How to stop .dat files from appearing.

[darkcootie]

Hi guys,

I'm sitting on several different Macs with OS X 10.8.2, connected via a server. For some time .dat files have been appearing on the server, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. The only clue I have is that Photoshop has something to do with it, because "Photoshop Camera Raw" is the only text that's readable if I try to open one of the .dat files in TextEdit. The .dat files are all called "Cache00000#####.dat" (please see attached screenshot).

I'm using Photoshop CS5.

So I have two questions:

1. Is it safe to delete these files?
2. How can I stop Photoshop (or whatever program) from generating these .dat files?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[tag]

Yes those cache files appear to be from Adobe Camera Raw (which is used by Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom). You can find the preferences for where and how the cache files are saved by going into Adobe Bridge, and in the menu, click on Camera Raw Preferences.

Those files can be safely deleted, but they hold the thumbnail data for RAW files from what I've read, which means if you delete them, next time you load up Bridge and navigate to a folder with RAW images, it will take longer as it will have to regenerate the thumbnails and create new caches.

Honestly I'm not sure why they aren't in the standard cache area (which I believe is usually /Users/USER/Library/Caches/Adobe Camera Raw), but perhaps something in the preferences will allow you to figure it out (I don't right this minute have access to a computer with Photoshop on it to check myself).

Though if I remember correctly I think you can also set the caches to save in the same folder as the file you are viewing/editing, perhaps that is the issue, you had files on that external in that directory that you edited and ACR created the cache files in the same directory along side the file? Just a thought.

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

I know this doesn't help, and I'm sorry but your title just made me want to write
Mmmmm .dat file!

Hope you figure it out!