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# Locked

The “Delete locked or inaccessible item” feature is designed to easily delete files and folders that are locked, cannot be moved to the Trash, or are owned by other users. If the “Use secure delete” option is selected in the Preferences, this feature can also be used to securely delete any items by dragging them to the drop zone in the drawer.
It is very important to remember that this feature does not remove aliases and symbolic links but the files and folders referenced by the aliases and links. Misuse may result in accidental data loss. If you cannot delete the items using Cocktail, it may be a sign of serious directory damage. Start up your computer from the OS X Recovery HD and use Disk Utility to verify and, if necessary, repair your disk.
When dropping item on the drop zone in the drawer Cocktail will always prompt for a confirmation when deleting locked files. If used in a improper way the remove locked files feature can result in data loss. It is important to not use this powerful feature without care. There exist third party tools which can be used to try to regain data. Examples of tools to recreate deleted files are DataRescue from Prosoft Engineering and VirutalLab from BinaryBiz.