Macbook cluttering up external devices

[Philstir]

I am new to Mac and like it so far. However, I am having some difficulty in one area. Whenever I connect an external device such as a mp3 stick or my psp via usb the device will autorun like crazy either uploading or downloading something. I cannot tell. When I hook it up to my PC I will find hidden files like .fseventsd and .spotlight . And if i delete something on the device it will create a trash bin and just move it to the hidden trash bin IT WON'T DELETE IT. Is there malicious software on my OS causing this or is this a simple fix I can disable in the control panel? Thanks ahead.

 

[-tWv-]

I am new to Mac and like it so far. However, I am having some difficulty in one area. Whenever I connect an external device such as a mp3 stick or my psp via usb the device will autorun like crazy either uploading or downloading something. I cannot tell. When I hook it up to my PC I will find hidden files like .fseventsd and .spotlight . And if i delete something on the device it will create a trash bin and just move it to the hidden trash bin IT WON'T DELETE IT. Is there malicious software on my OS causing this or is this a simple fix I can disable in the control panel? Thanks ahead.

I can assure you its not malicious software. OSX creates hidden files that you can't see that help with the machine reading the disk. The .spotlight files are probably index files created by spotlight so you can use it with your external peripherals. They are annoying when you connect to a windows machine because they are normally hidden on OSX but it is just spotlight indexing your external drives so you can find things on them. You should just leave them there or spotlight will just re-create them.

 

[Philstir]

thanks touchdownjesus4 this still doesn't explain how you completely delete a file off an external device without it just moving it to a hidden file.

 

[swiftaw]

thanks touchdownjesus4 this still doesn't explain how you completely delete a file off an external device without it just moving it to a hidden file.

When your external device is connected to your mac, simply empty the trash.

 

[-tWv-]

Im not sure exactly what they are called but I have seen those too, they are something like .trash

The .trash file is not a trash bin. You have to drag the file to the recycle bin on windows or the trash on OSX and then click "empty" for it to completely delete that file. I'm not sure what the .trash files are for but they are not trash bins.

 

[swiftaw]

the trash bin file is not a trash bin. You have to drag the file to the recycle bin on windows or the trash on OSX and then click "empty" for it to completely delete that file. I'm not sure what the .trash files are for but they are not trash bins.

Yes, the .trash file is a trash bin. When you 'delete' something from an external device in OSX is simply moves it to the .trash file. Emptying the trash then deletes this .trash file.