LinuxQuestions.org
Welcome to the most active Linux Forum on the web.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie
User Name
Password
Linux - Newbie This Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question? If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 08-03-2013, 12:42 AM   #1
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Rep: Reputation: 1
how to delete a file simply without having to be a programer


i am trying to free up some space on my hd i have back up files i am trying to delete and can not its taking up 354 gb of space using as example (screenshot 1) screenshot 1 and 2 are the files i am trying to get rid of but can not find a way to do this i do not want to know any thing else except how to delete these files i have been at this for 2 days reading different answers from the net with no joy whatsoever i have done the roasting the files command and auto delete and so many others that do not work i am using zorion

http://thumbnails103.imagebam.com/26...9268592876.jpg http://thumbnails105.imagebam.com/26...4268592878.jpg http://thumbnails105.imagebam.com/26...d268592879.jpg

Last edited by army1959; 08-03-2013 at 01:50 PM. Reason: spelling
 
Old 08-03-2013, 12:50 AM   #2
syg00
LQ Veteran
 
Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Australia
Distribution: Lots ...
Posts: 21,103

Rep: Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117Reputation: 4117
You haven't told us what you did, and what any error messages were.
Let's presume you tried to do this from the GUI - it probably tries to keep a trashcan for you - but there ain't enough space. I use the CLI, but from a GUI you should be able to highlight what you want to delete, hold the <Shift> key down and hit <Delete> key.
You'll get a prompt probably, but after that they'll be gone - no trashcan copy, no nuthin.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 08-03-2013, 01:35 AM   #3
jdkaye
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Dec 2008
Location: Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, UK
Distribution: Debian Testing Amd64
Posts: 5,465

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
I think you're heading for a world of pain. You do not want to delete things in /var/backups . The reason you're having problems is probably because of permission issues. You need to be root or use sudo to delete files from that folder. If you want to delete things delete them from your own home directory.
jdk
 
Old 08-03-2013, 01:53 AM   #4
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by syg00 View Post
You haven't told us what you did, and what any error messages were.
Let's presume you tried to do this from the GUI - it probably tries to keep a trashcan for you - but there ain't enough space. I use the CLI, but from a GUI you should be able to highlight what you want to delete, hold the <Shift> key down and hit <Delete> key.
You'll get a prompt probably, but after that they'll be gone - no trashcan copy, no nuthin.
thanks for the reply but no joy on shift delete
 
Old 08-03-2013, 01:57 AM   #5
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
I think you're heading for a world of pain. You do not want to delete things in /var/backups . The reason you're having problems is probably because of permission issues. You need to be root or use sudo to delete files from that folder. If you want to delete things delete them from your own home directory.
jdk
ok the problem as stated it will not let me delete from home folder and i have logged in as sudo and no joy did you look at the screenshots they are just old system backup files and as stated taking up 354 gb of space thanks anyway
 
Old 08-03-2013, 02:42 AM   #6
konsolebox
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2005
Distribution: Gentoo, Slackware, LFS
Posts: 2,248
Blog Entries: 8

Rep: Reputation: 235Reputation: 235Reputation: 235
If nothing really workss try booting a live CD or DVD with GUI and mount your filesystem separately. Check the filesystem for errors before that as well and delete files from there.
 
Old 08-03-2013, 03:06 AM   #7
jdkaye
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Dec 2008
Location: Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, UK
Distribution: Debian Testing Amd64
Posts: 5,465

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
The thumbnails you show (the last two I mean) both show the contents of /var/backups, right? What exactly are you trying to delete from your home folder? Can you give its complete path? If you open a terminal and type
Code:
rm /home/<your username>/blah/blah/<files you want to delete>
how does your system respond?
jdk
 
Old 08-03-2013, 03:18 AM   #8
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
The thumbnails you show (the last two I mean) both show the contents of /var/backups, right? What exactly are you trying to delete from your home folder? Can you give its complete path? If you open a terminal and type
Code:
rm /home/<your username>/blah/blah/<files you want to delete>
how does your system respond?
jdk
again see post #5 /var/backups
 
Old 08-03-2013, 04:19 AM   #9
jdkaye
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Dec 2008
Location: Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, UK
Distribution: Debian Testing Amd64
Posts: 5,465

