Cross-post: strange file in trash

In my trash I have found a file associated with iTunes/iPod: iPod2,12.2.1_5H11aRestore.ipsw
I didn't put it there, and don't know why it should be there - the trash was empty not long before, and I haven't restored my iPod for years.
My questions: is it safe to trash it? If not, where does it properly belong?
Thanks in advance for any help. This is a cross-post from the iPod Classic forum

Yes, you can delete it. It's a discarded backup that was produced when you last synched your iPod.

Similar Messages

Strange file in trash and it won't empty

I have a strange file in trash and it will not empty.
There is an alias file that has a strange name and a date of dec. 31, 1903. It will not go away when I empty. I put other files in the trash to see if they would be deleted and they do, but the other will not be deleted.
In the name of the file there is small characters that say "null" then õ's as well.
I took a few screen shots and posted them on photobucket, Take a look. Any suggestions or theories?
This is a first
Link is http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/pschmidt63/
phil

pschmidt63 wrote:
I have a strange file in trash and it will not empty.
There is an alias file that has a strange name and a date of dec. 31, 1903. It will not go away when I empty. I put other files in the trash to see if they would be deleted and they do, but the other will not be deleted.
On the Mac there are actually multiple Trashes. The user Trash ".Trash" in user's home folder, and multiple (depending on number of volumes in machine) ".Trashes" folder(s) one each in root of volume. In the ".Trashes" folder there can be a trash folder for the user.
It looks like you have a corrupted/illegal character file which you can't delete via the UI. Via the terminal you may be able to. But... you have to go to the "trash" where the file actually is - and it may not be in "~/.Trash". But in the Mac desktop you will see it in your Trash icon.
Have a look at my post here
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5864381#5864381
and the rest of the thread.
Get into Terminal and check your home trash folder, see if the file is there then go to the other trash folders ".Trashes" and look for it there and kill it with "sudo" command as shown in my other post here.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5864569#5864569
*Can you let us know if this solves it for you* - as I am interested to know if this is definite fix.
Cheers

Strange file in trash that won't go away?

I have a strange file that appeared in my Trash the other day. I tried to empty the trash multiple times, but it won't go away. Secure empty trash doesn't help, as it just gets stuck. Double-clicking on the file, getting info on the file, or dragging the file out of the trash just results in the item disappearing, only to reappear shortly thereafter. Here is a screenshot of the filename, as it is very strange (I am posting it as a picture so there are no font issues):
Click on the image if it doesn't appear.
I have no idea what's going on. I tried repairing permissions to no avail. Should I run a disk utility such as Techtool or Diskwarrior? Is this a virus? Could this be related to my weird Time Machine issues (where Time Machine will come up with an error, see below for picture)?
Click on the image if it doesn't appear.

from Apple docs worked for me. Mine was \\\\\\\.\\\ derived from installing Windows.
If there are several locked files in the Trash, you can unlock them all at the same time at the command line. Follow these steps:
1. Open Terminal. It's located in /Applications/Utilities.  Type: chflags -R nouchg  Note: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet. 
2. Double-click the Trash icon in the Dock to reveal the contents of the Trash. If necessary, arrange the Finder window so that a portion of the Terminal window is still visible.
3. Press the Command-A key combination to select all files in the Trash.
4. Drag the files from the Trash to the Terminal window.  Note: This automatically enters the pathname for each file. This eliminates the need to individually empty multiple Trash directories, particularly when multiple disks or volumes are present. 
5. Press Return. No special text message will be shown indicating that the command was successful.
6. Empty the Trash.
If the Trash does not empty or if you see a message in Terminal that says "usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file..." you most likely did not type the text in step 2 as indicated or did not leave a space. Repeat the steps if this happens.

Strange file in Trash that just won't go away.

