Anthony M Kassir MD

Q: Disabling Versions

I create and view confidential medical files as PDFs in Preview, and save the records to an encrypted disk image. In Lion, I believe some Versions of the PDF files are saved to an unencrypted location on my hard disk. This creates a possible privacy breach if my computer is stolen and someone figures out how to access the hidden versions. Before Lion, this wasn't a problem.

 

While I can access and delete old versions of a given document, it is difficult and cumbersome to do this for every document I open in preview because I open perhaps a hundred such documents every day. (To do this, click to the right of the document name in its window to reveal the disclosure triangle. Examine the old versions. Option click to the right of the name of an old version to delete all old versions.)

 

So I'd like to disable Versions, but in Lion there is no option to do so. So I'm left with the idea of secure-deleting the folder containing all Versions at the end of each work day.

 

Document revisions (I'm guessing this means Versions) are stored in an invisible folder called .DocumentRevisions-V100 at the root volume of the hard drive. Permissions for this invisible folder are:

 

system: No Access

wheel: No Access

everyone: No Access

 

Obviously you're not supposed to mess with that folder and can only gain some kind of access as root or an admin user.

 

There are 5 folders in that invisible folder:

 

/.DocumentRevisions-V100/.cs/ (This is an invisible folder.)

/.DocumentRevisions-V100/ChunkTemp/

/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/

/.DocumentRevisions-V100/db-V1/

/.DocumentRevisions-V100/staging/

 

I have the hardest time getting permissions to look inside of those folders (I'm not logged in as root). Sometimes I could change permissions, sometimes I couldn't, and sometimes permissions would revert back to their original values for no apparent reason.

 

I was able to access a couple of database files within .cs and their contents were gibberish.

 

My questions:

 

  1. So I'm wondering if the Versions data in /.DocumentRevisions-V100/ actually contains readable information or if (hopefully) my concerns are not valid. Certainly it's difficult to access the information in that folder.
  2. I'm also wondering if it would create any problems if I were to delete the /.DocumentRevisions-V100/ folder everyday.

 

Any ideas? Any superusers out there who can peek inside these hidden folders?

 

Any help is welcome.

 

Message was edited by: Anthony M Kassir MD

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 27, 2012 10:12 PM

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Q: Disabling Versions

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Anthony M Kassir MD,

    Anthony M Kassir MD Anthony M Kassir MD Jun 27, 2012 10:30 PM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD
    Level 2 (220 points)
    iPad
    Jun 27, 2012 10:30 PM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD

    I should add that I just discovered another .DocumentRevisions-V100 folder on the root level of the encrypted disk image that I use for medical records. This is encouraging and suggests that the Versions for files on the encrypted disk image are saved on the same encrypted volume and are therefore protected.

     

    Can anyone verify this please?

  • by Marek Stepanek,

    Marek Stepanek Marek Stepanek Sep 8, 2013 5:32 AM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD
    Level 2 (296 points)
    iLife
    Sep 8, 2013 5:32 AM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD

    Hello Anthony!

     

     

    I am just discovering your unanswered message, because I have the same problem. Privacy is not a crime! And sometimes it is even a duty, in medical, journalistic or juridical circumstances. I am struggling with the Apple OS not to index my HD and external mounted HDs. I am deleting the folders like follows in the terminal regularly (for you as a tip):

     

    sudo rm -rf /Volumes/untitled/.DocumentRevisions-V100/

     

    (To explain: sudo means do following command as a super user; rm - difficult to read - means remove, r followed by m, and the switches -r means recursively, because .DocumentRevisions-V100/ is a folder and the -f switch hinders all questions, whether really to remove the files and folders ... So a bit dangerous! Use with care!)

     

    But this folder is reappearing constantly. I would ask Apple to give us back the OperatingSystem. I don't need all these features in the background. Or at least: please give us the possibility to switch these background processes off! With all these discussions about American Secret Services I am becoming more and more sceptic and wondering whether I should not switch to a real Unix System.

     

     

    I would be greatful for any hint, how to switch off versions and the indexing of my HD. Thank you!

