Wierd files in user preferences folder

I found several folders in user preferences with names such as:
7ıêê◊8øˇÀ‡†~a|êŸlè¿ö(ø
They all showed nothing in them so I deleted them all, but they have come back again. Is this normal?
TIA

Tried your suggestion and found Photoshop Elements 4.0 created this file in user preferences:
Y‡ê◊8øˇ‘†~a|êŸlè¿ö(øˇ’P
...and opening Photoshop CS2 created this one:
Â@ê◊8øˇﬁ††~a|êŸlè¿ö(øˇﬂ
The applications seem to work OK and I have other Adobe applications as well, but did not open these as well.
Any suggestions on what to do next?
TIA

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Itunes plist - multiple files in library preferences folder

there are about 100 files in the preferences folder all with a different file name - e.g.: com.apple.iTunes.plist.0sxSNjJ
I can also see file name: com.apple.iTunes.plist
According to the dates - these started appearing in January 2011. I upgraded from 10/5.8 to 10.6 in December, but there aren't any dated as December so I'm not sure that's related.
ITunes is constantly asking for my password and I was going to trash the plist file to see if that helped.
What's with the multiple entrees?

just found another post on same topic - search: multiple itunes plist files
guess I have to wait for next version and fix.

TS1846 I have some troubles recently with Final Cut Pro 7 and would like to remove my preferences. I can't find any "com.apple.finalcutpro.plist" file from the Preferences folder but I do have some preferences. So, where could be the file ?

I have some troubles recently with Final Cut Pro 7 and would like to remove my preferences. I can't find any "com.apple.finalcutpro.plist" file from the Preferences folder but I do have some preferences. So, where could be the file ?

Digital Rebellion has you covered: http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/

User preference folder names

I see a lot of folders in my user preferences folder with really odd names like "ÙÕ" that are empty. Is this from a virus, corrupt application or what?

Thanks for the feedback. You ought to peruse the Adobe forums at http://www.adobe.com/support/forums/index.html and see if there's anything mentioned there. Good computing.

How do you find out what application is generating a plist file in your preference folder?

I have had two similar warnings come up in Drive Genius 3, a program that I use to manage my drives. The warnings occur during a daily verification of preferences on my main drive, a 256GB SSD.
They state:
"The preference file at '/Users/me/Library/Preferences/com.analogsolutions.Football.plist' may be corrupted."
"The preference file at '/Users/me/Library/Preferences/org.machinedevelop.National.plist' may be corrupted."
Per Drive Genius' advisement, "Corrupted files can cause appplication crashes and should be moved to the Trash." I delete the files, however they are regenerated each day.
Q: How do you figure out what application is generating a preference file? And is there a way to tell if this is a OS generated preference file?
I have searched online and cannot find any information about either Analog Solutions or Machine Develop nor am I able to discern what these particular .plist files are for...
Q: Are these two .plist files truly potentially harmful?
Thanks for the Help!
iMac
model iMac12,2
3.4 GHz Intel Core i7
8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Hi Everyone, sorry for the late response. I have been monitoring my Preferences Folder; every moment I am on my computer trying to catch what application/process generates these files. I was hoping to try your suggestions, but oddly enough the offensive .plist files have not returned since the last time I deleted them about a week ago.... strange...
In any case, I have responded to some of your suggestions and questions that I have information on:
X423424X wrote: Ok, can you double click the .plist file? If so it should attempt to launch the Property List Editor (in your Utilities folder). That way you can look at stuff in the plist. Maybe (hopefully) there's something in there that can shed some light on who is creating it. If Property List Editor cannot open the file (some apps create files that have the .plist extension but don't actually create the proper XML format -- probably what ProSoft was alluding to) then try opening it with a text editor.
The .plist file when opened in text editor contains a string of (what to me seems to be) an arbitrary list of numbers.
Linc Davis wrote: Those files have been given obfuscated names so you won't know what created them. They must contain encrypted registration data for some third-party commercial software that you use.
Yes, seems likely...
Linc Davis wrote: It should be fairly easy to find out what application is creating them, if you really care. Move the files to the Desktop, then log out. Log back in while holding the shift key as you click the "Log In" button. That will prevent your login items from loading, among other things. Open your account preferences and launch the login items one at a time by double-clicking them in the list. After each one, check to see whether the files have been recreated.
Ran through login, one by one, no luck in identifying the application(s).
X423424X wrote: Another thought, lock the plists on the hope that whatever is using them will "choke" and complain about it (no guarantee that will work but worth a try).
Thanks, the lock idea is the one I will try next if they ever reappear...
X423424X wrote: Also, I don't recall if I asked this but if those plists are deleted while logged in will they be recreated during that same login session. Or do they only appear after you deleted them and then and then logged out and back in? Or do you have to reboot to recreate them?
Unfortunately I do not know for certain. Though from all my login/startup/reboot tests I believe that they are not directly linked to starting up the machine or loging in either.
I'm not really certain why the .plist have not returned. I haven't uninstalled any programs, though I did run a couple updates for some widgets within the last week; however that was about 3 days after I deleted the last set of .plist files and usually they reappered everyday. In any case, given that they have not been regenerated I guess my problem is solved per se, at least I am no longer getting that annoying warning everyday. Still, it's a bit of a mystery
Thanks again for all the help!