Since installing Snow Leopard, I have a strange file in the Trash that I can't get rid of. It appears to be a zero KB "Alias" file with "unknown" permissions. At first glance it looks as if it's called \\\Õ\\.Õ\ but the diagonal lines are actually the word "Nul" made up of a superscript 'N', a normal 'u' and a subscript 'l'- all in very small font size.
I can't drag it out of the Trash to see what it does. It's info window holds no clues, apart from the "unknown permissions" thing.
I have tried repairing permissions and have since upgraded to 10.6.1 and repaired them again.
Any suggestions on what this file is - and on how to lose it would be gratefully received.

Bob Bridges1 wrote:
Since installing Snow Leopard, I have a strange file in the Trash that I can't get rid of. It appears to be a zero KB "Alias" file with "unknown" permissions. At first glance it looks as if it's called \\\Õ\\.Õ\ but the diagonal lines are actually the word "Nul" made up of a superscript 'N', a normal 'u' and a subscript 'l'- all in very small font size.
I can't drag it out of the Trash to see what it does. It's info window holds no clues, apart from the "unknown permissions" thing.
Are you willing to use Terminal to try to eliminate that file? If so, launch Terminal, then type the commands below.
WARNING: In general, the "rm" command can be very dangerous. That's why the commands below (1) show what's there to be deleted and (2) ask for confirmation for each file to be deleted.
cd ~/.Trash
ls -a
file *
The "ls" command should show you three things: a single period, a double period, and your mystery file. The "file" command should show you the mystery file and an explanation of what type of file it is. If you're feeling nervous, you might want to mention here the reported type. If all is well so far, type this command
rm -i *
You should be prompted for deleting that file. If you like what you see, press the "y" key, then press the <return> key. If you see anything that makes you nervous, either (1) type control-c or (2) press the "n" key, then press the <return> key.
If the system refused to delete that file, then (if you're feeling brave), type this command:
sudo rm -i *
That command will prompt you for your administrative password, then prompt you to delete your mystery file. The same responses apply.

Can't get rid of Strange file in Trash

There is a strange file in my trash that i cant get rid of. It's called "␀␀␀õ␀␀.␀␀"
If i click get info on it the file disappears, but anytime i send a file into the Trash or open it up it reappears
Any help would be appreciated

this worked for me and I had the same file name as you described.
you must have win installed.
1. Open Terminal. It's located in /Applications/Utilities.  Type: chflags -R nouchg  Note: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet. 
2. Double-click the Trash icon in the Dock to reveal the contents of the Trash. If necessary, arrange the Finder window so that a portion of the Terminal window is still visible.
3. Press the Command-A key combination to select all files in the Trash.
4. Drag the files from the Trash to the Terminal window.  Note: This automatically enters the pathname for each file. This eliminates the need to individually empty multiple Trash directories, particularly when multiple disks or volumes are present. 
5. Press Return. No special text message will be shown indicating that the command was successful.
6. Empty the Trash.
If the Trash does not empty or if you see a message in Terminal that says "usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file..." you most likely did not type the text in step 2 as indicated or did not leave a space. Repeat the steps if this happens.

Strange file in Trash

Hi, I have a file that i cannot delete from the Trash. it is labeled with 5 rows of slanted dots followed by a period, an N with a tilde over it and one quote. the date modified is 12/31/1903 at 5PM.
when i try and delete it it returns immediately, when i Get Info it disappears and re-appears immediately.
does anyone know what this could be ?? maybe an intrusion or virus?? how might i get rid of it?
Thanks
Mike

sounds like a windows ghost. do you have bootcamp? If so boot into windows and repair the drive using [chkdsk|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107297].

