'Desktop' folder on TM drive

suddenly, there is a "Desktop" folder at the root level of my TM drive. It is empty, except for invisibles. An ls -al shows:
drwx------ 4 josh 506 136 Feb 13 16:41 .
drwxrwxr-x 13 josh 506 510 Feb 13 16:28 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root 506 0 Feb 13 16:28 .localized
drwxrwxrwx@ 2 josh 506 68 Feb 13 16:28 VISE Temp Items
It was created Wednesday at 4:41. I have 2 users on my Mac (an admin user, and my main account). Both of them have something on their desktops.
Its permissions are (from an ls -ale):
drwx------ 4 josh 506 136 Feb 13 16:41 Desktop
Is it possible it was created by an Office '04 update (the VISE Temp Items makes me suspect that)? Is it safe to delete?
SIDE NOTE: the exact same folder, with the exact same hidden contents, appeared on my Bootable Backup drive, at the exact same time. Is that safe to delete too?
ALSO: Terminal sees the VISE Temp Items file as NOT hidden, but Finder thinks it is hidden.
Ideas?
Thanks!

Hmm... I have the same Desktop folders on 3 external partitions. They were created on January 18 at the exact same time. I looked at Software Update, and I didn't install any updates around that time. I didn't do the research to see what hidden files are in them, but they're most likely the same. I don't have Office '04, so that couldn't be the reason they are there...

Similar Messages

  • "Desktop" folder on external hard drives

    Hi all,
    I have regularly seen a folder called "Desktop" appear on my external firewire and usb drives. I usually delete it and think nothing more but today I attached a new external drive and there it was again......
    Why is it there? What use is it?
    Does anyone know???? 

    It is probably a relic of Apple's old OS, which lives on partly in the Carbon library. Used to, you could have two paths:
    Macintosh HD:Desktop Folder:latest_updates.doc
    Macintosh HD:Desktop Folder:latest_updates.doc
    and they would refer to two distinct files. In some respects, the good 'ole days weren't all that good.

  • New user...how do you drag or move or copy a file or folder from the desktop to an external drive?  I have tried dragging and copy/pasting.

    new user...how do you drag or move or copy a file or folder from the desktop to an external drive?  I have tried dragging and copy/pasting.

    My guess the problem you are running into is the drive is formatted for a PC as NTFS. OS X can read files from NTFS however it cannot write to it. Check the formatting on the drive, if it's NTFS then it should be reformatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), you can use Disk Utility to do this.
    If you still have a PC and want to share the EHD with the PC and Mac please read MacWorld's Share an external drive between a Mac and a PC article.

  • Desktop folder appering on external drives

    For some reason I keep finding a "Desktop" folder on my external drives. Has anyone else run into this issue? I tried looking through the forum and couldn't find anything.

    Yes, I have the same problem. The weird "desktop" folders appear on both external drives and partitions. I know it probably doesn't do any harm but it's pretty annoying. It might be Time Machine related…

  • How to select the download location? its automatically downloading to users folder in c drive. i wanna change it..plz help me out......

    how to select the download location? its automatically downloading to users folder in c drive.. i wanna change to my desktop...plz help me out...

    Tools -> Options -> Save files to -> Click browse button and browse for folder where you want to save the file.

