copying files from pc to mac

[ringo747]

hi guys,

copyin over a lot of files to my mac from pc and notice hundreds of files called

desktop.ini
thumbs.db

I think these are just windows files. Is it safe to just trash them on the mac?

Cheers

 

[Will_3rd]

yeah should be safe to trash them

the thumbs.db files are are related to the thumbnail view for pictures/videos on windows
the desktop.ini files no idea what they are for, but it should be ok to delete them, I don't think they serve a function on Mac OS X

 

[ringo747]

super thanks for info.

see for organising music and photos etc.. do u just dump them into the root music directory or root photo directory or do ya hide them in the itunes folders?

 

[Will_3rd]

On my Mac I just put the relevant files in Music/Pictures

If you use iTunes/iPhoto it will reorganise them anyway if you let them, if so

Pictures will end up in Pictures --> iPhoto Library
Music will end up in Music --> iTunes --> iTunes Music

 

[ringo747]

yeah i dont like things being rearranged and folders filled up with album arts etc. Is itunes the music player to use? Anything else ud recomend?

 

[Will_3rd]

yeah i dont like things being rearranged and folders filled up with album arts etc. Is itunes the music player to use? Anything else ud recommend?

yeah iTunes on MAC OS X is great, and is defiantly the most straight forward to use and it won't fill your music folders full of album art either

 

[ringo747]

ok cool. iv just copied all my music into the default root music folder. do i just add to itunes library now then?

And it definitely doesnt rearrange my files?

 

[Mr Jones]

What I did is just select all the files I want to add to the library and open it together. iTunes will import them (by default) to its folder and organize in under artist name - followed by the album name.

I find that more organized so I didn't copy music to the music folder, just let iTune import from the external HDD I have.

 

[ringo747]

ok cool will give that a try. Mac is beautiful but it just takes a wee bit of getting used to!

 

[Will_3rd]

And it definitely doesn't rearrange my files?

if you go into itunes and check advanced and then the general tab, untick "keep iTunes Music folder organized"

 

[toosepin]

Yup that's what I do - I don't let iTunes rarrange my files - I simple just create my own folders (in the iTunes => iTunes Music folder):

Artist
> Album 1
> Album 2

Etc, then I add artwork in iTunes and its all sweet. To backup my music / artwork I just copy across the whole iTunes folder in the Music folder to my external HDD and I'm sorted.

 

[ringo747]

cheers for info. will give that a try

 

[Chaos]

Jonny you might be interested in this months Mac Format Magazine, it has articles on moving stuff from pc to mac and also has articles for pc users migrating to mac with all the handy shortcuts and stuff, bit pricey though £6

 

[ringo747]

Jonny you might be interested in this months Mac Format Magazine, it has articles on moving stuff from pc to mac and also has articles for pc users migrating to mac with all the handy shortcuts and stuff, bit pricey though £6

il have to pick that one up. it sounds very useful. cheers

 

[toosepin]

Yep I've got that issue, haven't read it yet though.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Actually, if you use albumart in iTunes it will encode the albumart on to the track itself.. so technically you are storing it

 

[ringo747]

yeah im just trying to work out where everything goes in this os! i eventually worked out how to install things and have tweaked a few widgets so its all good so far!

 

[fumbles]

desktop.ini
thumbs.db

As already said thumbs.db is just the cache for your thumbnails so Windows doesn't have to reload all the pictures (well that's the theory at least).

As for desktop.ini contains settings related to the current folder like displaying the thumbnails from thumbs.db and so on....

Yes these are Windows only files, you can delete them in Windows if you like, they will be rebuilt of course.

Mac OS X has its own files called ._*name of file*, it has these for each file, it stores information to say if its a hidden file and other special settings. Given that it starts with a . it itself is a hidden file.

 

[ringo747]

cheers. il have to have a good play about with this osx for a while cause it really is so different. all for the better of course!

Is parallels easy to setup?

 

[Mr Jones]

Parallel is easy to setup. Get the program off their site and try it our before you buy it.

You'll need a legit copy of Windows XP or whatever Os you want to run.

After installing parallel, you'll be prompt to set it up and insert the disc and all... nothing harder than a usual install of games on XP in my opinion.