OS9 to OSX file transfer problems

[syzygnaut]

Can anyone tell me why it is that when I transfer files from my OS9 Mac to my OSX Mac, they often arrive with important ID info stripped off?

They start out on my OS9 Mac as Excel files or Word files or whatever. When they appear on my OSX Mac they are Unix Executable Files with a grey rectangular icon, and their destination programs don't recognize them.

OSX will sometimes restore the correct file ID info if I give the file an appropriate suffix, for instance .txt. But sometimes that doesn't work. Sometimes even using FileExaminer to change the Creator and Type parameters doesn't work -- the file is still identified as a Unix Executable File.

I tried zipping the files in OS9 using MacZip, and unzipping them in OSX using Stuffit Expander. That changes the file type to .doc, but that's not appropriate for some applications.

Can anyone tell me what's happening here? Is it a problem with my USB memory stick> Or does everyone have this problem transferring files from OS9 to OSX?

 

[MisterMe]

Can anyone tell me why it is that when I transfer files from my OS9 Mac to my OSX Mac, they often arrive with important ID info stripped off?

...

Part of your problem is that you are seeing something that you did not expect and are panicking. There is nothing to worry about. All of the information that was available on MacOS 9 is available on MacOS X. Your MacOS 9 files do not have file extensions. If they did, then you would not have these issues.

There are utilities which can add extensions in batch mode. If only a few files are affected, then you can add them on a case-by-case basis. You can also tell the OS to associate a particular CREATOR/TYPE code with a particular app. This will save having to add extensions to files that don't have them. You should even be able to drag&drop a file to the app that you want to open it.