> I found this morning that just leaving the Finder > grind away for several minutes might result in the > Trash accepting the to-be-deleted file. At that > juncture, the can could be emptied normally. Hi Jack- Whenever I've had problems such as what you're describing, it's definitely been due to (software!) directory damage on the hard drive. Disk First Aid while booted from another volume is the very least I'd try- as another lister mentioned, Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior would certainly be a highly recommended step right about now... at least back up anything you really care about, because the drive might be about to lose itself bigtime! Good Luck David Cucuzza