johnz@basser.oz (John Zic) (08/27/85)
I have uncovered a REALLY cute problem with Finder 4.1.
The problem is as follows:
I have been using a disk for quite a while now as a temporary holding
area, moving files and applications to and from it (quite a lot).
Just the other night, the disk refused to eject, with a dialog box
telling me that "there is insufficent memory to eject this disk"..
"Humm", I thought. "I wonder why this is so?"
(I have a Thin Mac, by the way)
So I leapt in with ResEdit, and had a look at the DeskTop File.
What a mess! Icons (in ICN#), and their associated BNDLs, cluttering
up the DeskTop. The IMPORTANT THING is that over 90% of the icons and bndls
were NOT being used by any applications on that disk!!! These are the
remains of files and applications LONG GONE... over 6 months,in fact!
And I thought that the mac would be clever-er than that!
Question:
Is there any way of garbage-collecting these icons etc AUTOMATICALLY,
as opposed to using BFI (brute force and ignorance) and the ResEdit
to (periodically) delete unwanted things on the DeskTop???
Here's hoping ) -: )
John Zic
Basser Dept. of Computer Science
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australiajimb@amdcad.UUCP (Jim Budler) (08/28/85)
In article <414@basser.oz> johnz@basser.oz (John Zic) writes: >I have uncovered a REALLY cute problem with Finder 4.1. > >The problem is as follows: >... > up the DeskTop. The IMPORTANT THING is that over 90% of the icons and bndls > were NOT being used by any applications on that disk!!! These are the > remains of files and applications LONG GONE... over 6 months,in fact! >... >Question: > Is there any way of garbage-collecting these icons etc AUTOMATICALLY, > as opposed to using BFI (brute force and ignorance) and the ResEdit > to (periodically) delete unwanted things on the DeskTop??? > 1) It's not new with finder 4.1. 1.1g had it also. 2) What is new with finder 4.1 is that Option-Command double click on finder to to launch (hold the two keys down until the menu bar reappears) does not lose your folders anymore. 3) I have a program I collected from somewhere (probably Compuserve) which will purge the Desktop. It's called PurgeIcons. If I get requests I'll upload it. If I get flames I will get upset. -- Jim Budler Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (408) 749-5806 UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amdcad!jimb Compuserve: 72415,1200 "... Don't sue me, I'm just the piano player!...."
sdh@alice.UucP (Steve Hawley) (08/29/85)
Yes there is a way to garbage collect the desktop. After turning on the machine (or after a reset) hold down the option and period keys. This will rebuild the desktop entirely. That means that all unused icons will be removed, all desk accessories that are non-standard will be removed, all folders will lose their names and their correct levels of nesting. Hope this helps. Steve Hawley alice!sdh