<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </head> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> First, Emacs froze when I tried to list my home directory, then "ls -a" froze from command line. Through trial and error, it appears that there is a file, directory, or special file in my home directory that begins with ".gvfs". Any attempts to list the contents of the directory that should include .gvfs* fails and locks up the program that issued the command; emacs, ls -a in bash shell, etc. The close icon in the upper right hand corner of the frame will cause a pop-dialog to appear that allows the program to be "force quit". Any ideas on how to resolve this problem? Can I safely do a "rm -rf .gvfs*" or will that delete files that my system needs? The command "ls -ad .gvfs*" also locks up which leads me to suspect that .gvfs is a special file, such as a device, instead of a directory. <div class="moz-signature">-- <title>Fate of the Peacock</title> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> Steven F. LeBrun Quote: "One day a peacock. The next day a feather duster." — Democrat Patrick Quinn, Illinois lieutenant governor </div> </body> </html>