Temp files in user temp folder

I have an issue that recently popped up. Adobe Livecycle 7.0 creates a temporary pdf file under C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local settings\Temp everytime a pdf is previewed by the user. The files keeps building and never get deleted. Interestingly, the problem started happening only about a month ago. So it appears that it was getitng purged by Adobe earlier.
Does anyone know what could be wrong and if there is anything that needs to be changed to make the automatic purging to continue to happen ?
Any guidance is very much appreciated.
Thanks !

(1) Download the Windows Installer CleanUp utility installer file (msicuu2.exe) from the following Major Geeks page (use one of the links under the "DOWNLOAD LOCATIONS" thingy on the Major Geeks page).
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4459
Here's a screenshot showing the particular links on the page that you should be clicking:
After clicking one of the circled links, you should be taken to another page, and after a few seconds you should see a download dialog appear for the msicuu2.exe file. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like for me in Firefox:
Choose to Save the file. If the dialog box does not appear for you, click the link on the page that says "CLICK HERE IF IT DOES NOT". Here's a screenshot of the page with the relevant link circled:
When the dialog appears, choose to save the file.
(2) Go to the Downloads area for your Web browser. Doubleclick the msicuu2.exe file and follow the prompts to install the Windows Installer CleanUp utility. (If you're on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 system and you get a Code 800A0046 error message when doubleclicking the msicuu2.exe file, try instead right-clicking on the msicuu2.exe file and selecting "Run as administrator".)
(3) In your Start menu click All Programs and then click Windows Install Clean Up. The Windows Installer CleanUp utility window appears, listing software that is currently installed on your computer.
(4) In the list of programs that appears in CleanUp, select any iTunes entries and click "Remove", as per the following screenshot:
(5) Quit out of CleanUp, restart the PC and try another iTunes install. Does it go through properly this time?

PDQ - run batch file on user current folder...

Hi,
I'm running batch file:
cd %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\
but it's not opening the current logged on user
how to deploy it on current logged on user?
thanks,,,
This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

This is not working for me in Windows 8. I have a shortcut to an EXE file located in"C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup". If I set the shortcut to run as administrator (screenshot attached) then it does
not run at all on startup. If I uncheckmark "Run as Administrator" then it starts fine (but does not have enough privileges to do what it needs to do). In Windows 7 this was not an issue since the current user was a local administrator and did
not need to elevate its privileges further.
Any ideas how I can work around this problem? Thanks!
Ugh... it won't let me attach a screenshot until my "account is verified", whatever that means.

What are the text files that suddenly showed up in the Preferences folder?

I just noticed a group of text files in the Preferences folder that I haven't noticed before. All of them were created within a 3-minute period on 12/31/2008. The names are in sets of 4 or 5 that follow this scheme:
np_334572current
np_334572services
np_334572servicesnew
np_334572sets
np_334572system
The default app to open these is Property List Editor.
They haven't been modified since they were created, even though I've been adding, deleting, and modifying apps and their preferences since then. Anybody know what they are? Can or should I delete these?
Thanks in advance.

Dick,
To be honest I don't know what program they are related to. However If the files are located in ~/Library/Preferences (Where is ~ = your home directory) Then You should be safe in moving/deleting them, at worst you will have to reset the settings in one of your apps. What that folder is mainly used for is say for example you have your dock show/hide it self. That will be saved to a plist file in the preferences folder. If you delete or move the dock's plist out of there your dock on your next login will go back to the default view of Mac OS.
Now To be honest you don't have to move/delete those files that are there, especially since at most you will probably reset some of the preferences you set in an application. But its up to you. Also you could always move it first to see what app it is and either move it back or delete it later.
Hope that helps,
Weston

Can I delete the files in ~/Library/Preferences and have all preferences reset to factory default?

