[flyingdutchee]

Every time i boot up or restart my Mac Book Pro (10.5.4) there will be this strange and suspicious looking file in the trash can with the filename: ␀␀␀␀␀␀␀.␀␀␀

Whenever i select it and want to ask info on it it instantly disappears. It's like it deletes itself once you try to do any action with this file. Then the trash can icon looks like it's empty, but within seconds the file reappears again and the trash can icon shows that it has things in it again. Even when i empty the trash can the file returns within seconds.

Is this a bug or am I dealing with a virus here?

I did a "fsck -f" in single user mode and also fixed all permissions and everything seems fine. but still this keeps happening everytime and i can not get rid of this file anymore.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any input will be appreciated. TIA!

[MacNNUK]

Sounds like an invisible file.

invisibliX.app to clear it.

[flyingdutchee]

Thanks for the reply. I tried the app but it didn't work. The moment i try to drag the file on that app the file disappears right away while i'm not even done dragging it on the app. Right after that it reappears again in the trash.

I don't have invisible files to show. And even if this file would be invisible. It doesn't make sense why it's in the trash and would return even when you delete it. There's no way for me either to make this file invisible, but even when i did i'm sure it would return again as being visible once the trash can was emptied.

This is a real stubborn file that can easily be deleted but won't stay away for long (only a few seconds). I even used cocktail today for the first time to check my system and verify everything but to no avail. The file keeps returning in my trash. Really annoying plus i start to get worried now. This is something completely different than invisible files. They don't respawn after you delete them.

[MacNNUK]

try

Show Hide Invisible files 1.5.app

http://www.soft32.com/download_193656.html

this works well for me

[flyingdutchee]

That's a great app. Thanks for the link and the input. I tried that app and made sure to hide invisible files and even restarted after that but still the problem remains. That particular file will not disappear and keeps respawning. I've never seen anything like this before in all the years I've been using Macs. Very strange phenomenon.

Are there any good and free/shareware virus scanners out there that I might try? I never purchased a virus scanner on my Macs before but maybe it's time to get one after all :/ This is too darn weird and it just started happening just like that the other day.

[mduell]

What makes you think it's a virus? Even on a Windows machine I wouldn't associate the behavior you've observed with a virus. Sounds more like a file system issue.

[MacNNUK]

Apart from also suggesting iEmpty, That's about my limit, others can probably give you more in depth advice.

[CharlesS]

Scan the disk with Disk Utility (or DiskWarrior if you have it). You might have a messed-up catalog or something.

[flyingdutchee]

I've been verifying the disk several times with apps like that and nothing can be found. That's also the reason why i started to think about a virus. It would be my guess too that something was wrong with the file database or something, but I am running out of options to verify or repair my system. They all say everything seems OK. :/

[Big Mac]

Don't worry, it's not a virus. There are no known OS X viruses.

[idykenano]

Just fyi, I have that file as well. Actually I have 2 of them (different names, but both 0k and "aliases" according to finder). They regenerate in my trash, but haven't caused any problems as far as I know of. The moment they cause an issue I'm going to archive and install my operating system.

[flyingdutchee]

Thanks, that is at least some relief to read.

[vmarks]

if you open Terminal.app and
cd ~/.Trash (return)
ls -al (return)
what is the output?

[flyingdutchee]

total 0
drwx------ 2 myusername staff 68 Aug 11 11:43 .
drwxr-xr-x+ 19 myusername staff 646 Aug 11 11:43 ..

[flyingdutchee]

Looks like i found the source. It was a MS-DOS partition on my laptop. I repaired that partition and an orphaned file was found. After it got fixed the weird file i kept writing about disappeared and remained gone.

The 8+3 filename format already made me think it was a DOS type of file.

Figures that it was MS related stuff that caused problems on a Mac once again

[100hertz]

It is definitly relatd to my bootcamp-partition (MS-DOS FAT32). I also have the ␀␀␀␀␀␀␀.␀␀␀ file in my trashcan. When i remove the bootcamp partition, my trash is empty. But unlike for Flyingdutchee, examining and repairing the partition results in nothing for me.

It doesn't seem do do any harm, buts its sooo anoying...

Anyone...?

[badidea]

Well, Yes, I had the same problem with my Bootcamp partition...
...but I also never managed to get rid of the "file"!
As far as I remember, I only managed to rename the trash directory on the bootcamp partition to force the creation of a new one...and that way my trash on OSX at least stayed empty and didn't annoy me anymore!

[Darkwater]

Hi.

I had this same problem about 3 months ago. I was told to boot my Mac in windows mode and run a full disc check on the windows drive. It came up with a few errors and sorted them. Never had the file back since.

Hoe this helps.