     

     

    Best greetings

     

     

    marek

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Sep 8, 2013 9:32 AM in response to Marek Stepanek
    Level 8 (37,897 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 8, 2013 9:32 AM in response to Marek Stepanek

    If all you're trying to do is disable indexing, then open the System Preferences and click on the Spotlight icon. Click on the Privacy tab. Drag and drop any hard drive icons from the desktop into the window. All indexing for that drive will be disabled, and any already existing index will be deleted.

     

    Your issue is different than Anthony's, though. Versions/autosave is different from indexing. Turning it off in Lion is difficult. Much easier to do in Mountain Lion.

  • by Pondini,Helpful

    Pondini Pondini Sep 8, 2013 11:05 AM in response to Marek Stepanek
    Level 8 (38,747 points)
    Sep 8, 2013 11:05 AM in response to Marek Stepanek

    Marek Stepanek wrote:

    . . .

    I am deleting the folders like follows in the terminal regularly

    Not sure that's really required.  Even on an unencrypted drive, that data is virtually inaccessible.  It contains only the older changed "chunks" of files, in a very involved hierarchy.  I've never seen anyone post any way to make sense of it.

     

    But . . . if the documents in question are on an encrypted drive, then the Versions of those files are in the Versions database there, not the one on your OSX drive, so they're encrypted, too.

     

    I would be greatful for any hint, how to switch off versions and the indexing of my HD.

    As Kurt says, those are two entirely different things.

  • by Marek Stepanek,

    Marek Stepanek Marek Stepanek Sep 8, 2013 11:58 AM in response to Pondini
    Level 2 (296 points)
    iLife
    Sep 8, 2013 11:58 AM in response to Pondini

    Thank you Pondini and Kurt Lang!

     

     

    Yes I know! My Spotlight I switched off. I don't remember how I did; it was complicate. I only wanted to support the original poster, who did not get any answer. And I am here in the wrong forum: because I am on Mountain Lion. But nevertheless: I hate it, if the Operating System is doing something, which I don't need and control. (I use my shell and believe me or not, I am much faster than many people poking around with their mices in the Finder.) I am not using Spotlight and I am not using any Timemachine and I dont need a versioning of my files. I have my own backup system. Guess what? Yes, it is a Shell-Script. Timemachine contrary to Spotlight is easy to switch off in the Preferences. But why is appearing this .DocumentRevisions-V100/ on my root permanently and also of other mounted Volumes, although all these background "features" are switches off?

     

    Please Apple, give us back our OS!

     

    Please, I am seriously thinking about a switch to a Unix-System! Hey Apple Folx! I don't trust you anymore after all this noise around the world. I know you are not worried about our privacy - but there are some people out here in Europe who are!

     

     

    marek

  • by Pondini,

    Pondini Pondini Sep 9, 2013 7:28 AM in response to Marek Stepanek
    Level 8 (38,747 points)
    Sep 9, 2013 7:28 AM in response to Marek Stepanek

    Marek Stepanek wrote:

    . . .

    Please Apple, give us back our OS!

     

    Please, I am seriously thinking about a switch to a Unix-System! Hey Apple Folx! I don't trust you anymore after all this noise around the world. I know you are not worried about our privacy - but there are some people out here in Europe who are!

    Posting here is extremely unlikely to get Apple's attention.

     

    Try this:  http://www.apple.com/feedback/

  • by Anthony M Kassir MD,

    Anthony M Kassir MD Anthony M Kassir MD Sep 10, 2013 1:41 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 2 (220 points)
    iPad
    Sep 10, 2013 1:41 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Kurt Lang wrote:

     

    Turning it off in Lion is difficult. Much easier to do in Mountain Lion.

     

    Hello Kurt:

     

    I found your statement interesting. As I am now using Mountain Lion, I'm curious: How does one turn off Versions in Mountain Lion?

     

    I'm confident Versions files in .DocumentRevisions-V100 are unintelligible and virtually inaccessible, and more importantly, encrypted, as the documents in question are on an encrypted drive.