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
I've read it an reread it many times and I don't understand it. I repeat "What exactly are you trying to delete from your home folder? Can you give its complete path?" That should be simple enough, right? No need to be a programmer to answer that, eh?
jdk
 
Old 08-03-2013, 04:37 AM   #10
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
I've read it an reread it many times and I don't understand it. I repeat "What exactly are you trying to delete from your home folder? Can you give its complete path?" That should be simple enough, right? No need to be a programmer to answer that, eh?
jdk
the system Backup files that it backs up every day
 
Old 08-03-2013, 04:42 AM   #11
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 1
why is it that everything has to be complicated all i want to know is how to delete some files it should not matter what kind of files i should be able to right click and send to trash and this happens every time i try and get help on this board i ask what time it is and everyone tells me how to build a watch it should be simple like windows right click delete even the most simplest of things is a struggle in linux i can see why so many people stay away from it

Last edited by army1959; 08-03-2013 at 04:44 AM. Reason: spelling
 
Old 08-03-2013, 04:47 AM   #12
jdkaye
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Dec 2008
Location: Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, UK
Distribution: Debian Testing Amd64
Posts: 5,465

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about. What system Backup files? If they are system files you need root privileges to access them. Are you running a backup program yourself every day? If yes, why are you backing up the system files? Normally backing up the files from your home directory is sufficient. I do a weekly backup myself. I also don't back up to my own drive. There wouldn't be much point in that. If you're worried about space why not just do your backups to an external drive?
jdk
 
Old 08-03-2013, 05:01 AM   #13
army1959
Member
 
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: dallas tx
Distribution: zorin
Posts: 35

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about. What system Backup files? If they are system files you need root privileges to access them. Are you running a backup program yourself every day? If yes, why are you backing up the system files? Normally backing up the files from your home directory is sufficient. I do a weekly backup myself. I also don't back up to my own drive. There wouldn't be much point in that. If you're worried about space why not just do your backups to an external drive?
jdk
why is it that everything has to be complicated all i want to know is how to delete some files it should not matter what kind of files i should be able to right click and send to trash and this happens every time i try and get help on this board i ask what time it is and everyone tells me how to build a watch it should be simple like windows right click delete even the most simplest of things is a struggle in linux i can see why so many people stay away from it
 
Old 08-03-2013, 05:04 AM   #14
konsolebox
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2005
Distribution: Gentoo, Slackware, LFS
Posts: 2,248
Blog Entries: 8

Rep: Reputation: 235Reputation: 235Reputation: 235
Basically there are two (or three) basic reasons why you won't be able to delete a file, first is permission, second is because some processes like backup softwares might be accessing it, third is simply because the filesystem where it resides is in read-only or locked mode. Other reasons perhaps would be related to security measures and virtualizations. Like I said running a live CD or DVD that would handle the filesystem offline from the system could fix this.

And I hope you're not actually trying to "hack" it and expect us to recommend a way to delete it that could bypass security?
 
Old 08-03-2013, 05:06 AM   #15
273
LQ Addict
 
Registered: Dec 2011
Location: UK
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,680

Rep: Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373
If Windows is set up correctly you'll find it equally difficult to right-click and delete files there too.
The easiest way to delete these files would be on the command line using sudo.
The reason you have to jump through hoops to delete these files is that you really ought not to be deleting them since you have no idea why they were created or what they are for. I anticipate your answer that you know they are backups but in that case I would respond "Then why did you set up backups if you don't wan them?".
In order to use any computer system, or any other system or device for that matter, one must understand why things occur.
You might also want to think about the usefulness of right-click and send-to-trash when trying to free up hard disk space.
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How to record computer poweroff/reboot simply in a file? cdcshu Linux - Software 2 02-17-2008 12:51 AM
LXer: ROX-Filer: A Lightweight File Manager that Simply Rocks LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 10-08-2007 06:00 PM
Tried to delete file as root but it says I don't have permission to delete it! beejayzed Mandriva 23 03-12-2004 02:46 AM
Need a perl programer to help me out with a script... ooagentbender Programming 4 01-24-2004 02:47 PM
Need to hire a programer! suse7.1user Programming 2 08-17-2003 02:24 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:38 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration