MacFilter: Extraneous OS X volume suffixes? I'm running OS X 10.6.3 on a 2009 unibody Macbook. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to create and maintain a bootable clone of my internal HD on an external USB 2.0 HD (both HDs are the same size, with one partition). I don't usually keep the external drive attached; instead, I have CCC set to prompt me to do a backup when it recognizes that I've attached the appropriate volume (which I believe it does via GUID). Let's say the volume name on the backup drive is "Backup".

Over time, I've noticed that my /Volumes directory contains "ghosts" of Backup. So for example, even when the external drive is physically disconnected, I'll see:

/Volumes/Backup
/Volumes/Backup 2
/Volumes/Backup 3

These don't show up on the desktop. When I actually connect the external drive, I'll see:

/Volumes/Backup 4

and "Backup" will appear on the desktop.

The only information I can find regarding this behavior is:

Dealing with Mac OS X Volume Suffixes

which explains how to "fix" the problem, but not much on how it actually occurs or what is really going on. In addition to be confusing, I notice that the "ghosts" in my case are insidious in that they actually occupy space on my startup disk. My theory is that this is due to CCC getting confused by their presence and at some point essentially backing up the drive onto itself (!).

I'm looking for additional information on how these "ghost" volumes are created, how to avoid them, how they impact applications (esp backup), your experiences with them, etc.