Strange File in Trash Cannot be Deleted

I have this file in my trash:
"␀␀␀õ␀␀.␀␀"
I am unable to work out where it came from. It has been there for several weeks and will not delete with the usual means mentioned in the forums. I have also tried Trash It without success.
Does anyone recognise this file? And anyone have any ideas how to get rid of it?
Thank you,
Jake

Yes, I am sure you are right. I have gone back to the command prompt and run the correct command line:
"chkdsk C:/r"
However, when I reboot Parallels, it keeps freezing during the check/repair stage and never completes. Looks like I will have to re-install my Virtual Machine...
Thank you again for your help,
Jake

Strange File in Skype Process

Can Skype explain the presence of a file running as a process with a .tmp extension?
The file SKYDC1E.TMP is the file in question running out of the Windows\TEMP Directory.
Is this a legitimate Skype process?
Where one would expect the SKYPE executable to be the legit running process in its own directory.
It was detected by one of my security programs as a code injector.

pschmidt63 wrote:
I have a strange file in trash and it will not empty.
There is an alias file that has a strange name and a date of dec. 31, 1903. It will not go away when I empty. I put other files in the trash to see if they would be deleted and they do, but the other will not be deleted.
On the Mac there are actually multiple Trashes. The user Trash ".Trash" in user's home folder, and multiple (depending on number of volumes in machine) ".Trashes" folder(s) one each in root of volume. In the ".Trashes" folder there can be a trash folder for the user.
It looks like you have a corrupted/illegal character file which you can't delete via the UI. Via the terminal you may be able to. But... you have to go to the "trash" where the file actually is - and it may not be in "~/.Trash". But in the Mac desktop you will see it in your Trash icon.
Have a look at my post here
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5864381#5864381
and the rest of the thread.
Get into Terminal and check your home trash folder, see if the file is there then go to the other trash folders ".Trashes" and look for it there and kill it with "sudo" command as shown in my other post here.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5864569#5864569
*Can you let us know if this solves it for you* - as I am interested to know if this is definite fix.
Cheers

Need to know how to remove ALL previous Outlook settings in Registry and file locations (cross posted)

Problem: I cannot get a newly installed Outlook 2013 to connect to the [online Office 365] server with old [non-domain] logon profile. That is my issue, and what I'd like to fix. (There's some services and settings on the old profile
that cannot be easily duplicated. Also, I'm just enough annoyed by this to ask for suggestions.)
Background: I upgraded an existing Office 2007 install of several years back to Office 2013 on an continuously used [non-domain] user profile (I needed connections to several Exchange accounts at various domains I remotely admin
and was tired of logging on through OWA, so it was time to upgrade). Up to Sunday last, I have never had issues with Outlook and Office 365 connections to that account; upgrading Office 2013 "killed" my outlook.office365.com connection to emails.
Testing: I created a new [non-domain] logon profile, and Outlook 2013 connects to my outlook.office365.com account just fine with the new logon profile. To repeat:
there were NO connectivity issues in connecting to my Office 365 account in the
new [test] logon profile with Outlook 2013, and using Outlook 2013 on the new [non-domain] profile.
The problem is profile specific, to an older existing profile (I'd like to use).
Just FYI: my [vanity] domain tests just fine with the Exchange 365 online tools. Office 365 works. OWA works. Outlook 2013 works (in the new logon profile). Mobile devices work.
There are no major problems with the domain name in MXToolbox, or Microsoft Remote Connectivity Tester. Both Windows and Office are fully patched on my workstation. There's no malware.
The problem is something in my older logon profile. Something somewhere locally to that logon and/or Outlook-specific profile is keeping it from logging into the [Office 365] mail server. I just get the typical "cannot connect to
the server" error.
What's Needed: So what I need is a link to a webpage (or pages) that details ALL [existing] Outlook/Exchange settings that are profile specific ...so I can
manually remove them from the Registry, from the drive, etc.
...something on the order of "...remove all profiles under
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem" and "...delete all files in
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook" (neither of which fixed the issue, whatever the real issue may be ...but that's all I found so far that seemed pertinent). Anyways, "stuff"
like that.
Alternatively, if someone knows what Registry keys, other settings, etc., I can export/import from the test logon profile to my "real" logon profile(s), that would be worth a shot, and greatly appreciated.
Or maybe just some google search suggestions that might find the above links (listing error message contents hasn't been useful: too many hits).
Me: I'm a sys admin with over 30 years experience. I'm not looking for suggestions on how to set up an Exchange account, or an Office 365 account, or to setup a new mail profile or logon profile (or to remove either of those), or to add
a new email account (manually or with auto-discover), or to remove an old account. None of that applies and/or has worked in this case.
Thanks in advance for your interest. I really need a knowledgeable wizard, since I'm looking for a solution to a complex issue. My own googling and troubleshooting has just turned up the usual noob' stuff. At this point, I'm at a loss. The well is dry.
Update:
This question is cross-posted from the general "answers" forum (at the suggestion of a moderator).
Update: I also came across
this page of "advanced" Outlook settings (and it hasn't helped so far, either).

