Boot Camp users may have files that do not delete from the trash

Users who have Windows installed under Boot Camp may experience a problem where mysterious files appear in the trash and cannot be deleted. These files persists in the trash despite the application of known Macintosh-based fixes such as using command-line tools to purge all files in the hidden ".Trash(es)" folders, and securely emptying the trash. The mysterious file seems to always reappear.

As described by Apple Discussions poster mdenwood:

"There is an alias file that keeps appearing in my Trash. If I try to drag it out of the Trash it mystically disappears, and also if I hit command-i it also mystically disappears. Then when I re-open the Trash it magically re-appears again!"

While this file appears to be on the Macintosh HD volume, its presence is in fact due to problems on the Windows partition, and has nothing to do with the Mac OS X installation. The problem seems to be fixed by running Windows disk utilities on the windows partition.

Fix: Run Chkdsk from within Windows Boot into the Windows operating system and right-click on the boot drive (most likely the "C:" drive). From there get properties on the drive and go to the "Tools" section. There should be a section called "Error Checking", and a button labeled "Check now". Click this button and in the options that are displayed, ensure both the "Automatically fix file system errors" and the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" options are checked. Then click "Start" and the operating system will schedule a drive fix the next time the computer boots up. From here restart the computer and windows should fix the drive accordingly. When it is done, boot back into the Mac OS and the mysterious files should be gone from the trash.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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