MacBook .Spotlight-v100 question

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Level 1

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MacBook .Spotlight-v100 question

Hey guys,

I have a flash drive which a lot of people have access to and I noticed that it has a .Spotlight-v100 folder on it. I was just wondering is this a security risk and what information could be obtained from this folder?

Thanks.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.2), 2GB RAM

Posted on Feb 29, 2008 4:10 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Matt Clifton

Level 7

29,981 points

Feb 29, 2008 8:23 PM in response to Jon182

Hi

That's the Spotlight index folder, which contains databases of file names, content, and other searchable information. While it is a database, and not "easily" read, it can potentially reveal information from files that exist on the drive. You can exempt it from Spotlight's index through the Spotlight panel in System Preferences (go to the Privacy tab and drag the mounted flash drive into the list.)

Matt

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Answer 2

Mar 1, 2008 5:11 AM in response to Jon182

Just the flash drive's files. Each drive contains its own individual Spotlight index.

Matt

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Answer 3

Mar 2, 2008 6:16 AM in response to Jon182

I believe that Spotlight actually re-indexes a FAT32 drive each time it's connected, so yes, it would pick up on those Windows-added files.

You might like to look at this related hint from MacOSXHints.com:

Disable Spotlight on a FAT32 external drive

Matt

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Answer 4

Jon182 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 1, 2008 5:32 AM in response to Matt Clifton

Thanks again Matt, sorry for all the newbie questions.

I was also wondering will this folder also index all the files that have been moved on to the flash drive from a Windows machine once the drive has been connected back to a Mac?

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Answer 5

Jon182 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 1, 2008 4:35 AM in response to Matt Clifton

Thanks Matt,

Does the folder just contain file inforamtion from the flash drive its self or also from the other Macs and PCs that it has been connected too?

Thanks.

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