I too, for over 30 days have been trying to find an answer as my situation is as similar as it gets. I too have tried all and everything as you have.
How I wish there would have been an answer to your question. It would have answered mine as well.
Seems typical to microsoft "help" unless it is the usual noob response and/or "more clarification" (I with no tech degree understood exactly what you refer to) the only response is well, just no response......

A strange ghost file in Trash which can not be erased? Any help?

A strange doc in Trash -named ¨ð?, ïÖó.l—s
- resides in the trash bin
-is alias
-size zero Kb
-can not be moved opened or deleted
-no created or modified dates on display
in info window tells me that it's file with unknown access.
It doesn't cause any visible harm I just want to find out how this file appeared and how to get rid of it.
-when did search for invisible files
found it in Bootcamp>.Trashes> 501 which is a folder, empty.
(The Bootcamp partition is empty, I created it when purchased the laptop just in case I install Windows someday. When I open it there is just empty Desktop folder ,size zero Kb)
Here it gets weird with this 501 folder - on the finder window is displayed that it is created on 27 April 2025 at 7.33pm.
Now is the year 2011, so how a folder can be created in the year 2025???
It gets even funnier with the dates - when I go right click>Get Info, on display I see that this folder is created Sat, 20 August 1983 10:12 AM (!!!!!!
and modified on 27 April 2025 at 7.33pm.
Tried to move it to Trash - the “Preparing to move to trash” animated bar appears, keeps moving forever but no result at all.
Any help with deleting this ghost file (without reinstalling whole system)?
My Mac has OSX 10.6.8
Thanks for any help,everyone!
Samantha

See Here for
Trash Problems
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html

I'm getting strange files on my desktop "0A75SC100" & "0CFSC100" when I use Firefox. Can't open or trash them..

I'm getting strange files on my desktop when I use Firefox. They have no extensions, won't open, & can't be trashed. File names such as 0A75SC100 & 0CFSC100. When I restart my computer they disappear. There does not seem to be a correlation between a website and when these files appear.
Do I have some type of virus?

Hi Midnight
When I got my imac and used it for a while, for some reason I get .exe, .rm, .mov, and some other files on my desktop
These can safely be ignored as they are probably left over files from something you may have downloaded or only partially download or leftovers from a failed download. The same applies for data transfers
and their filenames are like dhdhdhdhdhd or sjakdshlj34338 and stuff, and when I open them, they are some of my other files I already have, but they appear for no reason. What causes this and how can I prevent this from happening.
Looking at the repitition of letters its more than likely that you are the cause – yes you! You may find it hard to believe but its more than possible that when you think you are typing something and nothing seems to be happening its because you have in fact accidently selected something on your desktop and typed there instead.
I know they are viruses because they loaded just fine
This must be a grammatical error as it does not make sense.
Hope this helps – Tony

Strange Null file in Trash that wont delete.

