.Spotlight-V100

Question

.Spotlight-V100

Hi,

I am trying to backup my entire internal drive to an external drive and make it bootable using Retrospect Express.
I get this message when I try to back up:

"Duplicate Files on Destination
Your copy cannot contine beacuse your source and destination both contain the following files:
.Spotlight-V100
Please select a new source/destination or resolve the conflict using the finder"

Anyone has a clue what's happening here?

Thank you

PowerMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.1)

Posted on Jul 13, 2006 5:25 PM

Reply

Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

83,529 points

Dec 25, 2017 7:18 AM in response to baltwo

* Cough * * Cough *

Careful! Sudo rm -R with one small typo can actually erase your entire hard drive.

If you must erase files like this, use a utility which allows you to be more specific about which file you are going to delete such as *******

And since in this case the file is invisible, you'll need Tinkertool to temporarily make it visible.

Most files which are invisible should be left untouched.

Whenever doing a wholesale erase like this, it is always wise to backup your data prior to doing such a change as my FAQ explains:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

Both of the above mentioned utilities should not be used for their other features unless specifically recommended by an expert. They can do weird things to the system which a normal user should never do.

Only delete invisible files if it really makes sense to do, and only do so when recommended by experts. When done doing so, make the other invisible files invisible again.

As for Retrospect, you should make sure the version you are using is Tiger compatible with EMC/Dantz. It should be able to handle the Spotlight file without issue. Older versions are not able to.

<Edited by Host>

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 13, 2006 5:33 PM in response to Maggie Dziadkiewicz1

.Spotlight_V100 is the folder containing the Spotlight indexes for the volume. Every volume that Spotlight has indexed will have that folder. Though I don't know if it will purely answer the question of what to do about it, you might want to take a look at this FAQ:
Preventing Spotlight from Indexing Backup Volumes

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 14, 2006 12:03 PM in response to Mike-N-nahyunil

Thanks for that.
Well, it seems that I have to delete the .Spotlight-V100 before I can do anything.

Anyone know how to delete it?

Reply

Answer 4

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 14, 2006 12:48 PM in response to Maggie Dziadkiewicz1

First, turn off indexing on the source and target volumes: SysPrefs->Spotlight->Privacy, click on the + button, and add the source and target volumes. Then, launch the Terminal.app, type this in, and hit the return key:

sudo rm -R /.Spotlight-V100

enter your admin password and hit the return key. Quit the Terminal app.

After backing up, remove the source from the privacy list.

Reply

Answer 5

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 14, 2006 1:40 PM in response to a brody

Cautions noted and sound as always.

Reply