Mac OS X Garbage

We have a few Mac OS X machines on our otherwise pure-Windows 2003 network.
On some of the file shares, there are all kinds of files, which to the best
of my research, appears to be created by those Mac boxes. Some of my
findings are ones called ".DS_Store" or empty hidden folders called "Network
Trash Folder", etc.

I am trying to cleanup some old file shares, but can't seem to delete some
of these. Is there any way to delete them cleanly (without a server reboot
into safe/repair mode) AND is can their creation be prevented in the first
place?

this is the normal. You should not delete them. Even you delete them, they will be created. I don't think you can prevent them.

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Dave Slinn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
We have a few Mac OS X machines on our otherwise pure-Windows 2003 network.
On some of the file shares, there are all kinds of files, which to the best
of my research, appears to be created by those Mac boxes. Some of my
findings are ones called ".DS_Store" or empty hidden folders called "Network
Trash Folder", etc.

I am trying to cleanup some old file shares, but can't seem to delete some
of these. Is there any way to delete them cleanly (without a server reboot
into safe/repair mode) AND is can their creation be prevented in the first
place?

I would second that. Macs always create extra weird files on PC shares. You just have to live with them. The good thing is that they are generally 0 K in size but Macs use them for something. If you want to delete them, you can but the next time a Mac connects, it will just re-create them. Just ignore them.
"Robert L [MS-MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
this is the normal. You should not delete them. Even you delete them, they will be created. I don't think you can prevent them.

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Dave Slinn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
We have a few Mac OS X machines on our otherwise pure-Windows 2003 network.
On some of the file shares, there are all kinds of files, which to the best
of my research, appears to be created by those Mac boxes. Some of my
findings are ones called ".DS_Store" or empty hidden folders called "Network
Trash Folder", etc.

I am trying to cleanup some old file shares, but can't seem to delete some
of these. Is there any way to delete them cleanly (without a server reboot
into safe/repair mode) AND is can their creation be prevented in the first
place?

Make sure that those supposedly zero-byte Mac-generated files are not
actually "streams" (ADS - Alternate Data Streams) where a placeholder
filename exists showing zero bytes, but there actually exists one or more
hidden secret files "behind" it which can gobble up disk space that will
mysteriously be missing using the normal tools for looking at files and free
space. Google for "alternate data streams" and NTFS for an education of
streams support in the NTFS.

I may be mistaken, but IIRC, the Mac OS X makes extensive use of the concept
of "file streams".


"Steve Martin" wrote:

> I would second that. Macs always create extra weird files on PC shares. You just have to live with them. The good thing is that they are generally 0 K in size but Macs use them for something. If you want to delete them, you can but the next time a Mac connects, it will just re-create them. Just ignore them.
> "Robert L [MS-MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> this is the normal. You should not delete them. Even you delete them, they will be created. I don't think you can prevent them.
>
> Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
> "Dave Slinn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> We have a few Mac OS X machines on our otherwise pure-Windows 2003 network.
> On some of the file shares, there are all kinds of files, which to the best
> of my research, appears to be created by those Mac boxes. Some of my
> findings are ones called ".DS_Store" or empty hidden folders called "Network
> Trash Folder", etc.
>
> I am trying to cleanup some old file shares, but can't seem to delete some
> of these. Is there any way to delete them cleanly (without a server reboot
> into safe/repair mode) AND is can their creation be prevented in the first
> place?
>
>