Strange Files on my Mac Hard drive

[Huntressdi]

Good day,

Recently I have noticed these strange files showing up on my Hard Drive.I have a 27" iMac which currently has OS X 10.6.8. I don't know what causes them to show up. And they appear to be harmless but nevertheless I'd like to know what's causing them. I've attached a screenshot of my hard drives so that you can see what I mean.

I've also attempted to open these files and here is a sample of the info found in them:

kernel size = 5 (range 3..15)
volume thresh = 4.0000
t1 = 10
gray step = 256.00
gray diff thresh = 2560.0000
resolution = 300
scale = 100
effective res = 300

Tdustnscratch: level = 2
Tdustnscratch: start time: Thu Feb 12 12:08:02 2015
Tdustnscratch: begin detect: Thu Feb 12 12:08:02 2015
Tdustnscratch: begin applyMedianFilter: Thu Feb 12 12:08:02 2015
Tdustnscratch: end detect: Thu Feb 12 12:08:02 2015
Tdustnscratch: begin reconstruct: Thu Feb 12 12:08:05 2015


The info in each file looks the above and sometimes it repeats multiple times and other times it's just once or twice.

Could someone help me please?

 

[DeltaMac]

I think the clue is the "Tdustnscratch" lines.
I will guess that you have an HP printer/scanner, and those files are probably generated when you make changes to the "dust and scratch filter" in the HP scanner software.

Installing HP software often messes with your OS X permissions.
Run Disk Utility, then Repair Disk Permissions.

You can probably safely delete those files with the random characters in the name - or they may be just normal files that you will always see, just a weird bug in the HP scanner software.
You may even check at the HP web site for updates to your printer/scanner software. The issue might be a known issue that HP has fixed with an update.

 

[doubledee]

I second what DeltaMac said, as I have seen printers do this as well.

Sincerely,


Debbie

 

[Huntressdi]

Thanks for your reply.

@DeltaMac I do have a HP Scanner attached to my mac that has the dust and scratch filter so it may just be that after all.

I will also check HP and see if they have an update to deal with these erroneous files.

 

[DeltaMac]

...
@DeltaMac I do have a HP Scanner attached to my mac that has the dust and scratch filter so it may just be that after all.

I will also check HP and see if they have an update to deal with these erroneous files.

I would not classify the files as "erroneous"
They are produced by the HP software, so, at most, probably are not supposed to be visible - but likely don't indicate an error of any kind.
And, when you know the source for files, they are no longer "strange", eh?