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User profile for user: bob277
bob277 Author
User level: Level 1
17 points

RESOURCE.FRK and FINDER.DAT

On 17 Note 2006 “mikestrong” asked about folders named RESOURCE.FRK and files named FINDER.DAT – what they are and are they needed.



“Kappy” responded that they’re created when you copy certain Mac folders and files onto a PC-formatted drive, and you need them to be able to restore the folders and files to a Mac.




MY QUESTION:  If I have FINDER.DAT files on a hard drive connected to and accessed from my Mac, and no longer use any MS-DOS or Windows equipment, can I just delete the FINDER.DAT files?




Also, “Dr. Smoke” said, in responding to mike strong on 17 Nov 2006, <https://discussions.apple.com/thread/737597?answerId=737597021#737597021>,


“See also this user tip, <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607316>, for additional details.”  This link no longer works.  Is there anyway of seeing the details that Dr. Smoke was referencing?




Thanks!

Posted on Jan 18, 2022 6:07 PM

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User profile for user: a brody
a brody
User level: Level 10
84,061 points

Posted on Feb 12, 2022 5:14 AM

No. If you are seeing files related to the Finder, these should remain untouched. The operating system has many files which under normal views should remain hidden to avoid accidental deletion. If you are seeing a view on specific files under System, Library, or three letter unix file name folders such as /pvt/ /etc/ or other such folders, these are unique to the system. Any access to those files could completely corrupt the integrity of the Mac OS system if you don't know what they actually belong to.


Mind you, if these files are on disks that do not serve a boot functionality, and are created along side files that were used in an MS-DOS world, meta data stored in those files could make it so that the Mac OS system loses information about icons or application association in Mac OS. While that can be rebuilt, the need to do so should be avoided unless you no longer have use for the documents on that disk.

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User profile for user: a brody
a brody
User level: Level 10
84,061 points

Feb 12, 2022 5:14 AM in response to bob277

No. If you are seeing files related to the Finder, these should remain untouched. The operating system has many files which under normal views should remain hidden to avoid accidental deletion. If you are seeing a view on specific files under System, Library, or three letter unix file name folders such as /pvt/ /etc/ or other such folders, these are unique to the system. Any access to those files could completely corrupt the integrity of the Mac OS system if you don't know what they actually belong to.


Mind you, if these files are on disks that do not serve a boot functionality, and are created along side files that were used in an MS-DOS world, meta data stored in those files could make it so that the Mac OS system loses information about icons or application association in Mac OS. While that can be rebuilt, the need to do so should be avoided unless you no longer have use for the documents on that disk.

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RESOURCE.FRK and FINDER.DAT

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