Long ago, I did an article on disabling those pesky files that show up for Windows computers but not Macs on network volumes when you browse folders. These are metadata files and have a number of uses. But if you have a lot of files in a folder on a USB drive or if you move the USB drive to a Windows computer, you might not want .dsstore or metadata files on USB drives either. To disable, use the following command, which writes a DSDontWriteUSBStores boolean key into com.apple.desktopservices: defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores -bool true
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Disable and Remove .DS_Store Files
In a number of environments, where SMB, AFP and other file sharing protocols are used with Mac OS X, Windows and Linux clients, there are a number of hidden files that Mac OS X leaves behind. For anyone who has managed an environment like this you’re likely to notice the .DS_Store files and potentially even have tried taking measures to get rid of them. However, try as you might they’re likely to have come back repeatedly. But you don’t have to live with them. You can tell your Windows clients not to show hidden files. From Windows XP, open an explorer.exe window (Windows Explorer, also accessible by browsing any folder…