  • I can't find my Desktop folder on any of my TM backups

    Hi everyone,
    This is my first forum post, and I'm downright desperate.
    I have migrated from my old MBP to a brand new one this weekend, and used Time Machine in an external HD to move my data. I had TM set up since February, with no options/exceptions.
    As far as I can tell, everything migrated to the new computer perfectly (applications, preferences, documents, music, cookies, etc) except there is nothing on my Desktop after migration. It just so happens that I have (had?) a folder in my Desktop with all my graduate school work.
    I have already looked in TM in all the backups since February, and there is no Desktop folder in my user account folder in any of them. Does this mean that TM has never backed up my Desktop from the beginning???
    (BTW, I'm also having trouble to simply search for specific files when I look into the TM backup folder in my external HD. Whenever I use Spotlight, it only finds stuff on other folders in that external HD, but it doesn't return any hits from the TM backup folder, even when I look for files that I can see there just by browsing. How can I solve this?)
    If it's true that TM never backed up my Desktop, my problem is then getting to my Desktop in the old computer. Trouble is, I had Leopard reinstalled at the Apple Store when I bought the new computer, since the system was supposedly backed up. As far as I know, the old computer was wiped clean and Leopard reinstalled in about 20 minutes by a Genius.
    I have been told by them after the fact to use Data Rescue II to try and scour the old computer's internal drive by booting it up in target mode, but I haven't attempted it yet. I was told that if the Leopard reinstall was done in a specific way, I would be able to get to the old files with Data Rescue II still with their names and folder structures if they haven't been overwritten. However, if it was done 'another way', I would have lost the folders and any recovered files would be restored to a new location under a generic name like 'recover000001'. I'm afraid that in this case I will be overwhelmed by all the files in my old system (even if DRII supposedly recognizes file types), and I won't be able to sort through all of them to get at my important work.
    Does anyone know what is the best way to get my data back???? It will be two years of work down the drain if I can't access the contents of that folder on my old Desktop.
    Thanks so much for any advice!

    V.K. wrote:
    Chico Almendra wrote:
    Hi everyone,
    This is my first forum post, and I'm downright desperate.
    I have migrated from my old MBP to a brand new one this weekend, and used Time Machine in an external HD to move my data. I had TM set up since February, with no options/exceptions.
    As far as I can tell, everything migrated to the new computer perfectly (applications, preferences, documents, music, cookies, etc) except there is nothing on my Desktop after migration. It just so happens that I have (had?) a folder in my Desktop with all my graduate school work.
    I have already looked in TM in all the backups since February, and there is no Desktop folder in my user account folder in any of them. Does this mean that TM has never backed up my Desktop from the beginning???
    yes, that's what it means.
    I don't understand. Why would it be that TM did not backup my Desktop? The Geniuses were not able to answer this question. I'm completely sure I didn't mark any exceptions when I set it up in February, and I've read other people also had similar problems with some of their folders and/or files (there's another thread where another user lost his Downloads folder; I accidentally replied to it instead of creating this new topic -- my apologies).
    (BTW, I'm also having trouble to simply search for specific files when I look into the TM backup folder in my external HD. Whenever I use Spotlight, it only finds stuff on other folders in that external HD, but it doesn't return any hits from the TM backup folder, even when I look for files that I can see there just by browsing. How can I solve this?)
    you have to use spotlight from TM interface, not directly from finder. start TM, scroll to a backup and use the search field to start a search.
    That worked great; thanks. Is there a way to search across different backup dates in one go, or do I have to keep clicking back through time with the same search string?
    If it's true that TM never backed up my Desktop, my problem is then getting to my Desktop in the old computer. Trouble is, I had Leopard reinstalled at the Apple Store when I bought the new computer
    I don't understand why
    you did that. did you have some problems with your old computer?
    I didn't have any problems with the old computer. I was actually giving it to my mother for Mothers Day as her first Mac, and I wanted to make sure she would have as 'brand new' Mac experience as I could provide her.
    , since the system was supposedly backed up. As far as I know, the old computer was wiped clean and Leopard reinstalled in about 20 minutes by a Genius.
    I have been told by them after the fact to use Data Rescue II to try and scour the old computer's internal drive by booting it up in target mode, but I haven't attempted it yet.
    this is your one and only hope of getting anything back if you did an erase and install. if you did an archive and install then old your old data will be in the "previous systems" folder at the top level of the hard drive.
    Message was edited by: V.K.
    Thanks. You reckon professional data recovery services would come up with more stuff (especially filenames and folder structures) than I would be able to, if I tried using DR myself? I'm terrified of going through my whole HD and sorting out the hundreds of thousands of files that weren't in the desktop in the first place.
    I appreciate your help, V.K.; I still cannot get over the fact that TM can be so unreliable. What could have caused this catastrophe on my computer and in other users? They were lucky that they still had their data when they noticed TM wasn't backing it up, and the solutions were bone-chillingly similar to Windows voodoo tricks (e.g. delete the old TM plist, hard reboot, pray, and see if it works now). If this is the case, I can't see any options other than doing full manual backups periodically, but that defeats the TM purpose in the first place. Any thoughts or ideas?
    Thanks!

