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Hidden folder on hard drive ($RECYCLE.BIN)?

I

Imola Ghost

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 21, 2009
1,142
12
I've got a external hard drive in my car which I have a bunch of music files that my cars audio system plays.

When browsing the file structure I have a folder that shows up while it's plugged in to the car but its not showing up when I plug it into the MBP.

I've done some file searches and it comes back with no results or the file can't be found. I know its some kind of folder that Windows makes but I want to get rid of it so it doesn't show up in the folder list in the car.

These are the hidden files that show up when I do a search on the hard drive for hidden files:

.Trashes
.DS_Store
.DS_Store
.DS_Store
.iTunes Preferences.plist
.Spotlight-V100

I guess I can get rid of these files/folders because the car doesn't need them or does my MBP/iTunes need them, what do ya think?

Ideas?
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Imola Ghost said:
I've got a external hard drive in my car which I have a bunch of music files that my cars audio system plays.

When browsing the file structure I have a folder that shows up while it's plugged in to the car but its not showing up when I plug it into the MBP.

I've done some file searches and it comes back with no results or the file can't be found. I know its some kind of folder that Windows makes but I want to get rid of it so it doesn't show up in the folder list in the car.

These are the hidden files that show up when I do a search on the hard drive for hidden files:

.Trashes
.DS_Store
.DS_Store
.DS_Store
.iTunes Preferences.plist
.Spotlight-V100

I guess I can get rid of these files/folders because the car doesn't need them or does my MBP/iTunes need them, what do ya think?
Click to expand...
Everything but the .plist can be deleted. The .plist may be important, as it contains iTunes preferences.

.Trashes
Under Mac OS X, when a file is deleted in Finder, it is moved to a .Trashes folder, and when viewing the device's available space the space occupied by the deleted files is shown as occupied.
Click to expand...
.DS_Store
.DS_Store (Desktop Services Store)[1] is a hidden file created by Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system to store custom attributes of a folder such as the position of icons or the choice of a background image.
Click to expand...
Spotlight-V100 and Trashes Folders On USB Flash Drives
 
I

Imola Ghost

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 21, 2009
1,142
12
Thanks for that information but....do you have any information on the $RECYCLE.BIN folder that shows up only while the external hard drive is plugged in to the car?

That's the one I really want to get rid of, the Apple files are hidden so I don't see them in the cars file/folder structure.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Imola Ghost said:
Thanks for that information but....do you have any information on the $RECYCLE.BIN folder that shows up only while the external hard drive is plugged in to the car?
Click to expand...
I didn't see it on your list (only in the thread title), but grapes911 is right. It's a Windows file and has nothing to to with Mac OS X.
 
I

Imola Ghost

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 21, 2009
1,142
12
Yeah, I know it's a Windows folder...I sometimes (rarely) plug it in to Bootcamp or it may be just plugged in while I restart the computer to boot to bootcamp and I don't use it on the Windows side.

How can I find and delete that folder? It is just not showing up on the Mac side.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Imola Ghost said:
Yeah, I know it's a Windows folder...I sometimes (rarely) plug it in to Bootcamp or it may be just plugged in while I restart the computer to boot to bootcamp and I don't use it on the Windows side.

How can I find and delete that folder? It is just not showing up on the Mac side.
Click to expand...

To show hidden files in Finder, enter the following two commands into a Terminal window (press enter after each line):
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder​
To hide hidden files in Finder, enter the following two commands into a Terminal window (press enter after each line):
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder​
 
I

Imola Ghost

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 21, 2009
1,142
12
That did it. It showed all of the files including the Windows folders/files.

Wonder how come when I did a search from the search button and have it show all hidden files/folders the $RECYCLE.BIN folder didn't show up but the Apple files/folders did?
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Imola Ghost said:
That did it. It showed all of the files including the Windows folders/files.

Wonder how come when I did a search from the search button and have it show all hidden files/folders the $RECYCLE.BIN folder didn't show up but the Apple files/folders did?
Click to expand...
Probably because Spotlight hadn't indexed the drive.
 
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