i've tried everything and my trashcan has a folder with 4 or 5 sub directories in it but nothing is in them and my trashcan will not empty. i tried restarting the cpu, going to the finder window and selecting "secure empty trash" and also holding down the command key while emptying the trash and i still get the same error message (see attached)
what can i do???
Never take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyways. Film Portfolio
You're not removing Microsoft Office are you, by any chance? Same thing happened to me.
The proper way to do it is to go through all the files in the trash and fix the permissions. Take them out of the trash and run Fix Permissions from Disk Utility, or do it manually by Get Info on each file.
I've done this before using a Terminal command, can't remember it myself but found this:
How to force the Trash to empty using Terminal
This technique uses a Terminal command to fore the Trash to empty. It is important that you follow these steps very carefully.
1. Launch Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder or search Spotlight for Terminal
2. At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*
Important Notes:
* There is a single space after each of the terms sudo, rm, and -rf in the command.
* Double check you have typed the command exactly as it written above: incorrectly typing the command can result in serious system issues, including erasing your hard drive.
3. Press Return/Enter
4. Now type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return/Enter. The files in the Trash are now deleted.