in the "Volumes" folder
type "ls" (as in the letter L)
press Return
You should see your Time Capsule folder (whatever you named it)-- type "cd " and that particular name
Navigate till you can type "ls" and you can see the folder you are trying to delete.
Then, the command that worked for me is this:
(Please double check that "myFolderToDelete" is indeed the one that you want to delete!)
sudo rm -rfd myFolderIWantToDelete
After a few seconds for the hard drive in the time capsule to spin up, it worked! Yea!
In fact, to be safe, if I were you, I would even go into Finder first and try to rename that folder, call it "myFolderToDelete" !!!
Why didn't I try this before? I've used Terminal, I should have thought of it before! bad nerd!
But the important thing is, problem solved .
A few things to note is that I was trying to delete a folder full of "Locked" files. If I wanted to delete several locked files that are not currently in a folder, I could make a new folder, and drag those files into it... now you have a folder you can delete. Just rename it "toBeDeleted" or something like that.
Finally, note that I am not currently using Time Machine (the automated backup program) with this Time Capsule, so I don't know if it will delete the Time Machine backup -- haven't tried that yet.
Good Luck!

Similar Messages

  • Deleted files from Time Capsule by mistake. How can i recover them?

    I was using DiskTracker to organize the contents of Time Capsule. I deleted some folders from within DiskTracker unaware that this would delete files from Time Capsule itself.
    I have several recovery software but none of them is able to see Time Capsule, as it is connected through my Lan. I have a lot of valuable data and i would appreciate any suggestion or help on recovering these folders. Please note that i have not written or deleted any files since the accident.

    I have the same issue and am about to make another post ... Have you head anything or gotten any tips?

  • Restore deleted files from time capsule. how???

    Hi all,
    by mistake I deleted some important files in Time Capsule. Does it exist the way how to restore it?

    You cannot restore files without direct access to the disk and a disk restore utility. That means opening the TC.. removing the hard disk and connecting it directly to a computer.

  • Unable to delete files from my startup disk; can move to trash and delete them there, but cannot delete from startup disk?

    I constantly get a warning message that my startup disk is full and I need to remove/back up files from it.  I have already backed up the files from my "All Documents" folder, which is on the left side of the menu in my startup disk.  The problem is, I cannot delete those same files from the "All Documents" folder on my startup disk.  It will let me move them to the trash, which I can empty, but they still do not delete from the "All Documents" folder.  Does anyone know why?

    Drag the files you want to delete (this applies to applications too) from their current location to the Trashcan icon in the dock. The trash will appear full. Hold down the control key and click on the Trashcan and select "Empty Trash" from the pop-up menu.
    Alternatives to the control-click method: double-click on the Trashcan and click the "Empty" button in the upper right corner of the window that comes up; right-click on the Trashcan (only works if you have right-click enabled); press shift-command-delete; select "Emtpy trash..." from the Finder menu.

  • Retrieve deleted files from Time Capsule

    We've got the Time Capsule and I tried to set up user accounts with password for the File Sharing. There's a pop-up window that said something like 'any existing files in the time capsule would be deleted/inaccesible'. I clicked "OK".
    The thing is my brother's files were already in the Time Capsule and he didn't have any backup. So the original files were the ones in the Time Capsule. I thought he would have other backup such as in the Time Machine but even when we open his Time Machine it says "the storage location for the Time Machine cannot be found".
    Now he needs the files and I'm clueless as to how to get the files back. Please HELP!

    you have wiped the time cpasule drive and your only hope now is data recovery software like [data rescue II|http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php] or [file salvage|http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1]. I don't know how well they are going to work with a time capsule though so you are going to have to find that out.
    Message was edited by: V.K.

  • Is it possible to delete files from time machine?

    Is it possible to delete files from time machine? I had a drive crash, restored the files to a new drive, and now the old versions and the new versions of the files are both backed up, taking up a mountain of drive space. Do I just have to wait 'til the drive gets full and then tell it what to delete first?