  • Desktop Folder Redirection slow access

    Ok, I've scoured the network for weeks now trying to resolve this.
    Using Windows 7 fully patched, and file servers are 2012 R2
    We have folder redirection in place for Documents and Desktop.
    The folders are redirected to one of their mapped drives.  When accessing the mapped drive, the drive hangs whilst the green progress bar occurs when trying to display the desktop folder.  Once accessed, this can be ok for further accesses but
    then may recur again later.  It is only the desktop folder.  Documents is fine.  I've tried customising the folder for item type, removed the icon cache, indexed the server, recreated local profiles, moved information off and deleted the folder
    on server to allow to recreate etc etc.  The issues as I say is intermittent but extremely frustrating.
    The group policies originally redirected to a mapped drive when the home directory was set up in AD.  However, we've moved away from that, and now the group policies use unc for the redirected folders.  All permissions on the server are set up
    correctly according to the MS kbs.  Some people don't appear to have the issue.
    The desktop in favorites in Windows Explorer appears to respond fine even when the mapped drive doesn't.  Occasionally the mapped drive is fine, and in this case the Desktop in Favorites isn't.
    I've checked the registry, all values in Shell Folders and User Shell Folders are set up correctly.
    I've reached the end of what could be wrong, and have no idea what is causing this issue.  Any help greatly appreciated.
    Regards
    Ian

    Hi lan cope,
    Please take a try to uncheck the "Automatically detect settings"
    under
    Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings -> Automatic Configurations.
    Check if this could help here.
    Besides, disable TCP autotuning with the following command and check again:
    netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
    Reference: (Description of the Receive Window Auto-Tuning feature for HTTP traffic on Windows Vista-based computers )
    Best regards
    Michael Shao
    TechNet Community Support

  • Contents of my "desktop" folder have been deleted

    I woke up this morning to find that the contents of my "desktop" folder have been deleted.
    It no longer appears under "Places" in a new window in the finder so I assume it has been deleted and the finder created a new one.
    When I do a search for a file I know was on the desktop it does not show up any longer.
    Any ideas where it could have gone to? Or if it is recoverable?

    138thstny wrote:
    Well, not a lot of people have access to my computer. My girlfriend and roommate.
    That's enough!
    Is it possible to undelete files if they were deleted by accident??
    If they're still in the trash, yes, you can just move them out.
    If not, then in theory you might be able to recover them, but it's expensive and quite "iffy." And the more you've used the computer, the more likely it is that they've been overwritten. If you want to go that route, turn your Mac off immediately. Use another to look for +Data Recovery+ apps via Google, VersionTracker.com, or MacUpdate.com.
    Also, get an external drive or Time Capsule or USB drive for an Airport Express and start using Time Machine. You'd have been able to recover in about a minute.

  • Time machine only displays my desktop folder

    When I enter Time Machine, I want to be able to move back in time and browse my ENTIRE COMPUTER in the past - - - including the top level of my internal hard disk and see all files and folders on it.
    However TM only displays list views of my desktop folde and will show me this desktop folder back in time as if that was the ONLY folder it had backed up. Even though an icon for my internal HD appears on my real time desktop, the desktop folder displayed by Time Machine does NOT include the hard drive so I have no way of browsing back anywhere but in my desktop folder. How do I change views in Time Machine so I can get to the top level of the hard drive and see all files and folders on it.
    It's next to useless to ONLY be able to see an incomplete snapshot of my desktop folder.

    Steve Holton wrote:
    If the sidebar is hidden when you enter TM, you can still navigate. The "see the location of the current folder" icon (the one just to the left of the 'i' info icon will show you the folder hierarchy up to you machine name.
    You mean the "Path" icon? (which is not one of the defaults).
    As with the sidebar, that works IF you have a toolbar in the Finder window, and IF it has the proper icons. As with the sidebar, once you're in TM without it, you can't make it (or new icons) appear.

  • Why are my desktop folder icons missing?

    why are my desktop folder icons missing?

