Thumbs.db, Unix Executable Files, and RTF

Please can anyone help with the following?
1. Thumbs.db - What are these files that seem to create themselves?
2. Unix Executable Files – some old Word files (from PC days) have converted themselves somehow to this format.
3. Some Word files (from PC days) are now RTF files.
Any clarification would be appreciated. thanks.

1. Those are associated, on my machine, with Turbo Tax.
2. Add .doc to those and they should revert to Word files.
3. Change .rtf to .doc.

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One of the folders on my external hard drive has transformed into a unix executable file and I can no longer access my files. Is there any way to save the data?

One of the folders on my external hard drive has transformed into a unix executable file and I can no longer access my files. Is there any way to save the data?

Wow, have seen Files do that, but a whole Folder as I recall!
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)

Unix Executable Files and VLC index.dat file -Samsung Digimax S800

Hi and thanks for any enlightenment in advance .
I got my new iMac in January and it's great . I'm using it mostly for games iWeb and pro apps like Logic . I continue to use my trusty old eMac for email and internet chores .
I was preparing to install Finale today and noticed the installation DVD had Adobe Reader 7.0.8 this led me to check "Adobe" with spotlight to make sure I already had it (I do) and I discovered a folder for Photoshop 7 settings so I looked to see if I had Photoshop (I don't:( ) , but I did find a folder titled Photoshop7 containing three files 2 Unix Executable Files titled AAAAAAAA2 and AAAAAAAA2M and a VLC index.dat file .
"Command I" tells me they are all 4KB and were created March 4 2007 and are located at Library/Application Support/Adobe/Filebrowser .
I think this was the time I was trying to get my new camera (Samsung Digimax S800) to download a movie . It didn't work and I have given up trying .
So my question is , " Can I delete these "
iMac 2.33 GHz- Powerbook - eMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi terence
Would I have any other adobe apps that came with my iMac besides Reader 7.0 ?
I appear to have opened a can off worms trying to open Adobe for the first time .
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=978019
iMac 2.33 GHz- Powerbook - eMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Word documents appear as "unix executable files" and cannot be opened

Hi: I am running 10.5.5 on my Intel Imac. The problem is that many old MS Word documents have suddenly flipped into documents with no file extension, but which are identified in the Preview window as "unix executable files."
I've had this happen before, and all I had to do was add the .doc extension for them to become Word documents again. This time there is nothing I can do to change them over. I have tried opening them from Word, from Pages, from Text Edit, with no results. (I have also used all the possibilities available from Word as well).
There doesn't seem to be any pattern -- random documents in the same folder, created at the same time and modified at the same time, appear as unix files, while the others seem fine. Any ideas?
<Post Relocated by Moderator>

This is the iWeb forum. You should post your question in the Leopard forum. But I'll give a try at a possible solution:
1 - check the Finder preferences and make sure you have the option to show file extensions checked.
2 - select one of the Work files, type Command+i and in the Info window go to the Open With menu and select Word as the default application. Then click on the Apply to All... button.
OT

Unix Executable files - need help to open

Hi folks, sorry i have been looking through previous discussions re these type of files but its all well and truley above me. I have been given a video file and when copied to 'finder' it showed it was a unix executable file and it opened Terminal, again made no sense to me. I was informed to download MPEG Streamclip with no luck and the jargon I have read is goobledegook to me, sorry. Can anyone help pls in simple terms????

One thing you could try is to drop one of the files on to the vlc video player. If the file is truely a video file then odds are vlc will figure that out and be able to play it. It also has a menu to tell you info about the file so you could figure out what kind of file it actually is.
In the case of windows .wmv files you should add Flip4Mac. That would allow you to play those with QuickTime.
Similarly add Perian to add more power to QuickTime so that it too could possibly handle those files like vlc.

