Loading...
> >

What are the 'thumbs.db' files for?

WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
in The Commons

I like to separate my outfits by item into different folders (like putting boots in their own folder or corsets in their own folder). Once in a while there is a thumbs files among the rest. What is it for and do I need to keep it and with what?

Comments

  • RedzRedz Posts: 1,459

    You can safely delete thumbs.db files. They are automatically generated by windows when you view files in a folder as thumbnail images. They are not content files. HTH. 

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787

    Thanks :D

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604

    I used to delete them from my zips before I distributed my freebies, if I remembered.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001

    I periodically do a search on the top level folder (My Library), with subfolders included, for t*.db and delete all that pop up.

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787

    good idea ... thanks :D

  • nDelphinDelphi Posts: 1,854
    edited November 2015

    I use cut and paste in a DOS window and paste a few commands to remove them from any products that have introduced them into my Runtimes. I also setup Windows to not create these files.

    I CD to the Runtime folder I want to work on and use these commands:

    del /S /F Thumbs.db

    del /S /F /AR Thumbs.db

    del /S /F /AH Thumbs.db

    I sometimes also remove any .DS_Store files.

     

    Post edited by nDelphi on
  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    nDelphi said:
     

    I sometimes also remove any .DS_Store files.

     

    Them, too.  Unless you are on a Mac, they are pretty much worthless.

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787

    lol ... thanks, guys.

    No sense in keeping unnecessary files just trickling up my hard drive space. I know it's like drops of water, but they add up.

  • wizwiz Posts: 1,100

    It's a windows 7, 8, 10 nuisence that causes minor disruptions in DAZ, PhotoShop, Blender, and several other programs.

    It also drives backup software bonkers, makes file synchronization programs sync unnecessarily, slows down Google Drive and other cloud storage systems, and often causes your system to refuse to disconnect network drives or eject USB drives or SD cards. And God forbid you have any type of GIT or SVN setup...

    Not to mention that it doesn't speed up exporer thumbnails all that noticeably, and, if you normally browse image directories with something like XnView (which has much better cache, centralized) it's totally redundant. To get rid of this ill-conceived "feature", just follow these handy directions.

    http://www.sitepoint.com/switch-off-thumbs-db-in-windows/

    Do not turn it off from "folder options" in explorer, because Windows will

    1. Turn it on for every new folder you create (including when DIM creates them).
    2. Periodically decide you didn't really want to do that and turn it back on in folders where you turned it off.

     

  • pwiecekpwiecek Posts: 1,576
    edited November 2015

    Most folders with images have them. They're supposed to be hidden. When you zip the folder they become visible.

    Post edited by pwiecek on
  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,167

    .DS_Store are mac files that contian the x,y location of the file icon on the Mac OS desktop

    Thumbs_DB is the cache file wrtitten by windows to index images in a folder. 
    If you delete the DB file it will get recreated when you list by preview in Windows by Windows reading the header info on each image file.

  • nDelphinDelphi Posts: 1,854
    edited November 2015
    StratDragon said:
    If you delete the DB file it will get recreated when you list by preview in Windows by Windows reading the header info on each image file.

    wiz already posted a way to get rid of them permanently. Still Windows does use a separate thumbnail caching system. For maintenance purposes, you can delete these easily with something like Crap Cleaner. This cache isn't annoying as the thumbs.db files are.

    Post edited by nDelphi on
  • SpitSpit Posts: 2,342

    thumbs.db was in WindowsXP and showed up in any folder with images. MS changed how they do things in Vista and as I remember, selecting all and copying from one folder to another or drag 'n' dropping ignored the thumbs.db when pasting. I believe Win7 does the same 'ignore' thing so I rarely ever see them. But I drag 'n' drop and copy and paste. And when unzipping ,zip files I drag instead of unzipping the entire thing. That may be the difference?

     

     

Sign In or Register to comment.