     

    Thanks,

    Anthony M. Kassir, M.D.

  • by Kurt Lang,Helpful

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Sep 10, 2013 1:48 PM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD
    Level 8 (37,897 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 10, 2013 1:48 PM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD

    You don't really turn it off, as much as circumvent what it does by default. By changing enough settings in the OS, you can get ML to behave almost exactly like Snow Leopard or earlier.

     

    Step one: Open the System Preferences and click on the General tab. By default, two options are off. Turn on the check boxes for Ask to keep changes when closing documents, and Close windows when quitting an application.

     

    Screen Shot 2012-10-29 at 8.26.52 AM.png

     

    The first is particularly important to Save As since you do not want Autosave/Versions saving anything without your consent. If you don't check the first box, your original document will receive the same changes as your Save As document, defeating the entire purpose of not having your original assume all of the same changes. The second isn't necessary to Save As, but if you're like me, you also have no desire for your desktop Mac to behave like an iPad, which restores all apps back to their last state during a startup or restart whether you want it to or not.

     

    Step two: Related to the Close windows when quitting an application check box is reopening windows when logging back in. Again, it's an iPad like behavior, which many desktop users also didn't like. Select and Restart or Shut Down from the Apple menu and uncheck the box for Reopen windows when logging back in.

     

    Screen Shot 2012-10-29 at 8.29.53 AM.png

     

    Your Mac will now work like any Mac before Lion, 10.7. Apps will not launch themselves and program windows will not restore themselves on a restart or power on.

     

    Step three: Back to Save As. Open the System Preferences and click on Keyboard. ChooseApplication Shortcuts in the left column. By default, the only item there is Show Help menu. You're going to add a new one. Click the + button, type Save As and stop. Be sure to capitalize each word.

     

    Three periods does not work here, you must enter a true ellipses. On a U.S. keyboard, that's Option+; (Option key plus the semi-colon). Where it asks what keystroke you want assigned to your new entry, press Command+Shift+S. Click the Add button and close the System Preferences. Your screen should look like the image below.

     

    Screen Shot 2012-10-29 at 8.38.16 AM.png

     

    Close any applications you may have had open and relaunch them. Save As… will now replace Duplicate in all menus where Command+Shift+S would be. Duplicate will remain in your menus, but now has no keystroke (on the desktop, Command+D will be Duplicate, like it always has been). Save As will also work as you've always used it. After saving your document with a new name, you can close the original and it will do so without asking if your want to save your changes to the original. Even better, the original closes without any of the changes applied to it. And by having the check box on for Ask to keep changes when closing documents, you can close a document that has changes without Autosave/Versions saving those changes without asking. You will instead get a choice ofRevert Changes, which will have the same effect as the old Don't Save.

     

    If you search around, you'll find Terminal commands to completely disable Autosave/Versions globally. Don't do that. If you do, then even with the above changes, Save As… will disappear from Preview. The only commands in the menu to save any file will be Save or Export. The Terminal command doesn't affect TextEdit the same way, Save As… stays in the menu. I don't have any of the iLife or iWork apps, so I don't know how it would affect those. From those reporting who have tried these steps, Save As… returns to Command+Shift+S.  It doesn't matter that Autosave/Versions is active at this point. With the changes above, your Mac will essentially behave like OS X in Snow Leopard or earlier. Not that Autosave/Versions working in the background still won't slow your system down when working with large files, but at this time, you can't have it both ways.

  • by Anthony M Kassir MD,

    Anthony M Kassir MD Anthony M Kassir MD Sep 10, 2013 2:30 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 2 (220 points)
    iPad
    Sep 10, 2013 2:30 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Wow! Thanks for the incredibly quick, detailed, and helpful reply, Kurt! Way beyond what I expected.

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Sep 10, 2013 6:04 PM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD
    Level 8 (37,897 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 10, 2013 6:04 PM in response to Anthony M Kassir MD

    I type really really fast! :-D. Actually, I've posted this a few times around these forums. I just had to find one, then copy/paste it here.