OS X V10.7 Lion :: Files Are Being Turned Into An Alias?
Apr 17, 2012
I am having some trouble with some new iMacs that are running Lion. Sometimes they will turn a file into an alias. It replaces the original with the alias and will not allow me to access the file any longer like the original is completely missing. It seems to be random, it does not happen to one type of file or any one program. It has happened on our servers (when copying pdfs and saving indesign files) and also locally. I was able to find a temporary fix by downloading path finder and unchecking the "alias bit" option. This seems to fix the issue at hand, but I need a more permanent solution, or at least something I can tell my users to avoid doing.
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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May 29, 2012
Why are alias files so big now? Before (OSX 10.3), they were rarely bigger than 1 KB, but now (OSX 10.7), they're often up to 1.6 MB! Can we do something to keep them small?  As I understand it, an alias is just a pointer or reference to another file. When you open or print it, the operating system actually opens or prints the original file referenced. All that needs to be stored is the directory path to the original file, either (or both) as a full reference or a relative reference, plus its file system ID and perhaps a drive ID (in case it's moved). This should take only a few bytes. On prior Mac operating system versions (e.g., 10.3.9), these alias files were just a few hundred bytes in size, rarely over 1,400 bytes total. But now I notice that, under Mac OS 10.7, newly created alias files are always hundreds of KB large, and can typically be as huge as 1.6 MB! The custom icon only accounts for a fraction of this size. However, sometimes they can still be as small as before (only a few hundred bytes). Old aliases from a prior OS version (usually but not always) still work in opening their original file, so apparently we don't need the extra size. So, what is in these files?! I know these are analogous to "shortcut" files under MS Windows, which are not that large.  Having aliases be so huge defeats the purpose of a small file reference that can be used in multiple other places. One would like to use an alias so as to not have to keep a copy of a large file. But I notice that MB-sized aliases are often created even when the original file is a tiny 1 KB file. Moreover, a larger original file might create a smaller alias than that for a smaller original file, even when both original files are in the same folder. What gives?  I use aliases extensively, so as to keep references to the same original file in multiple folders, since these files fall into the multiple categories that each folder contains. By using aliases, I ensure that there is only a single "master" version that is edited when a file is opened from any of those folders. Many of the original files are pretty small, yet their aliases are many orders of magnitude bigger. This is very discouraging towards using this handy feature. Is there something I am doing wrong to end up making them so big – perhaps a system setting? What is in these files that they need to be so huge? I suppose I can use Unix symbolic link files by using a command line in Terminal, such as 'ln -s originalfile linkfile', but these are less functional, since you can't move or rename the originalfile without breaking the linkfile's association to it.Â
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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May 29, 2012
I don't know what happened to my Mac today, i assumed it's a virus but the strange here is that virus is only affect Windows OS. The story is, I have a friend, she borrowed my camera, as she returned it, i was on boot camp and was using Windows for gaminng, i plugged my camera and delete photos that my friend has taken. I noticed nothing strange and i didn't have any Anti-virus program on Windows. Until i login to my Mac, i see all of the folders on my Macintosh HD drive is now exe files. I can still access these folders by using the "Go" option on the Menu Bar. I downloaded Kaspersky and scan for viruses, it showed that the drive is infected with Worm.Win32.Autorun.gvy. If i try to delete the file, it also delete the whole Folder which causes my Mac to crash and need to restart.
Info:
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Jul 23, 2008
I want to create stacks for my Applications and put them in the dock by type. Utilities, Music & Video, iLife, etc. I think what I will do is make aliases for all the applications and put them in subfolders separate from the Applications folder, so then I have these 3-6 subfolders in my dock as stacks that I can display in Grid or Fan mode. And I don't have to see all my applications in one jumbled Grid and search for them.
Yes, I know Spotlight or QuickSilver could access them differently.
My question is, when I have created this duplicate system with the aliases to the apps, how do I remove the Alias (arrow) portion of the icon so that they look just like the actual icon down in the stack (or in my subfolders, etc)?
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May 14, 2010
I was just about to burn a cd to back up some files. I put them all on the cd (didn't click burn yet) and then I deleted them off my computer, and the clear my trash can. I went to burn the cd and realized I had made a bad mistake. It still shows the alias' on the cd folder. Is there any way I can get the files out of the alias? Or am I too far screwed and have to get a recovery program?
