Invisible Files?

General Forums Tech
1

I need to find myself an invisible file that is in a folder but am not sure how to do it…?

How do I do that on Mac OS X?

2

Files are usually invisible for a reason.

You can either do the command-line thing (it’s unix after all), or you can download something like tinkertool and use that to make them visible.  The bonus is that tinkertool lets you set a bunch of Mac OS X options that you normally can’t do without command-line unix magic.

bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html

If you’re doing the invisible file thing to copy files from an iPod, there are much easier ways.

3

Thanks, that’ll come in handy.

It’s not for iPod use but rather for the work that I do when out Sailing the Seas of Cheese.

4

Right, now that I’ve found the Invisible Files I would like to move/copy them but that option isn’t readily available to me.

How can I move and copy Invisible Files?

5

Again, they’re invisible for a reason, usually.  You’re probably not meant to be messing with them.

Select the file, and hit apple-I and see if it’s locked. 

What are these files?

6

But for this file I was specifically instructed to be messing with it.

With Apple-I it does not show that it’s locked, but when I try to copy/paste or just regularly move it here is what it says:

The item “xxxxxxxx” cannot be replaced because it is invisible.

I’m trying to replace one invisible file with another, like what you do to open an egg :wink:

7

Does this file begin with a dot?  Like .something ?

Can you rename or mv the file?  Where is it located?  Can you try doing this in the terminal?

mv /path/to/filename /path/to/filename.bak
mv /path/to/newfile /path/to/filename

something like that?

If it doesn’t work, try

sudo bash

first.

If you tell me what exactly you’re trying to do, I can probably give you step-by-step instructions.  Is this a crack or something like that?

8

Yeah, it’s a crack :neutral_face:

What I tried doing instead was to remove the original file from the folder and then manually moved the cracked version back in. My logic is that this basically does the same thing as when you replace a file that already exists. No?

But yeah, I was basically trying to crack a new program I got and to do that the instructions required playing with an invisible file.

Now, after having installed said program, how do I uninstall it and all of its components?

9

Yes, your logic about moving files is right.

Just put the program you want to delete in the trash, and it will be gone.

10

Perfect!

Thanks for that back-and-forth MiG.