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Why some files coming up exe doc?
#51190 02/26/19 05:42 PM
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kevs Offline OP
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I have some files on my hardrive which are suddenly coming up exe doc? What is this? I am not a windows user. These files were normal doc Word files. How does this happen? Thanks, baffling.

Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51200 02/27/19 12:03 AM
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Assuming these are not self expanding zip files you have received from someone else my first thought would be to run OnyX > Maintenance > Rebuild Launch Services Database.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
joemikeb #51206 02/27/19 10:06 PM
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Thanks Joe, also brought this up in the long talk today with Apple. He said these Unix files are not Microsoft, as I thought, but Mac files. He said there are 100 reasons why this could have happened, so has no clue in the end.

You think rebuilding launch services could make the black icon exe files revert to the Word .doc they once were?

BTW, you use recommend Onyx? I was on it years ago for maintenance things that many have deemed unnecessary now, so I bailed a few years ago..

Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51208 02/27/19 11:24 PM
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Originally Posted By: kevs
You think rebuilding launch services could make the black icon exe files revert to the Word .doc they once were?

The Launch Services database is a self-learning store which holds information about the available applications and their associations with documents. In earlier versions of OS X rebuilding the Launch Services database used to be fairly routine any time something got wonky with file associations. As OS X/MacOS has matured it is seldom necessary. Rebuilding the database is not harmful, but if you have changed any associations to match your personal preferences those will be set to the normal default. In other words, it may or may not fix the problem, but it can't hurt.

Originally Posted By: kevs
BTW, you use recommend Onyx? I was on it years ago for maintenance things that many have deemed unnecessary now, so I bailed a few years ago..

Like a variety of other utilities such as Tinkertool System, Cocktail, and MacPilot, OnyX is a GUI front end for Unix command line utilities that are built into MacOS and performs no actual processing other than some minor formatting of the output of the Unix commands. I suggested OnyX simply because it is FREE. Personally I no longer use any of the aforementioned utilities routinely, but I do keep some of them around just in case something get wonky. WARNING: because the underlying Unix commands continue to evolve it is critical the version of any of these utilities you use is compatible with the MacOS version you are running. Otherwise these utilities could produce unintentional harm in spite of the best efforts of the developers to detect and prevent their use with the wrong MacOS version.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
joemikeb #51209 02/28/19 12:58 AM
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Thanks Joe, question on that point: I install an OS 8 months after it's released for reasons you can guess....

Ah.. see Onyx has great homepage that displays all OS versions.

Ok will bring it back to life. I guess the point of Onyx is it has one click fix, for things that Mac still does not?

Launch services, and reindex spotlight etc...?

Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51212 02/28/19 02:53 PM
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Originally Posted By: kevs
Thanks Joe, question on that point: I install an OS 8 months after it's released for reasons you can guess....

And I typically install on OS update or upgrade three or four months BEFORE it is released fo no good reason other than its there. grin


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
joemikeb #51213 02/28/19 06:07 PM
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Maybe things are different today, but I remember peripherals and sort of chaos could take place until the kinks are worked out.

Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51216 02/28/19 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: kevs
Maybe things are different today, but I remember peripherals and sort of chaos could take place until the kinks are worked out.

That still happens in the early betas, but by release there are seldom any major surprises for several reasons:
  1. The OS X/MacOS kernel has become far more robust.
  2. Many security features such as sandboxing not only protect against intentional malefactors they also serve to isolate and protect the system from unintentional coding problems.
  3. Developers who were/are geared to Microsoft's multi-year development cycle have learned that Apple is dedicated to their annual upgrade cycle and have adjusted their development schedules to keep pace
  4. Apple's Public Beta program exposes new upgrades and updates to a much larger combination of hardware and software configurations than is possible in a controlled laboratory setting so many more problems are identified and fixed before a release goes public.
  5. To support the Public Beta program Apple has developed a reasonably sophisticated problem report and documentation package that is installed on the device being tested and a matching system on their serviers to colect and analyze the problem reports that are received.
  6. Apple has learned to give developers and users PLENTY of advanced notice of changes that will definitely effect third party software. For example developers have had two full years warning that in MacOS 10.15 that will launch in the fall of this year (2019) all 32 bit APIs will be withdrawn (ie. applications written using those APIs will no longer run).
  7. The App Store marketing and distribution mechanism allows Apple to enforce develppers to follow approved development standards resulting in more stable third party software
  8. Apple gives developers a FREE software development environment including Apple's own SWIFT programming language that is easy to learn and structured to encourage good software development techniques
Don't misunderstand, the system is not perfect. For example the High Sierra beta broke SoftRAID that I use for one of my Time Machine "drives" and it took a couple of months for OWC to get a functional SoftRAID beta out that would work under High Sierra. Some developers are reluctant to develop or even test their software until it is officially released, but that appears to be a shrinking number either because they realize time and Apple will wait for no developer or they leave the market altogether because they have been supplanted by more aggressive competitors or by enhancements/new features in MacOS.