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Mar 27, 2009
Does making an Alias of my movie files to point to Front Row doubles the files and take up more space in the HD? I don't understand what Alias really is.
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Nov 1, 2008
I was cleaning up my desktop, and I created a new folder and was going to just drag everything into it. I selected everything, dragged and WHOA! All of my original files were GONE and only alias's were left. I search and the originals aren't found, I open the alias's and they want me to find the originals. The originals are just GONE. And I still don't know what I did!!
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Apr 26, 2012
So I had 2 alias images(jpg) that weren't working. I tried dragging them,fixing disks...etc and nothing worked. They were obviously images that became corrupted and missing.Â
So I read somewhere to type the name of the files in spotlight,and that worked. I just typed the first 3 numbers and the files dissapeared from "finder".Â
I was wondering how did that happen? and could the files be still on my drive?
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Apr 5, 2012
So I just was at the apple store and I asked a Genuis how to do it but he had no clue so I wanna ask you how can I make an alias of this folder
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Apr 10, 2012
I moved all the iTunes content on an external HD. Now I would like my user Music folder redirect to the Music folder in external HD.
Info:
iMac (24-inch Early 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Apr 24, 2012
I have several Alias Icons on my desktop which are unable to be removed. I have tried changing the rw permission and reselecting the original appliaction etc. But still unable to delete these alias icons. can someone point me in the right dircetion to use Terminal command such as rm -f file name to permanetely remove these left over icons. Before OS X Lion 10.7 I was able to chmod etc and delete the icon.
Info:
MacBook
Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
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May 29, 2012
I tried replacing it with a blank with candybar, but it won't work. The alias folders came out having 2 overlapping icons.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Jun 9, 2012
OSX 10.7.4 with Excel 14.2.2.(for Mac 2011) and Dropbox:Â Original files are saved in Dropbox folder on Mac; Aliases are created there and stored local on Mac HD. Using Finder and navigating to Alias works fine; files open, can be modified and resaved. However, using Excel File Open command and navigating to the same Alias results in "File Not Found or Could Not Be Opened" error message.
Info:
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Oct 27, 2009
It started with a USB drive attached to my Airport BaseStation. It was mounted on the desktop but whenever I clicked on it I got the message:'The alias "Maxtor Basic" can't be opened because the original item can't be found.'
I have three options underneath:
1.to delete the alias - which gives me a message: 'The item "Maxtor Basic' can't be moved to the Trash because it can't be deleted.';
2.to fix the alias (this option doesn't work because if I get the network up on a Finder window all the drives show as available except the one in question, which is greyed out; and
3. to press 'OK' which basically does nothing.
I can eject the icon on the desktop but when I try and connect again I just get another icon that thinks it's an alias (there's no little arrow at the bottom of it, though). I've tried restarting the computer, disconnecting the drives and switching them off, disconnecting all users from the Airport disks page and none of these works. Is it possible the disk itself thinks it's an alias?
Following on from that I've found that some of the files in my other remote disks (attached with FireWire and USB directly to the computer) are doing the same thing. Have I caught a bug? Is this a Snow Leopard issue? Please don't tell me to format any hard drives - I've had to start again so many times recently I'm beginning to consider giving my computer away and living without it!
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May 16, 2012
I recently noted that accented characters are lost in long name description of email alias address when using Mail.app but ok when using webmail in iCloud.com Setup in the prefs of the master mail account in iCloud, the long name description for the corresponding alias.is transcripted as "Frdric" in Mail.app when selecting the sender address in the dropdown list box.However, all is fine when using webmail within iCloud.com The problem appears only with OSX not with iOS.
I have been using my alias with accented char in its long name description for the last 4 years with Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion until recently. I can replicate on 3 differents Macs. Even tried to create a new user account.
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Jun 11, 2012
I am creating 2 AppleScripts to automate mounting Windows shared drives on Lion Macbook Airs. The first creates an alias on the user's desktop to the user's shared drive. This is functional and doing what I want it to do. The 2nd script attempts to create a favorite to the alias in Finder's sidebar. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get this script to work.Â
I am attempting to create an alias on a user's desktop to a folder in a Windows network share.Here is my applescript: set user_name to (short user name of (system info))tell application "Finder" activate set myFolder to ((home as text) & "Desktop:" & user_name)select myFolder tell application "System Events" keystroke "t" using command down end tellend tell The script runs, Finder opens to the user's folder, but nothing is added to the side.Â
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Apr 17, 2010
I had clips from my camera that I put into imovie and it's just fine, then later on out of nowhere when I start it it says something like "this imovie project is made for an older version of imovie, would you like to upgrade it and make it match your current version".
