how come almost all of the stuffit files and disc image files i download come out as limewire documents that wont open and arent read as what they really are? when i try to open one of the files it starts up limewire. im on a power mac g4 running 9.1. thanks to whoever

I get generic limewire files when the name of the original file is too long - the extension gets lopped off when it gets crammed into 32 characters - but not always, so this is only part of the answer. Maybe some file types are more sensitive to being transferred?

If the type/creator tag gets wiped out during transfers, the file adopts Limewire as its "parent" app by default - that's why they show up as generic limewire docs. To repair the files, you have to re-specify that tag so the right apps can recognize them.

You can try just renaming the clipped file name with the original extension - that sometimes works. Otherwise, get a simple multi-utility like More File Info - http://www.pixture.com/mac-mfi.html - or the more specific FileTyper - http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~dazuma/filetyper/ (Both $10 shareware - MFI is not disabled before purchase, don't know about FT)

Either of these apps will let you change the type and creator of a file back to something usable. Say, for an incoming html document that's lost its identity, you could change it from ????/OGx (which id's it as a generic limewire document) to text/MSIE - a text file made by Microsoft Explorer, which any browser will recognize as html.

If all this looks a bit daunting, you might want to go for FileTyper since it's the more specialized and thus more idiot-proof of the 2.

Hope this helps.

i couldnt get either of those to work. in fyle typer, do you happen to know what to put in for the type and creator for toast to see this file as a disc image? i really appreciate your time and help!

For a Toast disk image try type 'hImg' and creator 'CDr2'. I don't have Toast so I needed this database to tell you what the codes are:
<http://tcdb2000.tripod.com/>

Don't know about that one. Do you have a functioning disc image somewhere that you could get the tags off of with Filetyper? Another thing that may work is just dragging the image into the Toast window - the popup may tell you the correct attributes - but this is a long shot. Otherwise, perhaps try asking here or in the download/upload forum - somebody's got to know what those codes are!

Oh, just a thought - can you create a disc image with some other data on Toast? That should provide you with a file with the right attributes.

to efield: i tried that and it didnt work. thanks for yor help though.

to awftoffle: ive tried to pull a disc image off a cd i have and it comes off as a gImg/Cdr3. ive tried to label the files as that to and no luck.

could there be any possibility that transfer over the internet without the file being compressed could screw the file up? all the disc images ive downloaded that were stuffed(stuffit) all seem to work. unfortunately i burned all those files onto discs and got rid of what i downloaded so i cant see the file type.

this sucks! thanks to both of you for your time. there has got to be a way dammit!!!!!!

Yes. Mac files (especially applications) have resource forks in addition to data forks and both are needed for the file to be fully complete. Sometimes when a file is transferred on the Internet the resource fork is lost or the way the file is sent corrupts the file. A BinHex or MacBinary file avoids this problem but .sit files should be ok. Curiously though a .smi I looked at had a fairly sizeable resource fork so that might be why you're having a problem using the file.

im sorry, im not all that savy when it comes to these things. could you explain that last sentence for me. what exactly is a .smi and how could that be my problem? thank you

A .smi is a self-mounting disk image. When you open it the contents of the file mounts as a disk image on the desktop. The problem is these files may be getting corrupted when transferred if they are not converted into a .sit, .bin, or .hqx file.