Remove .trashes and Spotlight folders?

mavis · Aug 18, 2012, 04:11 AM

Does anyone here know how to remove the hidden folders Mac OS X creates on thumbdrives, namely the .trashes folder and Spotlight folder? I'm trying to update my Japanese TV using a flashdrive, but it's complaining about the software update not being the only thing on the drive. I've reformatted twice and the only thing other than the software update file are those folder OS X creates automatically. I don't have a Windows machine to connect to, so what other ways are there to delete those hidden, system folders?

mavis · Aug 18, 2012, 06:27 PM

Judging from the lack of replies, I'm guessing this can only be done in Windows?

xBlue · Aug 18, 2012, 07:59 PM

The way I take care of that is by having BlueHarvest installed. It also removes the Thumbs.db (Windows) and other annoying files and folders. There are other alternatives as well.

old-wiz · Aug 18, 2012, 08:04 PM

I remember reading a thread talking about how to do this, but can't for the life of me remember how to do it. Try searching the forum..should be possible to find it...can't be more than a few months back.

plinden · Aug 18, 2012, 08:24 PM

Open Terminal, type cd /Volumes/<your thumb drive> and type:

rm -rf ._.Trashes .Trashes/ .Spotlight-V100/ .fseventsd/

Eject and use the thumb drive. The next time you plug in the drive those items and folders will be recreated

mavis · Aug 19, 2012, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plinden

Open Terminal, type cd /Volumes/<your thumb drive> and type:

rm -rf ._.Trashes .Trashes/ .Spotlight-V100/ .fseventsd/

Eject and use the thumb drive. The next time you plug in the drive those items and folders will be recreated

That did the trick. Thank you for your help!

dcorban · Aug 19, 2012, 10:31 PM

Since Leopard, OS X comes with a utility called dot_clean. Just open terminal and run dot_clean to see the parameters.

plinden · Aug 20, 2012, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcorban

Since Leopard, OS X comes with a utility called dot_clean. Just open terminal and run dot_clean to see the parameters.

dot_clean doesn't get rid of .Trashes and the other OSX created files and directories. In this case it will just merge ._.Trashes with .Trashes

dcorban · Aug 31, 2012, 04:56 PM

I specifically used dot_clean to remove the trash files from my SD card. I have a cheap DS flash cart that, for whatever reason, continues to show files and folders I have deleted in its menu. I guess the menu shows hidden files and scans the entire card without regard. I have used dot_clean many times to remove the trash folder and its contents. I didn't do anything fancy, and it did remove the trash files and folders.

Aug 18, 2012, 04:11 AM	#1
mavis macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan	Remove .trashes and Spotlight folders? Does anyone here know how to remove the hidden folders Mac OS X creates on thumbdrives, namely the .trashes folder and Spotlight folder? I'm trying to update my Japanese TV using a flashdrive, but it's complaining about the software update not being the only thing on the drive. I've reformatted twice and the only thing other than the software update file are those folder OS X creates automatically. I don't have a Windows machine to connect to, so what other ways are there to delete those hidden, system folders? __________________ 24" iMac \| 13" MacBook Air \| AEBS \| ATV3 64GB iPad 3 \| 64GB iPhone 5 \| 4G iPod touch
	0

Aug 19, 2012, 10:31 PM	#7
dcorban macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2007	Since Leopard, OS X comes with a utility called dot_clean. Just open terminal and run dot_clean to see the parameters. __________________ The Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.
	0

Aug 31, 2012, 04:56 PM	#9
dcorban macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2007	I specifically used dot_clean to remove the trash files from my SD card. I have a cheap DS flash cart that, for whatever reason, continues to show files and folders I have deleted in its menu. I guess the menu shows hidden files and scans the entire card without regard. I have used dot_clean many times to remove the trash folder and its contents. I didn't do anything fancy, and it did remove the trash files and folders. __________________ The Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.
	0

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Aug 18, 2012, 06:27 PM	#2
mavis Thread Starter macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan	Judging from the lack of replies, I'm guessing this can only be done in Windows?
	0

Aug 18, 2012, 07:59 PM	#3
xBlue macrumors newbie Join Date: Jun 2012	The way I take care of that is by having BlueHarvest installed. It also removes the Thumbs.db (Windows) and other annoying files and folders. There are other alternatives as well.
	0

Aug 18, 2012, 08:04 PM	#4
old-wiz macrumors 603 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: West Suburban Boston Ma	I remember reading a thread talking about how to do this, but can't for the life of me remember how to do it. Try searching the forum..should be possible to find it...can't be more than a few months back.
	0

Aug 18, 2012, 08:24 PM	#5
plinden macrumors 68040 Join Date: Apr 2004	Open Terminal, type cd /Volumes/<your thumb drive> and type: rm -rf ._.Trashes .Trashes/ .Spotlight-V100/ .fseventsd/ Eject and use the thumb drive. The next time you plug in the drive those items and folders will be recreated
	2


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