Photoshop .psd files converted to Unix Executable files

I'm an illustrator and I store my art on CDs and DVDs. After a period of time my files are converted from Photoshop .psd files to Unix Executable files and I can't open them. What can I do to get my work back??? -and keep this from happening in the future. Why does it do this????
Thanks for any help.

The file sizes range from 22.2 MB to 67.9 MB.
Size isn't the issue then. Linc was asking that question because we see that with other file types. Older fonts in particular, which have all of their data in the resource fork. If that gets stripped, you end up with a zero byte file.
Does that mean I'll have to go through the Adobe authorization process for Photoshop again?
If the version of Photoshop you're currently using is already activated, then no. Either way, it has nothing to do with .psd files showing as UNIX executables.
In Windows, any file that doesn't have an association to a program is displayed as a white, dog-eared piece of paper with the Windows logo in the middle. That's Windows' way of saying, "I have no idea what this is." In OS X, (except for those files which actually are UNIX executables), displaying them as such is OS X's way of saying the same thing.
I thought I was home free when the icon changed to a thumbnail picture of the illustration, but PS refuses to open it saying it is not a Photoshop file. ???
Now that is weird. As of Snow Leopard, Apple put the old Type and Creator codes to rest. It will read them as a last resort to try and identify an older file, but none of Apple's applications add them to any file they save. For better compatibility with Windows, and OS X's own underlying UNIX core, file extensions have taken their place. So adding a .psd extension should have worked. Without playing with one of your files, I couldn't tell you why Photoshop declared it wasn't a valid .psd image.
On a side note, Apple added Uniform Type Identifiers to OS X to keep things separate. A big problem in Windows is that multiple apps may use the same file extension. EPS is a big one in printing. So you have Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, Quark and others all using .eps for Encapsulated PostScript files. However, Windows can only associate one application to any given extension. So if Illustrator happens to be the one tagged to .eps files, it will try to open any file ending in .eps, no matter what program actually created it. OS X keeps them separate with Uniform Type Identifiers. So even though multiple files may have .eps file extensions, the extra metadata keeps track of what program it actually belongs to.
This is what is part of the LaunchServices database, and was why it was my first suggestion. If that database is wonky, you'll see weird things like this. Have you tried clearing it yet?
The files are fine when newly burned to CD. It is only months, or years, later that they become Unix Executable Files. This has happened to just about all of my CD backups and it's frustrating to think that CD backup doesn't work across newer OSs and Photoshop upgrades. I suspect that may be the problem, but it just shouldn't happen.
That shouldn't make a difference. I've got a bunch of very old files created in Photoshop back from OS 8 on CD. No file extensions, as nothing did at the time. Just Type and Creator codes. They all open fine in PS CS5.5 in Snow Leopard, though the native Photoshop files do need to have a .psd extension added.

Unix Executable Files

after upgrading to Tiger 10.4.3, all my files that did not have a file extension (in particular all my fonts) are now Unix Executable files and unusable. is there any thing that can be done?

My boss if having the same problem! I however, am not. We have identical G5's, but our older G4's are slightly different with slightly different OS's and software. My boss has OS 10.1.3 and OS 9.2.2, also i have newer versions of photoshop and quark on my G4 than my boss does.
The file types he is having the issue with are .eps files from photoshop and illustrator, and quark files that don't have the extensions already. He was told by Support that the issue may be stemming from the fact that when he worked on his older mac, he booted up in OS 9, where as I always booted up in OS X and used OS 9 virtually.
We are trying to transfer the files directly now, while his older mac is booted up in OS X to see if that solves the Unix problem. But now we are running into the issue where, once the computers are hooked up by firewire, the process is freezing. Does anybody have any advice for us? We need HELP!!!
Thanks!
JdJ
Macintosh G5 Mac OS X (10.4.2) Old Mac - G4, OS X 10.3.2 & OS 9.2.2
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I am currently using Maverick 10.9.2 . I am trying to open an archive file amd folder. The problem is that when I download the file, it appears as unix executable file and it cannot be opened. I have read in past posts that if the file does not have extension, it may become a unix executable file. I have changed them to .DOC, but no luck. Also when I tried to download the file later, the format changed to documents, but still could not be opened. Is there a problem because it was archived? If you have insight this problem as well, I would appreciate if you could let me know. Thanks in advance.

