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General discussion

Strangers in my Dock

by jennywren1420 May 11, 2009 2:36AM PDT

Ah, back like the proverbial bad penny, I am, but this is really strange.

Last week I was backing up my files to my LaCie external hard drive and noticed that there was some stuff left over from long, long ago, when my hard drive (G4 Sawtooth desktop) had to copied and the files put onto new hard drive. I parked some of the files that I though I might want on the desktop, and most of them still are there. After all that, however, I noticed what looks for all the world like pieces of paper or mail under the icons for OS X and the Trash. I can't figure out what they are, can't move them.

Can anyone explain and tell me what to do? Or should I just ignore them. They don't seem to be interfering with anything.

The remaining "papers" look like a sheet of plain bond and a sheet of "paper" with a black circle with a line next to it and below that, an open circle with a dotted line. Some kind of system document, perhaps? A lot of the items from the old folder were old System Folder stuff from the old hard drive.

There also is something that looks like a letter with a stamp.

Oh, the only other thing I did last week was to sign up, at last, for an Apple Mail account. I wish I hadn't; I haven't got the settings right so far, and all kinds of things I don't want to happen are happening. I hope I've got that right now, but I can't be sure.

That's it. (You've got to hand it to me: my problems are rarely run-of-the-mill ones.)

Best, despite a woolly mind,

jenny

Discussion is locked

8 Posts
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Interesting
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator May 11, 2009 5:48AM PDT

I know what the icon for the trash looks like but what does the icon for OS X look like?
Usually anything with a black circle, that looks like a "do not do" sign, means that it came from an OS that your machine cannot run.
The thing that looks like a letter with a stamp may well be just that. Something to do with the Mail program perhaps?

Apple Mail account? Do you mean a MobilMe, the application formerly known as dotMac?
Shouldn't be a lot of setting up to do on that. Just create a new account in MAIL, select MobileMe (.Mac) as the type, put in your username and password and it configures itself.

Any chance you could post a screen shot of your dock at a place to be determined?

P

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I can only try. . . .
by jennywren1420 May 13, 2009 2:31AM PDT

All I can tell you is:

(1) when I run my cursor over the icon just to the left on the Dock of the Trash can, I see the words "Apple - OS X." It's like a little stand with a flat, round top that has an @ symbol. If I linger for the shortest time, it takes me to the Website for apple.com/macosx.

(2) No, I don't mean MobileMe; I mean what you call MAIL (it has a symbol that looks like a postage stamp), and I set it up with the settings from my regular ISP mail account. I don't want to pay for a .mac account. I set it up just fine, I thought, but it imported only some of the mail from my ISP and then proceeded to take some other mail off the server. I didn't want that; I would rather keep all my mail in one place, and I haven't decided to make that place the Mail account. I think I have it all straightened out now in the Preferences, but if not, I'll let you know.

(3) I shall have to study up on how to take a screen shot of the desktop. (I suspect that I can't do just the Dock.) It's been a long time since I did a screen shot, and I don't remember how to do it.

Is it important? Those "papers" that are under the icons don't see to be doing any harm. And yes, I suspect, too, that the funny-looking thing with the dots is something to do with the former System Folder I emptied out and some other files from the old hard disk. It would have had something to do with OS 9. Yes, it was that long ago.

I had some of that stuff on the desktop, waiting till I could figure out what it was, and somehow, those two things seem to have "slipped under" the last two icons on the Dock and cannot be removed. If there's no harm in that, I'll just leave them alone.

Thanks for the help. Don't bother further if I don't need to do anything.

As always, my thanks,

jenny

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Not a bother
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator May 13, 2009 5:01AM PDT

OS X thingy. Yep, takes you to a page at the apple website for information about OS X.
There was also one of those icons in System 9, although I cannot remember where it was kept.
MAIL. Yep, gotta get the preferences right or it will delete mail off the server. However, you can keep all your mail in two places if you get the prefs right.
You can probably just ignore the "paper" things.
The ones that have slipped under the dock: Go to System preferences > Dock Preferences and move the dock to the side of the screen. That should expose the slipped icons which you can drag back onto the desktop. The dock will go to the left or the right. It will even go away entirely and just come back when you move the mouse over it.

P

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Perfect!
by jennywren1420 May 13, 2009 7:55AM PDT

And thanks. Moving the Dock worked just as you said, and now nothing is under the two icons.

Thanks also for the advice about Mail. I am not sure what I want to do, but it's useful, regardless.

Best,

jenny

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Screenshot
by jedirock May 16, 2009 3:51AM PDT
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(NT) Thanks for the tip!
by jennywren1420 May 17, 2009 12:07AM PDT
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Strangers in my Dock
by devoted2 May 30, 2009 7:14PM PDT

I have several of those gray ovals on a stand type things on my doc (near the trash) because I was at various web sites and wanted more than just bookmarking them - so I took the address of the web site and slid it down to the doc. Now it's there for me to click on in that symbol to open it again. To remove them, I only have to slide them off the doc - and poof - they're gone.
Sometimes things that looks like papers are on the doc, might be from when you were in your mail program and you clicked the yellow dot to shrink it down. It goes to the doc and will continue to remain there if the red dot isn't clicked or that message page deleted. Each time you open mail, they appear there again until you delete them.
But I liked the idea mentioned of moving the doc to another location to see whats under it too.
And if you don't want a doc, you don't even have to have one. I have one, but have shrunk it down to a very tiny size. My daughter has a hidden doc. We both needed more screen room.

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Most kind
by jennywren1420 May 30, 2009 11:40PM PDT

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query. I think that the problem has been solved, but it was very kind of you.

Jenny

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