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silvershield

Q: folder changing to an exec file

I have a folder on a flash drive that changed to an exec file. Double clicking on it opens Word. The Get Info says it is a Word document. The folder has Word documents in it. I copied the folder to my computer and it still showed up as an exec file. This happens on other computers too. I would love an answer to this problem, as the files are needed.

PowerBook G4 Al 15", Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Oct 23, 2007 11:15 PM

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Q: folder changing to an exec file

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  • by McCrystal Image,

    McCrystal Image McCrystal Image Nov 5, 2007 4:36 AM in response to silvershield
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 5, 2007 4:36 AM in response to silvershield
    I am having a very similar problem. I went in to the apple store and spent a few hours with the genius guys. We thought we had the answer in rebuilding the raid that the files reside on. It did not help with most of the files. I have looked around the internet quite a bit to see if there is an application to reset the resource forks on the file and there seems to be nothing that works. Any ideas? Have you come to a solution yet?
  • by neutron,

    neutron neutron Nov 5, 2007 7:31 AM in response to silvershield
    Level 2 (315 points)
    Nov 5, 2007 7:31 AM in response to silvershield
    Go to the Finder, right click on the folder-app, and select Show Package Contents. Then select all of the files within and copy them to a new folder. It's not a very good fix if you have a lot of these folders, but you can try it.

    Let me know.
    ~D
  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Nov 5, 2007 7:47 AM in response to silvershield
    Level 8 (48,821 points)
    Nov 5, 2007 7:47 AM in response to silvershield
    How is the flash drive formatted?

    I should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
  • by silvershield,

    silvershield silvershield Nov 5, 2007 7:07 PM in response to neutron
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2007 7:07 PM in response to neutron
    Thanks for suggestion. What is the 'folder-app'? I did right click on the grey exec icon but did not get the action you suggested. I think it is still treating it as a document rather than a folder.
    thanks again
    silvershield
  • by silvershield,

    silvershield silvershield Nov 5, 2007 7:10 PM in response to Klaus1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2007 7:10 PM in response to Klaus1
    I'm not sure how the flashdrive is formatted as it is a workmates drive. As she uses a PC at home it may not be mac journalled. I have told her to format that way but i guess that shutting the door after the horse has bolted!
    Thanks for your help
    silvershield
  • by silvershield,

    silvershield silvershield Nov 5, 2007 7:12 PM in response to McCrystal Image
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2007 7:12 PM in response to McCrystal Image
    Sorry but no. Let me know if you come up with anything
    thanks
    silvershield
  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Nov 5, 2007 8:44 PM in response to silvershield
    Level 6 (8,486 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Nov 5, 2007 8:44 PM in response to silvershield
    You can see what is going on with the file/folder by using terminal.

    Does the file end with .exe?

    Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
    #mount will show you all your volumes.
    # /Volumes/COPYIT is my fat32 flash drive
    mac $ mount
    /dev/disk1s10 on / (NFS exported, local, journaled)
    devfs on /dev (local)
    fdesc on /dev (union)
    <volfs> on /.vol
    /dev/disk2 on /Volumes/COPYIT (local, nodev, nosuid)
    automount -nsl [311] on /Network (automounted)
    automount -fstab [315] on /automount/Servers (automounted)
    automount -static [315] on /automount/static (automounted)

    # Will show you what Unix thinks the files is.
    # d means directory
    mac $ ls -lF /Volumes/COPYIT/
    total 38080
    ...
    -rwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 26698 Oct 12 14:59 ae.jpeg*
    -rwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 73694 Oct 12 14:30 alltiff*
    drwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 4096 Apr 11 2007 answers/
    ...
    # l is long
    # F is type of file where / is directory
    # a is all as in ls -laF
    mac $ ls -lF /Volumes/COPYIT/answers/
    total 80
    -rwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 920 Apr 22 2007 FINDER.DAT*
    -rwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 2797 Mar 20 2007 Fix Vista MBR.html*
    ...

    #cd is change directory
    mac $ cd /Volumes/COPYIT/answers/
    # pwd is print working directory
    mac $ pwd
    /Volumes/COPYIT/answers


    You can rename a file by doing
    mv oldname newname

    cp is copy
    see
    man cp
    to copy a directory example:
    cd
    cd ~/Desktop
    pwd
    cp -R /Volumes/COPYIT/answers newanswers

    Robert