After saving projects to a folder, I find three things in the folder:
Data folders, each project name followed by _data
AUP files, logos followed by the project name
These two file/folder types I understand.
But I also find:
3. Dozens of files starting with the letter e (e0800ac5, e0800e00, e0808bf9, etc.).
These appear to be duplicates of files found within the data folders.
If these are duplicates, what are they for?
If they are not duplicates, why aren’t they in a data folder?
Your Project is supposed to look like this as an example.
The AUP file is a list of instructions for Audacity to put your show together from all the little AU files in the _DATA folder. The AUP is not a sound file. The AUP file and the _DATA folder must be in the same place or folder, must have the same name and it must be the name it you gave it in Audacity.
The little AU files are not all sound and you should not be in there.
When was the last time you ran your virus protection program in “stiff mode” where you let it run all night? If your machine is not connected to a network or the internet, you need not worry about that, but that’s pretty unusual.
1a. "The AUP file and the _DATA folder must be in the same place or folder, must have the same name and it must be the name it you gave it in Audacity. "
Yes, as I said they are there, in the same folder. And they look as pictured.
1b. “The little AU files are not all sound and you should not be in there.”
I assume these are the files starting with the letter [e].
Where should they be?
I see files with the same and/or very similar names in the _data folder.
The folder is called _AUDACITY PROJECT FILES
“When was the last time you ran your virus protection program in “stiff mode” where you let it run all night?”
Never. I run CCleaner every day or so, and run Malwarbytes any time my computer seems to be acting weird. I also have Firefox Ghostery set to the max protection.
“Are they duplicates of the AU files in the last project you worked on?”
To research that would take more time than I have. I have a score of projects in the project folder. In that folder, there are dozens of files starting with the letter e in each data folder. There are dozens of files starting with the letter e that are not in any data folder they are ‘loose’ in the destination folder. The names are very similiar strings of letters and numbers. To check for duplications, I would have to search every project in the folder.
To check for duplications, I would have to search every project in the folder.
You can use simple Windows search on one of the renegade files and see if you get two hits. You don’t need to search for everything. One or two sets of duplications is enough. That could point to a system error.
My initial response was before I re-read your question several times. Caffeine deprivation syndrome.
Assuming your renegade files are unique, that could mean a badly damaged project somewhere spraying sound snippets all over the place. The sound files (and they are sound files, they should open in Audacity and play for six seconds thus possibly giving you some clue where they came from) are created with great effort given to make sure no two ever come out the same name. If you do find two individual files named the same, your computer is obviously possessed.
Thank you for including the folder exact name. I wonder if the leading underscore is causing problems. It’s most unusual for ordinary folders to start with an underscore. It’s perfectly system legal to do that, but maybe not in the Audacity universe. We have to search.
Maybe Monday, one of the heavier Audacity parents may drop in and point The Way.
Although it can look that way, that’s not actually the case. The AUP file includes a brief “description” of the data files, so when the data is loaded into the project, Audacity can look up the description from it’s file name, and generate the waveform graphic. All of the AU files contain audio data.
The way I understand it, this is a catch-all folder designed to house projects away from the sturm and drang of the rest of the computer. The problem is this folder is also collecting a spray of orphan au files, seemingly for no reason.
That was my suggestion to play a couple of them and see if it’s possible identify the show.
I’ll give that a try when I get a chance.
Meanwhile, I created a subfolder “Misc Files” and put them all in there. I’ve done a fair bit of Audacity editing (including working from .aup project files) since then and so far no problems.
C:\Users\xxxx\Desktop_ VIDEO & AUDIO PROJECT MATERIALS_AUDACITY PROJECT FILES
I just dragged a group of half a dozen files from the ‘random’ folder to Audacity and played.
C:\Users\xxxx\Desktop_ VIDEO & AUDIO PROJECT MATERIALS_AUDACITY PROJECT FILES\x MISC ‘e080’ files
Everything played mono only.
I have no idea what music this is, I’ve been working with Hawaiian slack key guitar, and also with classical music. This stuff is neither. So as far as I can determine, these files are unrelated to anything I’ve been working on. Total mystery.
BTW the underscores (which someone commented on) and x’s are to make it easier to find things in alpha listings. Priority items start with underscore, which put them at the top of any list. (Underscore [space] is above that.) “x” ends up at or near the bottom, plus it indicates something not to be used.
Are you saying that the “Dozens of loose files” are a result of using the “saveas.ny” plug-in? If so, then stop using that plug-in. There shouldn’t be any “loose” .AU files. Audacity’s .AU files should all be within the sub-directories of the project’s “_data” folder.
Audacity’s .AU files should all be within the sub-directories of the project’s “_data” folder.
Let me read this back to you. There are music files on your machine that you don’t recognize and you didn’t put there. Your machine occasionally “acts funny.” Can you sense the hairs on the back of my neck standing up?
It may be worth revisiting this.
“When was the last time you ran your virus protection program in “stiff mode” where you let it run all night?”
Never. I run CCleaner every day or so, and run Malwarbytes any time my computer seems to be acting weird. I also have Firefox Ghostery set to the max protection.
Microsoft used to have a simple on-line virus scan which would hit all the Usual Suspects. I think I’d start there. Also Disconnect or unmount your network and just leave it that way for an afternoon and see if something gets upset.
I had a friend who thought all this virus stuff was a load of rubbish until he started emailing malware to us and we had to stage an intervention.