I have this folder inside my /Library folder called Preferences. I was wondering if I could delete all of the files inside this folder and have all of my preferences reset to the factory default?

First, why would you want to do this? I ask because all of the applications installed also have preference files. Some of the preference files store things like serial numbers. Some programs that use plugins that use serial numbers also store the serial numbers in the host program's preference file. RapidWeaver is an example of this.
So, If you deleted all of the files in your preference folder, you could have some major headaches for a while afterward.
If you are curious, there is a program called AppleJack that only runs in Single User mode. It can check preference files for you. There are several others available that cost money. AppleJack is a free open source application.
Hope this helps,
Craig

No user preferences to delete

This troubleshooting basics page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3659
reads:
Delete the User Preferences
You can resolve many issues by restoring Soundtrack Pro to its original settings. This will not impact your project files. To reset your Soundtrack Pro user preference settings to their original state:
Quit Soundtrack Pro if it is open.
In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Preferences. Note: The tilde (~) represents your Home folder.
Remove the "com.apple.soundtrackpro.plist" file from the Preferences folder.
Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Soundtrack Pro.
Remove the "EffectsCache.plist" file from the Soundtrack Pro folder.
Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Soundtrack Pro/Layouts.
Remove the "Soundtrack Pro.saved.moduleLayout" file from the Layouts folder.
Go to ~/Library/Caches.
Remove the "com.apple.audiounits.cache" from the Caches folder.
However, I cannot find any of these files. I fear this means the app is corrupt. Please advise!
Thank you!

This troubleshooting basics page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3659
reads:
Delete the User Preferences
You can resolve many issues by restoring Soundtrack Pro to its original settings. This will not impact your project files. To reset your Soundtrack Pro user preference settings to their original state:
Quit Soundtrack Pro if it is open.
In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Preferences. Note: The tilde (~) represents your Home folder.
Remove the "com.apple.soundtrackpro.plist" file from the Preferences folder.
Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Soundtrack Pro.
Remove the "EffectsCache.plist" file from the Soundtrack Pro folder.
Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Soundtrack Pro/Layouts.
Remove the "Soundtrack Pro.saved.moduleLayout" file from the Layouts folder.
Go to ~/Library/Caches.
Remove the "com.apple.audiounits.cache" from the Caches folder.
However, I cannot find any of these files. I fear this means the app is corrupt. Please advise!
Thank you!

Weird files in the User/Library/Preferences folder

Yesterday I noticed that my Preferences folder contains some very weird files. Actually, they're empty folders. I'd like to know if they are supposed to be there. If not, how did they get there and what should I do with them?
All in all there are about 20 folders and they are all empty.
Here are a few examples of the names of the folders:
˝Äê}]Løˇ€††{·|ê}_|è¿úL
0 0ê)i®øˇ€††'Ò|ê)kÿè¿úLø
Õvpê}]Løˇ€††{·|ê}_|è¿úL
Ωyê}]Løˇ€††{·|ê}_|è¿úL
Thanks for looking!
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6) 2 GHz

Some versions of Photoshop have been known to create such things. Don't remember under what conditions, I think I saw someone say their strange folders appeared when using Photoshop with a either an Epson scanner or printer. At any rate you can toss them without doing any harm.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Wierd foldernames in preferences folder - what are they ?

in my user/libery/preferences/ folder i have some wierd folder i cant figure out what are
They all appers to be empty..
And the are all from the 14 august and up to today
I have not install anny new programs in agust (Only opdates of Adobe programes)
but what are they and can i delet them ??? ... hope somebody can teel me
The folders are:
˛]@ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
˛dPê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
˛íPê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
˛iê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
˛M
˛s¿ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ˇ>ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
æd0ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁ\†ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁ†∞ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁã ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬂ'Äê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁy¿ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁyPê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁw`ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁSê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁr0ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁl
ﬁi`ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁmê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§
ﬁå@ê÷òøˇﬁ¿†~a|êÿÃè¿ö(øˇﬂ ß≠§

Searching the forum i have found the folowing
It seems frome all post that the folders can be deleted without worys
but they will come back
A fix cud be:
Barbara Brundage >> Oh, oh, now I remember. It's caused by the Adobe TWAIN driver. Go to the PE folder>Plug-ins>Import/export and trash that. It's nothing but trouble.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=4515029
Or:
Allan Seidel >> One can stop the folder creation by fooling Adobe CS to not load its TWAIN plug-in. Search for the TWAIN file at Plug-Ins:Import/Export. Rename the file to ~TWAIN. CS will no longer create the strange folder.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3222754&#3222754
Wonder what is safe to do ??
I have now tryde allan's solution ... hope it works
Discussions link on the topic (for other reading this with the same problem)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4975621
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3222754
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4386699
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=4515029
Message was edited by: Jesper Møller

I want to open a domain.site2 file outside the default folder (User/Library/Application Support/iWeb) with iWeb11, but iWeb only opens the domain file in the default folder. If I delete the default domain file, iWeb wants to create a new site. Help please

I want to open a domain.site2 file outside the default folder (User/Library/Application Support/iWeb) with iWeb11, but iWeb only opens the domain file in the default folder. If I delete the default domain file, iWeb wants to create a new site. Does anyone have the same problem or know how to fix it?

