Mac: Empty trash securely

[french frank]

Do other Mac users use this setting?

I only discovered it when my 16GB memory stick wouldn't copy a folder over because there was 'not enough space', and emptying the trash appeared to be the solution.

I don't know why the Mac was set to 'Empty trash securely' or why I hadn't had the problem before, but at about one file per second it was going to take about 2 hours to empty the trash. I turned off the setting and emptied the trash so that I could copy the folder on to the memory stick, as intended, and, yes, lo, the folder copied over instantly.

I just wondered whether other people used the secure setting or not (presumably more regularly than I was doing).

[Nick Armstrong]

No... I've never encountered it. Had a look under 'Security and Privacy' preferences, but no sign. Where do you find the setting (just in case!)

[Beef Oven!]

I'm using El Presidente, or whatever it's called, and they've removed it from this most up to date OS. Maybe you're using the same Caliban, and that's why you don't find it.

[french frank]

No... I've never encountered it. Had a look under 'Security and Privacy' preferences, but no sign. Where do you find the setting (just in case!)

Finder > Preferences > Advanced, then Empty Trash securely is an option.

But the same thing has happened on my other Mac. Memory stick wouldn't accept the folder (it was quite big) so I just opened the Trash and clicked on Action > Empty trash. That seemed to find a huge number of files and was chugging through them (after warning me that once they'd gone, they'd gone.

Just checked upstairs: it had stopped deleting with 44,000 files left because some items were 'locked', so did I want to continue with the unlocked items or with all of them … I just said, Oh, I dunno - just get rid of it all

[Nick Armstrong]

Finder > Preferences > Advanced, then Empty Trash securely is an option.

Oh yes. Well it's unchecked on mine; and I empty the trash in standard fashion each time I use the machine - not going to change anything!

[french frank]

and I empty the trash in standard fashion each time I use the machine

No, don't change anything. I'm trying to empty it in the standard fashion but have been told the operation can't be completed as I don't have permission …

[french frank]

I think the problem here is that the Trash won't delete the .trash files from the flash drive. So although there are apparently no files on it, the volume is full. It may be some corrupted files which stop Trash emptying it?

[Dave2002]

If the problem is as you suspect due to a fault in the memory stick why not try copying everything you really want off it, then reformatting the stick? That should surely fix the stick, if it is rescuable.

If the stick is clearly faulty then time to throw it away , or destroy it securely.

[french frank]

If the problem is as you suspect due to a fault in the memory stick why not try copying everything you really want off it, then reformatting the stick? That should surely fix the stick, if it is rescuable.

I don't want anything off the stick - I'm not a hoarder! I didn't know it was possible to reformat them. I've used the same sticks, indifferently, with both the old laptop and the various Macs.

If the stick is clearly faulty then time to throw it away , or destroy it securely.

I can't see how to pull it apart

[Anastasius]

Nope...I never bother to use Secure Empty Trash.

Mind you I also never bother to set up any wifi security but, unless the cows start being issued with laptops, reckon I'm secure enough.

You could always stick your memory stick on the bonfire or flush it down the loo.

[Sir Velo]

If the stick is clearly faulty then time to throw it away , or destroy it securely.

Quite right. If any of your posts to this forum should get into the wrong hands....well I dread to think!

[Dave2002]

I don't want anything off the stick - I'm not a hoarder! I didn't know it was possible to reformat them. I've used the same sticks, indifferently, with both the old laptop and the various Macs.



I can't see how to pull it apart

Yep. Definitely possible to reformat them. Mostly they will go to FAT32, but it is possible to format to Apple Extended on a a Mac, or NTFS on a Win PC. I think also to EXT 2/3/4 for Linux, and maybe even one or two other esoteric formats.

I've only had one clearly fail - which was a great shame. It's lurking somewhere, but I meant to destroy it to make sure nobody, not even me, tried to use it again. Wasn't that expensive, but it was supposed to be a "nice" one. It wasn't!

Mostly these things don't fail, and mostly they don't need reformatting, but if there are problems, then it's worth trying. Not worth doing more than a few times though, if problems keep coming back.

If you keep using these for extended periods, then eventually they will probably fail, though it could take a very long while. It will depend on how good the sticks are, and also whether you do a lot of read/writes to and from the sticks. They may (usually) have a quite clever architecture which moves data around to try to keep the longevity up.

Re destruction - surely you are expert by now!
1. Hammer
2. Blow torch
3. Hacksaw
4. Vice
5. Steam roller

[Dave2002]

Quite right. If any of your posts to this forum should get into the wrong hands....well I dread to think!

Ineed, but ff has probably got your number - as indeed the details of all the rest of us, and could be going to send the boys round! Or sell them off to the Daily Wail.

[french frank]

Actually I'm not concerned about data on flash drives as I only use them for transferring research work from one computer to another, not for permanent storage. There may be unscrupulous academics who would buy my unpublished ideas on the black market, but if they just ask they can have them for nothing

It was the inability to remove the trashed files from the flash drive that was the problem. When I tried to save a 400MB folder on this particular drive, there was no available space (on a 16GB drive): all the trashed files were still there, albeit 'invisible'.

I also had a small USB drive of 250MB (free gift!), and that only had 5MB available, although there were no files listed. Connecting it and then using Secure Trash emptied it, but trying to empty the 16GB drive didn't work because there were 'locked filed' and apparently I didn't 'have permission' to do whatever was necessary to unlock them. NB I never lock files.

[Dave2002]

This thread has turned out to be quite interesting, because like you I didn't know about any of this, and the apparently "secure" delete feature. It does seem odd that your memory stick didn't delete the files, and hence caused the particular problems/symptoms. If you don't need the files, then I think using Disk Utility to format the stick should do the trick - though take care to only format the USB stick. Some sticks do come with hidden files, and some are specifically sold with parts which are or can be encrypted. When I was working some of us were given sticks like that - the management thought that it would help improve security. I think some people simply reformatted them, and carried on insecurely "as normal" - but the management had "ticked the boxes" re security awarenes.

I shall file this information away in my memory in case it ever turns out to be useful - though it does seem to be somewhat unlikely, even for me.