I'm assumimg that the file is either a zip, tar, gnuzip, or bzip2 archive. Remove the file extention from the file and move it to your desktop. From the Finder.app > Go menu > select "Go to Folder...", in the text box type- /System/Library/CoreServices . Drag the Archive Utility.app on to the dock. The Archive Utility.app icon will now appear in the dock. Drag the archive file onto the Archive Utility.app icon and the archive should be uncompressed and appear on your desktop.

CDF type to Unix Executable File

When downloading a Comma Delimited File Database, Safari saves the download as a "Unix Executable File" and my database (Filemaker) will not recognize the file type. What is the problem (or solution)? Thanks in advance

There is no extension. What appears is the file name with an unusual (for Mac) icon. This was not the solution, but thank you. I have subsequently tried the download on two other machines with the same result. The question remains why does Safari (or Mac OSX) change a comma delimited file to an Unix executable file. I did discover that by opening the file in textedit and saving it, Filemaker will then work the file. That is only a workaround, not a solution.

Unix executable file won't open HELP!

I am having the same problem as one other person, my word folder has changed to a Unix executable file and I can't open the content in the folders anymore. I was just using the folder yesterday and now they are now working. Please help!

I'm not sure if this is your problem. But I was futzing with a file, and intentionally removed most of it's attributes, as reported by the mdls command.
I was able to get enough of them back, for the file to be recognized by the finder again.
This command lists the different importers.
$ mdimport -L
find the one that matches the filetype. Then run the following, where testfile is the file that you're having problems with.
mdimport -g /System/Library/Spotlight/XXXXXX.mdimporter testfile
I don't use Word, so I can't tell you the name of the importer file that you need. It may be possible to just
run
mdimport testfile
Nils

How to import unix executable files into Final Cut Pro

A friend wanted me to create a Halo 3 Montage Video for him. He loaded the saved clips onto a flash drive for me but when I put it into my computer the information comes up as Unix Executable Files and I don't know how to import them into Final Cut Pro 7.0.2 or if it's even possible. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Ok. Well, I plug in the flash drive. When it opens there's a folder that says XBox360. When I click on the folder there are 9 files listed that say Data0000, Data0001 etc. The preview option shows a gray folder that says Exec on it and the only information I can find is that it's a Unix Executable File. When I click on more info option everything that pops up is what I've already told you. I tried opening it in the VLC Player but nothing played which makes me think there aren't video files on the flash drive. When I click on the file to open it the Terminal Program appears and lists basic information about the file.
Is there a program that can take these files and covert them into something that can run in Final Cut Pro? Or is that what VLC is supposed to do?

What to do with "Unix Executable Files"?

