List of Folder Names that Apps/Widgets create

[DaveSyd]

I thought it might be useful to start a thread that explained the folder names that certain apps create on your SD card. Usually the internal \sdcard\ in the case of the SGS2 is where apps start from, so comments here refer to \sdcard\ unless noted.

Some folder names are completely obvious, while some are obscure. Inevitably when you remove the app they do not delete the folders that they create. Some are safe to delete some are not. Some maybe obvious to some (eg. DCIM) but not others judging by some comments I have read in the forums.

Please add others or correct as you see fit.My hope is that the list will grow, so eventually we can search for the obscure folder name and find it here.

.estrong - hidden temp/cache created by ES File Explorer, the great free app that I use.

.ngmoco - hidden temp cache created by sumsung game hub.

Android/data/com.cooliris.media/* -cache files created by the standard Gallery media display app developed by CoolIris.

Android/data/com.myboyfriendisageek.gotya/* - this is where the app Gotya store silent pictures that it takes of whoever incorrectly tries to unlock your phone, before it sends them via email with location.

Android/data/com.shazam.android - this is where the free version of Shazam stores the advertisements that it displays.

clusb - the folder that Companion Link / Deja Office creates and stores the synch logging and cache files.

com.zinio.samsung.android app created by Zinio the Magazine app in Samsung Readers Hub. You may want to consider backing up all these sub-folders if you have purchased / downloaded magazines because this is where they are stored.

data/beautifulwidgets - of course cache created by Beautiful widgets.

data/bump_detector - cache created by the app Bump

DCIM/Camera - where the standard Camera app stores photos and video if you have selected to storage setting as "Phone" otherwise they are stored in external_sd/DCIM/Camera. Suggest you back this one up. Note I have not yet found a way for the gallery app to tell you the location of the files you are looking at!

gameloft - any games down loaded from Gameloft in the Samsung Game Hub. Worth backing up if you don't want to down load again or you want to return to saved game positions etc.

jiwire - cache files used by Wifi Finder and variants developed by Jiwire.

Kobo - again created by Kobo from Samsung Readers Hub. You may consider backing up at least the contents of Kobo\epubs as these are the books you have downloaded /purchased.

LOST.DIR created by the Android System to store file fragements or corrupted data it finds on the card. If you have files in here then it's time to mount the phone/card on the desktop and run error checking diagnostics on it. After that you can pretty much delete everything in this folder because your chances of piecing them back together are nil.

openfeint game files published by OpenFeint such as Mortal Skies. May want to back up this folder tree to save down loading again.

thaicomcenter is created by the excellent Tswipe keyboard app.

That will do for starters...

 

[Frisco]

Fantastic thread idea, DaveSyd.

I'm hoping that we see a lot of input here on app/widget created folders.

I'm going to add a link to this thread in the Galaxy S2 (International) Guide:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...ted-16-oct-2011-9-39-am-central-u-s-time.html

 

[DaveSyd]

Another important one before I have to go back to work... if you move applications to the external SD in android, On the SGS2 it actually does move it to the external one not the internal drive.

external_sd\.android_secure is not and app per say, but it's a hidden folder containing apps and data. The trick is with this one at least on ES File Explorer it appears blank even if you have it set to diplay hidden. It won't show anything in this folder. If you mount the phone through USB to the desktop you CAN see the files - don't delete this folder thinking it's empty, you will delete all your apps!!

usbStorage is another one that confuses people. This is a built in app. If you connect a card reader to your USB device your phone can host the device like the desktop does. It's called USB OTG On-the-go. Normally empty folder but it will have contents if you host something from the phone. Note this varies slightly with firmware version. There is plenty of info from NZtechfreak out on youtube and the web. This folder is not your external card or a place to park files.


Cheers