I have a strange file in my Trash that I can't delete. It has a name of "␀␀␀␀␀␀␀.␀␀␀". It appears as if all the characters are Null.
These are the actions I have taken:
1. Using Tech Tool Pro, performed file system check. Now problems found.
2. Using Terminal, changed directory to .Trash, performed ls -A and no files were found.
3. Attempted a delete (rm) of all files in trash. No luck. File remains.
4. When I select file and do a Get Info, the file disappears and the Trash Icon shows empty, but opening the trash again brings this strange file back.
5. Tried renaming the file but the rename fails with an error -43.
6. I booted from another disk and rand Disk utility which found and corrected incorrect file count problem. Still the file persists, and the verify of the disk now returns no errors.
7. Ran verify disk permissions. No problems found.
I believe the file first appeared after installing Leopard 10.5.3 update, but I'm not sure if this is related.
Any help would be appreciated.
Jeff Cameron

Thank you! That was it.
Although my Windows Partition is FAT32 instead of NTFS, after booting XP, I found a null file in C:\.Trashes\501\. I could not delete it there either. My next step was to run CHKDSK C: /F, which converted the 501 folder into a file, which I could delete.
Booting back into OSX, the null file was now gone.
Thanks again for your help.
Jeff

Odd recovered files in trash

Not sure if I should post this here or in the MBP forum...
On bootup a couple of days ago, I found another "recovered files" folder in the trash on my MBP; I usually look at the contents and simply empty the trash, but when I checked it this time, it had a strange sub folder "tempfolder aaa" which contains the following:
DPLib, IMLLib, MacromediaRuntime Lib, ProjLib (all shared libraries) and a folder "xtras" with:
Animated GIF Asset, Buddy API OSX Xtra, Font Asset PPC, Font Xtra PPC, TextAsset PPC, and TextXtra PPC (all Final Cut Express plugin files, version 9.0 Director MX).
I've since done a search on all of these, but can't find anything. The one thing they all seem to have in common is the "version 9.0 Director MX". I do have FCE installed, but have not used it at all. The only thing I did at the time these files apparently went into the trash was to uninstall my Epson printer because I purchased a new one. I uninstalled the same printer on my iMac and did not get any of these strange files in the trash.
I'm hesitant to empty the trash because they are all libraries and some are FCE plugins. The MBP seems to be working fine, but I haven't had a need to really use any application in the last few days.
Any helpful suggestions are much appreciated!

Hi Barbara,
This from the Apple Help Viewer.
*If Trash contains “Recovered Files”*
One or more Recovered Files folders may appear in your Trash after restarting your computer.
The recovered files are temporary files used by Mac OS X applications. Usually temporary files are deleted by an application when it no longer needs them. If an application quits unexpectedly, the temporary files may not be deleted by the application. When you restart your computer, Mac OS X moves these temporary files to the Trash.
You can retrieve useful files by dragging them out of the Trash. In most cases, however, the temporary files are not important and it is safe to empty your Trash. Check with the manufacturer of the application if you are not sure.
Carolyn

Strange files in Recent Items menu

I've been getting strange files in my Recent Items menu that I never opened. And when I try to open them, I can't. Here are some of the file names.
AE39.staple
GHAEA.staple
Does anybody recognize any of these kind of files?

As far as I understand it, the app is just an installer and it should only run once, to install the firmware on your DVD drive, but a lot of users have had problems with it running every time they log in (normally it should bring up a window). I tried running it manually and it does leave those same files in my Recent Items menu, as you described.
First take a look in your login items (System Preferences->Accounts) and look for a reference to SuperDrive Update 2.1. If one exists then deleting it should solve the problem. If you want, you can then move the app to the trash (although leaving it be does no harm). If it's not in the list, post back.

How do I remove a file to trash from my desktop? when I drag to trash it says I cannot delete

I'm a seasoned iMac user but forgot from the "old days" how to delete a file to trash from the desktop when it says "The item ......can't be moved to the Trash because it can't be deleted". This is a file I downloaded a few days ago. Can you help, please?

Thank you for answering- I must have posted the question twice. Another helpful person helped me solve it. I have to shake my head at my dumb self.....all I needed to do was restart the machine and the file disappeared. A total "duh" moment for this "seasoned" Mac user. Again, thanks for answering.

Cross-post: strange file in trash

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