One thing I have learned as an inveterate MacOS beta tester is that it is absolutely essential to keep third party applications scrupulously up to date and in fact, where available, I often use application betas just to be sure everything is as current as possible. Any significant glitches encountered in the first public beta are usually fixed by the second public beta that typically comes out three to four weeks later. After that the glitches tend to become more obscure and even more new features are added. One final caveat, not everything that is in the final public beta before a release makes it into the first release so occasionally a minor feature in the final public beta will not appear in the actual release, which income cases can be annoying.


Last edited by joemikeb; 02/28/19 09:36 PM. Reason: &^%@ Spelling Checker

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
joemikeb #51217 02/28/19 09:39 PM
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kevs Offline OP
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"The OS X/MacOS kernel has become far more robust. "

That reminds me Joe: this forum was founded by a guy, can't remember name who wrote a book years ago I bought, where he outlined all the kernal panics and meltdowns with Apple and how to deal with them (15 years ago)? Amazing right? You would say 90% of that stuff he wrote about is gone now?

Reading your points, this new robustness is mostly from last 5 years?

Still, on your final point, it still sounds like a good strategy to wait 8 months, no? An reason for me not too?

Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51220 03/01/19 12:14 AM
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Originally Posted By: kevs
That reminds me Joe: this forum was founded by a guy, can't remember name who wrote a book years ago I bought, where he outlined all the kernal panics and meltdowns with Apple and how to deal with them (15 years ago)? Amazing right? You would say 90% of that stuff he wrote about is gone now?

I don't know about the 90% but certainly enough has changed since OS X 10.3 Panther (which was the current version 15 years ago) that I question if much of that code still remains untouched in Mojave.

Originally Posted By: kevs
Reading your points, this new robustness is mostly from last 5 years?

Looking back at the amount of forum traffic that accompanied the release of a MacOS version I would say the number of issues encountered have fallen off significantly in the last three years. To the point Mojave was almost a non-event. Where a new release used to be highlighted with a variety of problem reports and formal lists of broken applications the various Mojave releases have mostly been characterized by reports of "no problems" followed by a string of "I didn't have any problems either."

Originally Posted By: kevs
Still, on your final point, it still sounds like a good strategy to wait 8 months, no? An reason for me not too?

Eight months means you are waiting until most, if not all, development has ceased for the current MacOS version and the entire development effort has shifted to the next MacOS upgrade. Certainly that should be a stable version and unlikely to ever be updated unless a security vulnerability is discovered. At that point you might decide to wait another year and just skip a release altogether but then you risk a steeper learning curve to get up to speed after the upgrade, a significant increase in security vulnerability due to the out of date OS version, and apps or new app features that won't run until you upgrade.

Personally I feel the increased security inherent in each new OS version is more than enough incentive to upgrade at the first opportunity. But then I am becoming a bit paranoid about computer and online security.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
joemikeb #51222 03/01/19 01:35 AM
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kevs Offline OP
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Interesting Joe, good info.

So maybe 8 months is a bit long. Only darn thing is one app, just one I still use is 32 bit. Dreamweaver 8. Not sure what to do post Mojave (and I'm not on Mojave yet). As the other editors are not as good, and greedy Adobe does not have a reasonable way to use the current version.


Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51224 03/01/19 01:59 AM
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If you don't use Dreamweaver on a daily basis you can maintain a Mojave volume and boot into it when you've got to use it...a bit of a PIA, but the only workaround of which I"m aware.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
artie505 #51225 03/01/19 02:09 AM
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kevs Offline OP
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Thanks ARtie, I was searching for that thread where you laid that out, but could not find it. If you have the link please send. Or explain it again. There were some subtleties you mentioned.

Re: Why some files coming up exe doc?
kevs #51226 03/01/19 02:18 AM
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I've got no idea which thread you're thinking of kevs, but I"ll give it some thought and rewrite the procedure if need be.

More: For starters, how often do you anticipate having to run Dreamweaver?

Last edited by artie505; 03/01/19 07:21 AM. Reason: More

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire

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