    Hi, I need help in a related problem. I have 500gb time capsule. I needed larger hard drive, so I now use TM to back up to a different 1tb hard drive. So I don't need the TC as a TM back up device. But I want to use the TC's hard drive as an extra external hard drive. I deleted the files that were on it. but it still shows it has a sparsebundle file with a size of over 400gb ( probably the size of the old backups). When I use disk utility to try to erase it, I am not offered the erase tab. This "disk" does show on the desk top as a mounted disk (I think) with only 53 gb free. How can I set this up so all the disk space is free and I can use it for storing files, not as a back up? Thanks

  • BOBJ is unable to delete file from OFRS

    System Info:
    Business Objects Enterprise XI3.1 SP3 FP3.2
    Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition SP3
    Oracle 10.2
    Java 1.6.0_20
    APACHE Tomcat 5.5.20
    2 clustered servers
    FRS located on SAN Disk Drive connected to primary server (Winchester1)
    We use WebIntelligence exclusivly.
    We are receiving the following error in our event log on our clustered server:
    Source: BusinessObjects_CMS
    Category: General
    Type: Warning
    Event ID: 33018
    Computer: Winchester2
    Unable to delete file from the file repository. Make sure a File Repository Server is running and registered and enabled. Details : Failed to connect to the File Repository Server output. Make sure the server is up and running.
    We have verified the FRS is running and we are able to connect to it from our clustered server (Winchester2).  The security settings are set to full control for the admin group and the users have Read/Write access to the file store folders.  The errors are filling up our event logs and causing issues with the servers.  this appears to be happening each morning and the file it is trying to delete is an .xls file.
    We have a ticket open with SAP Support but they are just as baffled as we are and keep sending us from one group to another and tell us they need to look at it on thier end and they will get back to us.
    Has anyone had this happen on their system?

    Hi Richard, did you ever get this issue resolved?  We are having a similar issue on XI R3 SP4 using NAS/CIFS shares for our File Stores.  We see this issue mainly after our servers are patched and a full environment restart is initiated.  Like you, our event logs fill up with so many error messages I cannot pinpoint exactly when the issue starts happening.
    Any help would be much appreciated.

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS: RDS Users are unable to delete files from their desktop

    Hello,
    We are working with Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS. We also implemented User Profile Disks. This is all working fine without problems. The only issue I have is that normal users are unable to delete files from their desktop. They are getting a message:
    you'll need administrator permission to delete this file, with the prompt for administrator access.
    They can edit, copy, rename, cut and paste files. But they cannot delete a file from their desktop.
    I checked the security permissions of the files on the desktop (for example a normal self-created PDF file) and the users are owner and have "Full Control" over the files.
    I checked the file permissions and took a look under "Advanced", selecting the specific domain user and checked the "Advanced Permissions" and the user has the "Delete" option checked. So he should be able to delete the
    file.
    I am guessing this is UPD related issue, or something in GPO. But I already unlinked the GPO objects, that I felt could be the source of this problem, but without results.
    Could someone give me a hint on where to look? It's kinda annoying to users, that they can't delete their own files.

    Hello Bria,
    What you should check first, is the NTFS permissions on the User Profile Disk to begin with. See if the user has full control over the items that are in the UPD.
    Also check the GPO's that are enabled for the user and computer account. You can check that by running: gpresult /h <path>\gpresult.html
    There are two GPO settings that could prevent the user from deleting his/her own items: 
    User
    Configuration\\Policies\\Administrative Templates\\Windows Components\\Windows Explorer\
    Hide these specified drives in My Computer
    Prevent access to specified drives in My
    Computer
    There might be other GPO settings, that block deleting items on the UPD, but can't think of any out of my head.
    I can only think NTFS and GPO settings that might prevent the user from deleting items. In my case it was a GPO setting, that I didn't suspect.

