• Zombie filenames on OS X desktop?

    From dsewell@dsewell@virginia.edu (David Sewell) to comp.sys.mac.system on Thursday, July 03, 2003 15:33:25
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    Over the past few months I've had a couple cases of "zombie filenames"
    on my desktop (currently OS X 10.2.6). The file has long since been
    deleted, but the text of the filename, without an icon, occupies a spot
    on the desktop. If I click on it it disappears, but subsequent Finder
    activity causes it to reappear.

    Any idea where this is coming from and what to do to eliminate it?

    --
    David Sewell, University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, VA USA
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From johnny bobby bee@stepore@mailexcite.com to comp.sys.mac.system on Thursday, July 03, 2003 16:40:34
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:33:25 +0000, David Sewell wrote:

    Over the past few months I've had a couple cases of "zombie filenames"
    on my desktop (currently OS X 10.2.6). The file has long since been
    deleted, but the text of the filename, without an icon, occupies a spot
    on the desktop. If I click on it it disappears, but subsequent Finder activity causes it to reappear.

    Any idea where this is coming from and what to do to eliminate it?


    no guarantees:
    you can try to open up terminal
    - then 'cd' to ~/Desktop
    - then 'rm .DS_Store'
    - then 'ls -la | more' to see if the file .DS_Store is gone.
    - hit control+c, then 'exit' terminal
    - quit finder then relaunch it.

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Kevin McMurtrie@mcmurtri@sonic.net to comp.sys.mac.system on Friday, July 04, 2003 01:55:54
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article <pan.2003.07.03.20.40.34.201833@mailexcite.com>,
    "johnny bobby bee" <stepore@mailexcite.com> wrote:

    On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:33:25 +0000, David Sewell wrote:

    Over the past few months I've had a couple cases of "zombie filenames"
    on my desktop (currently OS X 10.2.6). The file has long since been
    deleted, but the text of the filename, without an icon, occupies a spot
    on the desktop. If I click on it it disappears, but subsequent Finder
    activity causes it to reappear.

    Any idea where this is coming from and what to do to eliminate it?


    no guarantees:
    you can try to open up terminal
    - then 'cd' to ~/Desktop
    - then 'rm .DS_Store'
    - then 'ls -la | more' to see if the file .DS_Store is gone.
    - hit control+c, then 'exit' terminal

    Control-d or simply close the window.

    - quit finder then relaunch it.

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From dsewell@dsewell@virginia.edu (David Sewell) to comp.sys.mac.system on Monday, July 07, 2003 12:55:10
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article <pan.2003.07.03.20.40.34.201833@mailexcite.com>,
    johnny bobby bee <stepore@mailexcite.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:33:25 +0000, David Sewell wrote:

    Over the past few months I've had a couple cases of "zombie filenames"
    on my desktop (currently OS X 10.2.6). The file has long since been deleted, but the text of the filename, without an icon, occupies a spot
    on the desktop. If I click on it it disappears, but subsequent Finder activity causes it to reappear.

    Any idea where this is coming from and what to do to eliminate it?


    no guarantees:
    you can try to open up terminal
    - then 'cd' to ~/Desktop
    - then 'rm .DS_Store'
    - then 'ls -la | more' to see if the file .DS_Store is gone.
    - hit control+c, then 'exit' terminal
    - quit finder then relaunch it.

    Nope--this doesn't get rid of the 'zombie'.

    --
    David Sewell, University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, VA USA
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Tom Stiller@tomstiller@comcast.net to comp.sys.mac.system on Monday, July 07, 2003 10:14:42
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article <bebqje$ma4$1@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>,
    dsewell@virginia.edu (David Sewell) wrote:

    In article <pan.2003.07.03.20.40.34.201833@mailexcite.com>,
    johnny bobby bee <stepore@mailexcite.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:33:25 +0000, David Sewell wrote:

    Over the past few months I've had a couple cases of "zombie filenames"
    on my desktop (currently OS X 10.2.6). The file has long since been deleted, but the text of the filename, without an icon, occupies a spot on the desktop. If I click on it it disappears, but subsequent Finder activity causes it to reappear.

    Any idea where this is coming from and what to do to eliminate it?


    no guarantees:
    you can try to open up terminal
    - then 'cd' to ~/Desktop
    - then 'rm .DS_Store'
    - then 'ls -la | more' to see if the file .DS_Store is gone.
    - hit control+c, then 'exit' terminal
    - quit finder then relaunch it.

    Nope--this doesn't get rid of the 'zombie'.

    You might try the tip here
    <http://www.osxfaq.com/dailytips/08-2002/08-14.ws>

    --
    Tom Stiller

    PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3
    7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Lambert Dickmeis@ld@suespammers.org to comp.sys.mac.system on Monday, July 07, 2003 16:48:54
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article
    <tomstiller-C8B87B.10144207072003@news.comcast.giganews.com>,
    Tom Stiller <tomstiller@comcast.net> wrote:

    On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 15:33:25 +0000, David Sewell wrote:

    Over the past few months I've had a couple cases of "zombie filenames" on my desktop (currently OS X 10.2.6). The file has long since been deleted, but the text of the filename, without an icon, occupies a spot on the desktop. If I click on it it disappears, but subsequent Finder activity causes it to reappear.

    Any idea where this is coming from and what to do to eliminate it?

    You might try the tip here <http://www.osxfaq.com/dailytips/08-2002/08-14.ws>

    There are a couple of maintenance utilities around that might address
    this issue without the need to type Terminal commands or manually delete invisible files, eg Dragster, Jaguar Cache Cleaner, Cocktail.

    <http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16804> <http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16494> <http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18282>
    --
    Lambert Dickmeis
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113