Message when trying to copy a file to an USB memor

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The other day I saw an odd message when copying a file from a PC to an USB memory. Odd since I didn’t see it doing the same copy the day before.

The file is an ordinary Excel 2003 file, and first I tried to copy it to the USB memory with the intention to replace the old file there, but then I got the message. So I created a new empty folder on the USB memory and copied the file to that folder instead, still got the message. (I could of course just replaced the old file, but you know how it is when one get odd messages when running out of office … ).

The old file on the USB memory was, obviously, the original file I had created in Excel some day earlier, copied to the USB mem. and copied to home PC, worked on in Excel 2002, then later copied back to USB mem. etc. The first time I copied the file to the USB mem. I didn’t get the alert message, but yesterday I did. It said something like: If you copy the the file you may lose some Macintosh information, the information in the file will not be changed.

I guess it is related to meta information and the USB memory, and I have a vague recollection that I have heard about this before.

Can anyone help.

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The USB memory hasn’t been plugged into a Mac, by any chance?

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Leif,

“… plugged into a Mac, by any chance?” , no. I bought it a month ago, and it has been connected to my home PC, a library PC and the PC at the university. There are no Mac’s in my/our environment.

I feel extremely silly now when I didn’t catch the exact alert message, it was an ordinary right-click select copy process in Windows XP Explorer.

USB mem: Kingston DataTraveler II+ migo ed.

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Argus,

Does the file that you copied appear to be intact and useable?

I would think I would WANT to get rid of any MAC information it contained!

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Bob,

Yep, it’s useable. I have looked at it at home. Just to confuse the situation a little I could mention that my USB mem. comes with two programs: SecureTraveler and Migo. For those who don’t know the first one is to set up a secure/hidden partition on the USB mem. and the second is for moving user settings (bookmarks, files, email, desktop picture etc). Obviously when it comes to these features with the DataTraveler II+ migo ed. they mention that it will not work on Macintosh. On the other hand there are some other PC OS’s and mail clients not supported.

Anyhow I’m not using those programs, have removed the Migo; well SecureTraveler can be useful, but as with TrueCrypt and other such programs you need Admin privileges on the second PC you’re moving to. Not many people have that outside their home …

Anyhow that is the only time Mac is mentioned in relation to my USB mem.

What I did was:
Day 1
Create Excel file in XL2003 on PC 1.
Copy it to USB mem. No alert message.
Copy it to PC 2.
Work with the Excel file in XL2002 and save it.
Copy it to USB mem. No alert message.
Day 2
Copy it to PC 1.
Work with the Excel file in XL2003 and save it.
Copy it to USB mem. Alert message.

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It would be good if you gave the full text of the alert message!

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Hi,

Yes, wouldn’t it. But if I had the full text then I probably wouldn’t have asked here, since I can search for the cause myself.

We will see if comes back in the week ahead.

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Ah! I thought from your previous message that you had done further tests! Apologies…

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Hi,
No need for apologies. Sometimes I miss to re-read the post(s) to see if everything is clear; questions etc. or if it/they can be interpreted in several ways.

My first thought was something along the lines that I copied a file from a NTFS environment to FAT on the USB mem. and some meta information would get lost. But on the other hand; this is done by millions around the world every day, and we don’t see it mentioned.

I have not used USB mem. so much before to move between home and other PC’s, it has been solved differently before; Internet, network etc. (or floppies long ago).

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Gentlemen,

I reply to you John, since you asked for full text.

A preliminary check today told me that any type of file I copy from what I called PC 1 (not home) to the USB mem. will generate an alert message.

Between day 1 and 2, last week, I did another change, not mentioned, sorry. Didn’t think about it until this morning. Remember, the first day (in this little episode) when I copied from PC 1 to USB there was no alert message. But when I did same copy day 2 there was.

The first day, the file was on C:, the HDD of the PC. During the second day I moved it to my space on the network. Now since all my files (apart from program profiles etc.) are on the network, any copy, as it seems, will generate this.

Today I didn’t have the time to talk to our support. So, either a search on the net, or both, have talk with them also.

Obviously, if I had remembered the exact string, “Macintosh Application Info”, from the screen shot below, I could have mentioned it and done a search. We’ll see what comes up.

Any comments are welcome. And oh, the screen shot is in English, isn’t the world wonderful, no need for translation.

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Well, a quick Google shows the following on a bulletin board…
The message is perfectly normal- it is indicating that the files in question have metadata stored in Alternate Data Streams (ADS). The NTFS filesystem supports ADS, but they will be lost/stripped when transferred to media formatted with another filesystem (the files themselves will remain intact, however).

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