How to delete .ds_store from external backup?

Question

Level 4

1,899 points

How to delete .ds_store from external backup?

Finder refuses to delete the .ds_store detritus off my external hard disk. I'm 99% convinced a bunch of them are corrupted (messy messy icons) and would like to start fresh. Onyx only deletes the .ds_store off the booted disk and my external isn't bootable.

Is there some arcane UNIX command that would work? Or should I go with plan b - delete the .ds_store from my OS 8 machine?

Thanks for any help.

PB G4 12, 1gHZ/768 mb RAM, iPod Shuffle, Mac OS X (10.3.8), PM7300/200 416 mb RAM OS 8.6/8.5/7.5.5

Posted on Mar 24, 2006 6:38 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Mar 24, 2006 7:08 AM in response to Marlinespike

Go to www.versiontracker.com or www.macupdate.com and do a search on "ds_store" without quotes. You'll find a number of utilities for the job.

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Answer 2

nifflerX

Level 4

2,826 points

Mar 24, 2006 10:24 AM in response to Marlinespike

I would highly recommend following Kappy's advice and using some of the pre-built GUI but there are UNIX commands that can be used. If you're interested the UNIX command you are looking for is 'find'. Your command will have the find command with at minimum the -name and -exec flags. See the man pages of the find command for more info, or just use the stuff from versiontracker.com.

-NifflerX

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Answer 3

Marlinespike Author

Level 4

1,899 points

Mar 24, 2006 11:11 AM in response to nifflerX

Thanks for the replies. Versiontracker only lists Cocktail and DeStore 1.3 search results. cocktail doesn't say it deletes on external drives that aren't bootable. :/ The other one gets bad reviews.

I tried deleting from OS 8.6 search window but the Finder wants me to do it one at a time. O.o It says it can't move them all to one location.

Maybe I'll try one of these from Mac Update search.

I'm afraid UNIX is over my head unless someone tells me exactly what to type in termimal. No idea what man pages are.

edited p.s. I'm going to try DSWipe 1.0. Fingers crossed!

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Answer 4

Marlinespike Author

Level 4

1,899 points

Mar 24, 2006 11:38 AM in response to Marlinespike

It didn't work. 😟 After running it the !@#$%^&* .ds_store files are still there when I turn on view invisibles. The folders are still a disordered mess.

in it's help file it says you can recursively delete all .ds_store from terminal with this command

sudo find / -name DS_Store -depth -exec rm {}\

I'm not going to try that unless someone who knows UNIX tells me it's safe. 😟

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Answer 5

nifflerX

Level 4

2,826 points

Mar 24, 2006 11:50 AM in response to Marlinespike

Have you tried DE_Store Cleaner or De_DDS 1.0. De_DDS has good reviews on their site, and I've heard from many people who have used DE_Store Cleaner. As for your UNIX command, it will run but not do anything 'cause the file you are looking for is '.DS_Store' your command line name has no dot in front of it. Also, I would recommend you not run it as root unless you have to. HTH.

-NifflerX

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Answer 6

Marlinespike Author

Level 4

1,899 points

Mar 24, 2006 12:36 PM in response to nifflerX

Thanks.

DE_Store Cleaner did the trick. The link to De_DDS 1.0.unfortunately was broken.

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Answer 7

nifflerX

Level 4

2,826 points

Mar 24, 2006 12:39 PM in response to Marlinespike

Glad it worked 🙂.

-NifflerX

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