  • How do i transfer files from time capsule to new computer?

    I recently lost my vintage Imac hard drive and to top it off, likely had a faulty OS. Good news is I have a time capsule, bad news is it is also suspected to have the faulty OS. The Imac is history and I currently have a macbook pro with Lion OS installed and now I want to retrieve all my files off the time capsule. I was told to simply "drag and drop" the files from time capsule to my new macbook. apparantly not so simple. I see the the drive in finder and a lonely folder which I am seemingly unable to do anything with. any suggestions?

    Drag and drop is not the way to go. Run Migration Assistant, found in your Applications/Utilities folder on the Macbook Pro. Follow prompts to recover information from a Time Machine backup, and point it to the Time Capsule.
    Note that the recovery will recreate your old user from the iMac. You will have already set up a user on the MBP, but the files will not go into your new user - they'll go into your old user. Once you log out, you'll see your old user appear as a login option.
    Matt

  • How do you delete file from time machine back up?

    How do you delete file from time machine back up?

    This from Apple KB Article  If Time Machine is not in your Dock, you can enter Time Machine from the Menu Bar or System Preferences.
    Deleting data from a Time Machine backup
    To delete all backups of one or more items from a Time Machine backup, follow these steps:
    Click the Time Machine icon on your Dock to enter the Time Machine restore interface.
    Click on the item you would like to delete. Command-click to select multiple items.
    Control-click (or right click) the highlighted item(s) and select "Delete All Backups of..." from the contextual menu, or select "Delete all backups of..." from the Action Item menu.
    Authenticate with an administrator password when prompted.

  • How can I copy programs (iWorks) and files from Time Capsule to my HD manually? The problem is that the migration assistant does not recognize my backup file and the user on the TC. (If I open the TC on finder, it it there though)

    How can I copy programs (iWorks) and files from Time Capsule to my HD manually? The problem is that the migration assistant does not recognize my backup file and the user on the TC. (If I open the TC on finder, it it there though)

    How can I copy programs (iWorks) and files from Time Capsule to my HD manually? The problem is that the migration assistant does not recognize my backup file and the user on the TC. (If I open the TC on finder, it it there though)

  • How to restore mail files from Time Capsule onto a different machine?

    My Macbook Pro hard drive crashed, and I want to restore my backed-up mail files from Time Capsule onto my Desktop Mac (iMac 27").  When I try to restore by opening Time Capsule with Mail already open, I can only see the current mail files on the iMac (not the backed up files on the MacBook Pro), even when I point to the MacBook Pro backup file.

    Hello there, AngryMario.
    The following Knowledge Base article offers up how to restore mailboxes and content using Time Machine:
    Mail (Mountain Lion): Restore mailboxes and their content
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11713
    Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
    Cheers,
    Pedro.

  • How do i recover files from time capsule

    A couple of days ago my  macbook pro (mid 2009, 2.53 GHz intel core 2 duo running Mountain Lion) started getting slow almost to a crawl, and the hdd name was changed automatically from Macintosh HD to a really long and weird name, something like ////////kjiosdjfk43///////////////////////////////, the name of a  folder that I had on the desktop was also changed to a weird name like that. I changed the name back to Macintosh HD and after that it would take forever to boot and then wouldnt boot at all. I tried to reinstall OSX from the osx utilites menu after pressing command + R while booting but after downloading the file it would get stuck at " about 0 seconds remaining" i tried to format the drive but it still wouldnt install OSX. I bought a new HDD and installed everything from scratch, Leopard, Snow Leopard and finally Mountain Lion. Since the original HDD name was changed i suspected a virus, I haven't used time machine since installing Mountain Lion, I need to know how to check if it was a virus or just the HDD failing. Right now I'm running a scan on the time capsule disk with avast free for mac ( is Avast any good on Mac's?).  It's my understanding that my time capsule disk assumes its connected to a new mac, I would like to transfer all my files (music, movies, but most importantly the photos i had on iPhoto) instead of doing a full restore from time capsule (I'd like to do this because i had a lot of applications I no longer use and the mac was getting slow from a while back), if I decide to do this, how do i do it, and, after copying the files do i need to erase the time capsule disk and set it up as a new one for the "new" mac or can I save the old backups and start backing up new ones from this point on ( I'd like to do this in case i forget to transfer any files I still have them on time capsule)