What do I do with Unix Executable Files? I've tried navigating to them in Terminal and typing in the file name but that doesn't work. How do I execute them?
I'm trying to install some web development framework software, and it appears that the command names start with the file I'm referring to but when I'm in the directory containing the Unix Executable File and type in the file name followed by a command it doesn't work. I get "command not found"
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi warpdesign,
   In old-style shell environments, all files in the current working directory were defined to be in your PATH, where the shell looks for executables. That was before Trojan Horses. Now you have to specify the current working directory in the command line. Fortunately there is a nice "shorthand" for that. If foo.sh is an executable in the current working directory then it can be invoked this way:
./foo.sh
   If you're interested in learning a little more about UNIX, I used to have a long post of links to what I think are some of the better beginning UNIX tutorials and books. However, as others posted great links and I stole them, my post became too long so I put it in a web page. Bill Scott did the same thing so here is Bill's and here is mine.
Gary
~~~~
   University politics are vicious precisely because the
   stakes are so small.
         -- C. P. Snow

Where are these unix executable files coming from and how do I recover the original text file?

where are these unix executable files coming from and how do I recover the original text file?

When you upgraded to Lion did you have AppleWorks installed on your mac?
Most of the AW documents can be opened by Pages 09 or Numbers 09 with most of the orginal format in tact. (I do not know if previouse verision will work) just open the AW file with both and see which one works best.
Text Edit will also open most of the AW files as well but will require a lot of work to restore them to their orginal format.
If you have AW Database documents then they are not supported.
These document show up as "exec icons", Kind: Unix Executagle File.
They also will show up as .cwk file if they are small files. I have a couple that were under 1mb that are shown as " Kind: AppleWorks Document" but will not open.
The only option to open AW database is to have AW installed on a mac with a pre-Lion OS to recover the file.

IDVD and Unix Executable files

Hello
I have iDVD 4.0.1 and am trying to open and play a DVD movie that a friend has just sent me of a recent trip we took together. He recorded this DVD on his own Sony digital video camera, so there are obviously no copyright or other associated problems.
The one folder on the DVD is this:
DVD_RTAV
This folder contains these three files:
VR_MANGR.BUP
VR-MANGR.IFO
VR-MOVIE.VRO
The .BUP and .IFO files are tiny, only 66K each, while the .VRO file is big ie 3.69Gb. THe last one is clearly the movie itself.
Any attempt to open the .VRO file produces the message that "there is no default application specified to open document VR_MOVIE.VRO".
iDVD will not open it.
The Get Info instruction tells me that the 3 files are all Unix Executable files.
Is this just a question of changing the suffix on each file to something else? If not, is there a way of converting these files into a format so that this DVD can be played on my (PPC) G5 iMac?
Many thanks.

Nicholas Law wrote:
.. I have downloaded Mpeg Streamclip1.9.2 and this plays the .VRO movie file perfectly. I'm not sure why I need mpeg-2 playback. ..
obviously, you have it ..
.vro is mp2 encoded (to my knowledge), therefor, SC needs that plug-in..
if it works, don't fix it

Old Quark files are now Unix Executable Files

I made hundreds of archive CD's with Mac's running OS 9 back in 1990's. They contain Quark files and .tif's. I've referred back to these CD's many many times over the years with no problems. My new iMac has the intel processor. I pop an archive CD in and all the files (with no extensions like "tif" or ".qkd" or ".eps") are now "Unix Executable Files" that won't open.
I simply add an extension to the images files (like ".tif") and they work. HOWEVER, it's not so easy with the Quark files. I add ".qkd" to the file name and it still remains a Unix file.
I launch Quark and try to open the file through the finder and it doesn't work. I took an archive CD to a friends house whose on a G5 and the CD worked properly with no extensions needed to be added.
So I figure the problem is with the Intel/PC based processor. I shouldn't have sold my old G5.
One forum claimed that a program called "File Buddy" did the trick for him. Does anyone have any other ideas other than me buying a non-Intel Mac.
I love our new iMacs but I need these archive CD's to work!
Thanks

I automatically run OnyX once a week for maintenance, but it didn't help this situation.
Those chores won't reset the LaunchServices database. Go to the Maintenance heading and click on the Reset tab. Turn on the check box for "LaunchServices database" (all other check boxes off). Click the Reset radio button and then Execute. Restart your Mac.
OS X will automatically rebuild the database according to the applications on your hard drive, giving preference to Apple applications as they would be when you first install OS X. So if you have the Acrobat Reader set up to open PDF files, you'll have to do that again as they will be set back to Preview.
Actually it's .qxd not .qkd for Quark XPress file extensions.
That's it! I knew .qkd was wrong, but Quark 6.x won't show you the old extensions when you save a file, and I couldn't remember it (been using InDesign steadily for a while now).

Thumbs.db, Unix Executable Files, and RTF

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