Cauldie

Q: File folders turn into exec files

On a school iMac, I created folders which contained html, jpg, pdf files and other folders. I copied these folders to my thumb drive (the one I use all the time). When I got home, I put this thumb drive into my iMac (Yosemite OS) to finish the folder transfers. When I found the folders I was looking for, they had turned into exec files. What happened?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 11, 2014 7:54 PM

Close

Q: File folders turn into exec files

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 3 of 3
  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 15, 2015 10:57 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 5 (7,527 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 15, 2015 10:57 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Kurt Lang wrote:

     

     

    chflags nohidden *

     

    Do not press enter yet. Put a space after the asterisk, then drag and drop the icon of the flash drive from the desktop into the Terminal window. It will fill in the path name. Now press enter. All files on the drive should now be visible and you can copy your data to your desktop or other location.

     

    Kurt, shouldn't the command be …

    chflags nohidden /Volumes/[name-of-disk]/*

     

    If you do as you describe the wildcard is before /Volumes, so won't that start at the current working directory & then fail to find the dropped file path ( /Volumes/[name-of-disk]/ )?

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Jul 15, 2015 11:07 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 15, 2015 11:07 AM in response to Drew Reece

    Hi Drew,

     

    I was testing this ad nauseum before posting. What you note is what I tried in testing many times and in many variations. Most that I knew should work with that type of argument would simply return to the next prompt in Terminal as if it were correct, but nothing would change on the drive.

     

    I finally resorted to the "simple" method of entering the drive volume by drag and drop and it worked.

  • by VikingOSX,

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Jul 15, 2015 11:21 AM in response to clintonium
    Level 7 (20,819 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 15, 2015 11:21 AM in response to clintonium

    Voice to whom? Apple is not here. Hi-jacking a post, for a different issue, or attempting emphasis with a “me too” post — just in case we need to be reminded again, makes us less efficient, and takes more of our time to consume and filter. It slows the real help that is needed by the owner of the original post.

     

    As you can see, there are others that have hi-jacked this post with their own issues, and should have started a new main post.

     

    We want you to post questions, and contribute to an ongoing post if you can add value to the solution. I would not recommend you unsubscribe to this community, just submit a new post when the time is right for you. Someone will respond with the goal of helping you in your particular solution need.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 15, 2015 11:26 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 5 (7,527 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 15, 2015 11:26 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Kurt thanks for confirming it just looks curiously wrong to my eyes

  • by Polushenie,

    Polushenie Polushenie Jul 17, 2015 10:25 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 10:25 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thanks Kurt.

     

    I actually found and downloaded this software, UsbFix , on one of the sites you listed earlier. It finds and deletes the virus on all infected portable devices. It worked and all my files are restored!

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Jul 17, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Polushenie
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 17, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Polushenie

    Excellent! Yes, it was necessary to get rid of the virus since it would otherwise keep moving between the hard drive and all drives you connect to the Windows computer. Part of the UsbFix software must be to also remove the hidden attribute of all files on the drive. Otherwise, the virus would be gone, but the files would still be hidden.

first Previous Page 3 of 3