    Time Machine will delete its hourly backups when it is running low on space. The daily Backups remains.
    Then it will delete the daily backups when it is running low on space. The weekly backups remains.
    Then it will delete the weekly backups when it is running low on space. The monthly backups remain.
    Then it will delete the odlest backups when it is running low on space.
    But because of the convoluted way its internal pointer system works, it will never delete the only backup copy of a current file -- there will still be a copy on the Backup as long as there is still an original file in place on your drive.
    So I think your assertion that it deletes your stuff without asking you is an exaggeration. It is not nearly so dire as you are saying.

  • Deleting files on laptop = deleted files on time capsule?

    My Mac Book Pro has a 250G hard drive and my time capsule has a 500G hard drive. My laptop's hard drive is almost full, and I was wondering if I deleted some files from my laptop, would time capsule still keep them? I know it means only one copy therefore not truly "backed-up" but I would only delete less important files, such as old documents from school that I would like to keep on the time capsule but wouldn't be too upset if lost. Considering that my time capsule is twice as large as my laptop's hard drive, I would like to keep some files there and be able to delete them off my laptop to make more room on my laptop. Can this be done, or will deleting the files on my laptop automatically cause those files to be deleted on the time capsule the next time it backs-up? Thank you for your time!

    matt2125 wrote:
    So its is my understanding that time capsule will not start deleting old back-ups until its full and needs to make space for new backups?
    Not entirely. It routinely "thins" backups according to the schedule on the Preferences window. The first backup of the day is kept for at least a month; all others are deleted after 24 hours. After a month, it keeps one per week.
    So if you delete something that's only been on your Mac for a few hours, the backup may be gone in as little as 24 hours; if it was there for less than a week, the backup may be gone after a month.
    Plus, there are many, many threads in this and the Time Machine forums where Time Machine had to do a very large or full backup unexpectedly, and had to delete many old backups to make room.
    If you value your files, don't do that -- you're playing with fire.
    Your best bet is to get a larger internal HD, so there's room for everything.
    Second best is, get an external HD for the "overflow," and let Time Machine back up both your internal HD and the "overflow" drive.
    Third best is to "archive" some data, to CDs/DVDs or a portable external HD. If you use CDs or DVDs, make two copies, and store at least one in a dry place out of the sun (and one off-site, such as your safe deposit box). Every year or so, read them back in and re-copy them, as they don't last forever (especially the --cheap-- inexpensive ones).

  • Unable to delete files from powerpoint

    I just installed MS office for iPad. I am experiencing an annoying problem with Powerpoint. When I download and open a file from OneDrive, oftentimes I am subsequently unable to delete it from within the iPad powerpoint program. I get a message that the file cannot be deleted because it is in use. I am able to delete the file from OneDrive on my computer no problem, but it remains on the iPad. Clearing the file cache from settings does not do the trick. I have to uninstall and reinstall powerpoint to get rid of the undeletable files. Am I missing something here? Thanks.

    I just installed MS office for iPad. I am experiencing an annoying problem with Powerpoint. When I download and open a file from OneDrive, oftentimes I am subsequently unable to delete it from within the iPad powerpoint program. I get a message that the file cannot be deleted because it is in use. I am able to delete the file from OneDrive on my computer no problem, but it remains on the iPad. Clearing the file cache from settings does not do the trick. I have to uninstall and reinstall powerpoint to get rid of the undeletable files. Am I missing something here? Thanks.

Maybe you are looking for