Possible To Hide Partition From Desktop In Classic Mac OS 8.1 / 7.6.1 / 7.5.5?

mcbeav

New Tinkerer
May 18, 2024
13
11
3
Just curious if it is possible to hide a partition from the desktop, or even an entire drive on classic Mac OS. Either 8.1, 7.6.1, or 7.5.5? I have an alias to a folder on the drive, but I want to hide the drive from my desktop just to clean up the desktop.
 

misterg33

New Tinkerer
Oct 10, 2022
57
14
8
I use an AppleScript that unmounts volumes I don't want. Save it as an app, then drop it in the startup items folder (or add to login items in OS X).
 

adamgracrrgv

New Tinkerer
Oct 12, 2023
10
4
3
Yes. You can try to hide it by changing the visibility flag on the desktop using a utility.
Such as ResEdit, or Finder Options.
 

phipli

Tinkerer
Sep 23, 2021
295
212
43
Oh, there is a cunning way to do that.

In Drive Setup, select the disk and go to "Customize Volumes..."
1762548651787.png


Then select the partition you don't want to mount.
1762548690130.png


Deselect "Automount on startup" and it wont appear on boot. You can manually mount it using various utilities including Drive Setup, and unmount it again by dragging the disk to the Trash / Wastebasket.

Or sorry, do you still want it to be mounted, just hidden? That is a strange thing to do. It isn't really how Classic Mac OS works. The desktop is where mounted disks are. Bodge I can think of is to set a clear / empty icon and a null character name, but you'll still get a small vertical white bar for the name.
 
Last edited:

phipli

Tinkerer
Sep 23, 2021
295
212
43
Yes. You can try to hide it by changing the visibility flag on the desktop using a utility.
Such as ResEdit, or Finder Options.
I think that works with files and folders, but not disks. ResEdit wont let you select a disk, I assume because it is a device, not an object on a device.

"Get Info" is disabled and only enables when you select a file or folder.

1762549029630.png