Strange thing is I never upgraded my IMovie or anything and now I open it and the videos are in the trash, but instead of the clips I have, it's dragonball z clips with the filename of my files which makes no logical sense. How can I get my clips back and why did this happen?
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Jul 1, 2012
I have turned off Restore Windows in Lion, but everytime I start up it opens apps I have shut down.I find this function is not useful. I would rather have a manual restore that I can call when I want.Sort of like the Go to Recent Folders menu.
Info:
MacBookPro, Mac OS X (10.7.3), I7, 8GB, 750GB, Lion
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Mar 22, 2012
I've just turned File Vault on on my MacBook Pro 13". I've followed all the steps: noting the FileVault Key, storing it into Apple and restarting my Mac. When my Mac has started, it has asked me for my login, and everything goes OK until the moment my desktop appears. At that moment in time, my Mac hangs, and I get the "colourful beach ball" and nothing seems to happen. I do have a backup on my Time Machine and I can format the disk and start over, but I don't understand why my Mac is freezing just because I've turned FileVault on.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Apr 3, 2012
I am running OS X 10.7.3 on a MacBook Pro. I have switched from using Time Machine (TM) for backups to another product. I have turned off TM but am still getting the error message "
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Jun 25, 2012
Whenever I turn my MacBook pro on, all the other stuff is loaded (MS word/excel/powerpoint), Spotify, iCal, etc., are automatically loaded, so in order for me to go to my desired website, I have to close (x) out all applications loaded.
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Apr 14, 2012
I previously installed lion os x on my macbook which was a snow leopard. When I then turn it on, it shows the grey screen and stays there forever nothing happens.
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7)
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May 20, 2012
If I set my macbook pro ( Lion ) into stand by, after a few hours it's completely off. I have to push the power button to start it new. I have this problem since I've installed OSX Lion.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4), I7 , 4 GB ram , 500 GB HDD
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May 4, 2012
I have had this issue with my address book for a while in that it creates new entries with just an email address as the actual entry and then hundreds of other email addresses from address book as this entry's additional email addresses.Â
At the same time I had an issue with Apple Mail that I thought was unrelated but now I am not that sure anymore. When I turn Apple Mail on, it sends out emails that look like an endless chain of responses (spam) to the same email that advertises all kinds of stuff.Â
When I first noticed the issue I turned Mail off (a year ago). After updating to Lion I tried to use mail again but had the same issue and have not been using it since. But I appear to still find new entries in my address book all the time.Â
I ran some software (ClamX) but wasn't able to find any malware so far. I can't imagine someone hacking into my machine and doing all this my hand. For what?Â
So I am wondering whether anyone has had similar symptoms on their Mac?
Info:
iMac9,1, Mac OS X (10.6.2)
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May 6, 2008
Not sure how I accomplished this but in my iPhoto library I now have blank spaces where I used to have photos.
When I click on the blank space it stays blank but it shows under title either MG-4710 or DSC01296.JPG. It also shows the size of the blank photo.
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Jun 8, 2009
I realize that iChat has tie-ins with the address book, so you can take people from there, which I'm sure is great if you use the address book.
There's a standard aim protocol feature that allows you to set aliases for people on your buddy list that is NOT stored locally.
This means I can set their alias on AIM 5.9 in windows, reboot into Linux, open up kopete, see that alias, close kopete, open up pidgin, see that alias, reboot into OS X, start adium, see that alias, etc.
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May 31, 2012
I get the following error message when i attempted to turn on File Vault.
"Some disk formats don't support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted disk".
Info:MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.1)
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Aug 10, 2009
I need to make a shortcut to a folder, i would like the shortcut on the desktop.
No idea how to do this, saw the make alias but its greyed out for the folder.
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Jul 1, 2008
How can I create an alias "xyz" that functions just like "abc"?
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Apr 16, 2012
I use an external DNS that includes MX and mail entries and A records that point to a static IP provided by my ISP, stored in my router, that in turn accesses services on my lion server via port forwarding. The DNS service on my lion server was turned on but I turned it off and I'm not sure I've noticed any difference - I've got issues either way. Do I need it for any mail server related reason?
Info:
Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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