    Yes I have tried a restart, a shut down and restart, a coling off period for 5 minutes anda restart, an examination of view options and I still get nothing, no destop folders icons, just the title of the folder.  The folders without icons will open and their contents are displayed, just not the icons.  The only icons I see are the hard drives, I have 4 in my old mac pro.  So what gives?

  • Terminal commands to Delete Desktop Folder?

    Can anyone help me with the Terminal commands to delete the desktop folder? I'm not much with Unix. It's related to my previous post about missing drive space/deleted files. I'm planning to try deleting the folder then restoring from time machine.
    Thanks,

    the command is
    *sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop*
    (you'll have to enter your admin password to make it work). Could you explain why you want to do this? If you have a TM backup and a serious problem with your system I would recommend doing a full system restore from TM.
    Message was edited by: V.K.
    Found your other post. (I even replied to it). You should definitely do a full system restore from TM. It will reformat your drive and cure the problem with the missing space.

  • Opening one particular desktop folder fails when it immediately closes

    Hi. Working on a Macbook Pro from 2008, and I have one folder on my desktop that just today refuses to open. When I double click on it it flashes the window too briefly to see the contents, then the whole screen goes blue for a half-second, and the finder reappears. Restarting the finder or the whole computer doesn't help. I can copy the folder to another drive, but when I then try to open it on the other drive, the same thing happens. Haven't had a chance yet to try verifying the drive.
    Thanks,
    BL99

    Hello BL:
    Welcome to Apple discussions.
    If the finder is the problem, trashing the preference file (com.apple.finder.plist) and restarting will usually fix it.
    Barry
    P.S. If the folder is, somehow, corrupted, restoring it from an earlier TM (if you use it) version will also fix the issue.
    Message was edited by: Barry Hemphill

  • Desktop-folder appearing on shares

    We have different setups all using network homefolders. Every now and then, a Desktop folder will appear on one of the server's shares. The folder will have 700 permissions and the owner is set to one of the users.
    It looks like during login the client makes a folder on the share, but I can't seem to figure out why this happens.
    The folder is not being used by the user as the desktop-folder and is completely empty. Does anyone know why this happens?
      Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    well depends i guess whois mounting the share and on what, but its not the user creating the desktop folder is the server or client, apple makes a desktop folder on volumes and drives, sometimes if u plug a pen drive in you will see it has a desktop folder, its certainly not the user and permissions wont help as its done at a OS level.
    You'll need to find out why desktop folders are auto created, i dont get it myself with shares but get it with external drives sometimes.

  • Desktop folder has become a "package" mac os x v 10.7.2

    My Desktop folder has become a "package"; each time I click this "folder" it launchs the aplication "Terminal".

    Lynn, try to relax. There is nothing about the upgrade itself that would cause those problems.
    In here, you'll find tons of problems, it is the ER for 10.7 problems. Most users upgrade with no issues at all and don't ever come here.
    Usually, problems are pre-exisisting and are exacerbated by the update process. I know that isn't what you want to hear but it's true. Did you run Disk Utility > Repair Disk before updating?
    Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode and test?
    Do you have any existing backup? Are they WD drives?
    There are new items on the Dock in 10.7 and if you don't want them just drag them off and "poof" them.

  • After transferring about 7 pics to a desktop folder, the last pic kept duplicating even when I highlighted another pic. I can't delete or move any pics from folder. I can not drag a new pic into folder.

    Can not drag a pic from aperture onto desktop folder. was able to drag 7 but number 8 was a duplicate of 7. Can not delete any pics from desktop folder

    This is a solution for duplicates
    http://osxmactips.blogspot.com/2009/01/delete-duplicate-iphoto-photos.html
    or use a specialized software, Duplifinder
    http://www.haystacksoftware.com/duplifinder/
    Advanced user tips ... but first backup your iPhoto library
     If you want to get rid of your original photo files and leave them in iPhoto, thus freeing up much hard drive space, you can use these commands in Terminal:
    mkdir ~/.Trash/iPhoto-Originals
    cd ~/"Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/"
    find . -type f -exec mv "../Originals/{}" ~/.Trash/iPhoto-Originals/ \;
    Type these commands carefully and it should work!

Maybe you are looking for