What are those red files in the Incompletes Folder?
 

Ok, ok, I know I already asked this question on another post, but I thought I should ask this in a new thread.

What exactly ARE those suspicious looking red-named files in the Incompletes under the Library tag?
I suspect that they are the preview files created whenever I click the launch button for a download, but I might be wrong (and somehow, lately I get the feeling that I am).
I just don't like that threatening red color - you know, something intentionally written in red is supposed to stand out and red can also pertain to something bad (i.e DANGER! ).

Is anyone willing to satisfy my curiosity?

Oh yeah, before I forget, I went in the incompletes folder in the Finder and saw the .dat and .bak-something thingies in there and I don't know what they are too (although I KNOW that they ARE important so I don't touch these).
Also, I noticed that all the files in there were in real disorder, all spread out in this really big window, so, since I like orderly things, I tried to use the arrange function but, while it worked, when I closed and reopened the window the files were in disorder again. This can also happen without closing the window! Genuine funny magical self-moving files! - Sometimes, I find myself going there and just stupidly clicking "Arrange" over and over just to see mysterious magic happen before me. David Copperfield? Pfffff! I got Magical Jaguar OSX here!!

I can't give a definitive answer to the red tag (they're not dangerous, though), but files are marked as red before they're hashed. Just add a folder to share with a few files, and you can watch them change color in the library pane as they are hashed (all the other library stats will be reset too).

The download.dat/bak files keep track of which pieces of the file have been completed, at least, and probably more. I think of it as an index LW uses to checklist what a file needs before it's considered 'complete'. btw--the T-### in front of an incomplete file name is the predicted number of bytes of the final file size.

For exploring the incomplete folder, just set it to list view. They are being rewritten and moved often, so the icons will be constantly moved and deleted. Otherwise, if you want to keep the icon view, set the OSX finder's folder view options to sort automatically.

There--now the experts can give a better answer. Happy Easter :)

Red rows in the library mean that the file is not shared. For incomplete files, sharing means that the file is eligable for partial file sharing (PFS). A file being shared via PFS will not be found by normal querying methods, but is instead shared only through the "download mesh". When you download a file, you insert yourself into the download mesh. As other clients download a file, they try sources that are advertised in the mesh.

The download.dat (download.bak being an automated backup of download.dat, used when LimeWire senses that .dat is corrupt), as stief mentioned, is an index into your incomplete files. It keeps track of exactly what byte-ranges have been downloaded for any given incomplete file. If an incomplete file is not listed in download.dat, then it will not be shared through PFS (and will be listed in red in the library).

Hey thanks! Happy Easter to you too!:)

So what do red IP's mean?

Found my answer in another thread. Red IP's mean they are behind a firewall.