In Lion the Finder folder is now invisible. To make it permanetely visible enter the following in the Terminal applicaiton window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.
For opening your domain file in Lion for the first time or to switch between multiple domain files Cyclosaurus has provided us with the following script that you can make into an Applescript application with Script Editor. Open Script Editor, copy and paste the script below into Script Editor's window and save as an applicaiton.
Just launch the applicaiton, find and select the domain file you want to open and it will open with iWeb. It modifies the iWeb preference file each time it's launched so one can switch between domain files.
do shell script "/usr/bin/defaults write com.apple.iWeb iWebDefaultsDocumentPath -boolean no"delay 1
tell application "iWeb" to activate
OT

Not all files not showing within Preferences folder

Hi,
I encountered a strange problem with my Preferences folder in the User Library. As I am moving from one machine to another I need to copy some preferences files. The files exist when you search for them in the Finder. As it seems though only preferences files from A to C are displayed when looking into the folder (option - Go Folder). Any ideas?

Hi,
Thank you very much, but this dows not solve the problem I have. I am able to open the Preferences folder, so I do see .plist files, but not all of them! Only files beginning with letters from A to C are displayed, then the list simply ends. The files however do exist. When searching via Finder/Spotlight for a specific file, it is listed in the results and the path displayed shows Users/.../Library/Preferences.

Preference folder/No such file or Directory

Hello knowledgeable ones!
So I'm using single user mode to move/delete my preference folder in hopes that it will recreate itself and upon start up, get past the grey screen of despair.
I tried what it says on the Apple.com site about renaming/moving preferences and the iMac only responds "no such file or directory". Possibly because I don't remember what I did for the short name on my account? I don't know 100% which exact version of OS it is either.. This is because I've only had the computer six days, it was the family computer my younger brother mainly used but he passed away 4/nearly 5 months ago now, and my dad asked me to take it on my birthday, kinda TMI I guess but it does sound stupid that I don't know. My dad's computer is close to same/or maybe it is the same as this one, so this computer may have 10.58 like his, my dad however much he's infatuated with Mac products knows next to nothing about them.
The endless grey screen started after I installed avast! because dumbly I thought I'd check for viruses since I hadn't used this computer in ages (I've been working with an outdated snail-speed PC since I moved out of my parent's house). avast! told me something within my preferences was corrupted something like media_preference and I assumed after deleting it, it would remake it on start-up anyway and avast! gave no other option and refused to quit..
Sooo I have an idea of what's wrong but not what to do?
I have an install disc that may not be the correct one. The iMac won't boot it on start-up from 'c' or 'option' and the disc is Tiger v. 10.48 but this computer has been upgraded before maybe, it is 10.58 now? I have nothing but the keyboard plugged in, I've tried many times doing safe mode start-up with 'shift' 'command 'v' and it says generating crash report and something with the computers name and error with loginwindow. My account is the admin, and my brother's doesn't have admin rights and it doesn't automatically log you in on start-up if that makes a difference?
Is there a way to clear a cache of some kind to make stuff work? I tried making a new user in single user mode to log-in or maybe that will recreate the deleted preference, honestly maybe I'm not doing it right? I haven't made much progress in single user mode. I don't think my dad has a firewire cable and I know I don't, I read that maybe we could hook them up to restore stuff though I have no idea how and he doesn't actually know the computer isn't working since it was my brother's, I feel incredibly bad and am very reluctant to tell him.
How do I get past this grey screen + spinning wheel? Sorry this was long! Thank you for reading!

My preferred scheme is : save on the machine in a defined folder.
Attach a folder actions script to this folder to copy every new or modified document on the server.
The backup tool installed on the server will be of absolutely no help.
If the document is corrupted, it's during the save process so the tool will backup a corrupted file.
I assume that the described problem is not linked to the folder where you try to save the beast but to the folder in which document's components are stored before it's converted to a package or to a flat file.
Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) lundi 8 mars 2010 19:16:04

Wierd files in user preferences folder

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