Troubleshooting - OS X - .DS_Store

Fix to make it so OSX doesn't create .DS_Store files

# Command to be run from within user

    defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

    killall -KILL Finder

# Original Article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1629

Archived - Mac OS X v10.4 and later: How to prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections

This is an advanced article that contains information about preventing .DS_Store file creation over network connections.

This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple.

To configure a Mac OS X user account so that .DS_Store files are not created when interacting with a remote file server using the Finder, follow the steps below:

Note: This will affect the user's interactions with SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and WebDAV servers.

Open Terminal.

Execute this command:

    defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

Either restart the computer or log out and back in to the user account.

If you want to prevent .DS_Store file creation for other users on the same computer, log in to each user account and perform the steps above—or distribute a copy of the newly modified com.apple.desktopservices.plist file to the ~/Library/Preferences folder of other user accounts.
Additional Information

These steps do not prevent the Finder from creating .DS_Store files on the local volume, and these steps do not prevent previously existing .DS_Store files from being copied to the remote file server.

Disabling the creation of .DS_Store files on remote file servers can cause unexpected behavior in the Finder (click here for an example).

Last Modified: Nov 7, 2011

# Supporting Article That Was Referenced In Above Article http://support.apple.com/kb/TA21373

Archived - Mac OS X: Get Info Comments May Not Appear for Remote Volumes

When you add or edit a Get Info comment for an item on a server volume, the change is not visible to other clients or at the server itself.

This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple.

Mac OS X treats comments as a Finder property, such as icon position and view setting. Writing of these properties is local, which means your changes are not saved back to the server. Thus someone connecting to the server from a different computer may not see the Get Info comments you add to an item on the server from another remote client of the server.

For a comment to be visible to all clients, it may be changed at the server itself (see Note 2).

Notes

Comment changes do not appear to clients immediately, but they will eventually.

Copying a folder to the server yields a different result than editing an existing file or folder. Comments for that folder and items within it will be transferred when you copy it. If you must modify a comment on the server from a client, a user with adequate privileges may do so in this manner. 

Last Modified: Feb 17, 2012