What does the blue font mean?

[Guest]

In Windows Explorer some files are presented with a blue font, although most
have a black font. Is there some special information about these files that
is being conveyed?

 

[John John]

It means the files are compressed... (unless someone went and changed
the default colours).

John

 

[Rock]

In Windows Explorer some files are presented with a blue font, although
most
have a black font. Is there some special information about these files
that
is being conveyed?

It means those files/folders are compressed.
Black=normal
Blue=compressed
Green=encrypted

These defaults can be changed.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

In Windows Explorer some files are presented with a blue font, although
most
have a black font. Is there some special information about these files
that
is being conveyed?

By design, WinXP automatically compresses files that do not get
used frequently, and, if you've left the default settings intact,
displays those files in blue.

If you wish to change this behavior, in Windows Explorer, click
Tools > Folder Options > View > Advanced settings: Show encrypted or
compressed NTFS files in color.


--
Bruce Chambers

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[Guest]

Thanks. I now have a new question. Can these files be uncompressed? If so,
is there any advantage to uncompressing a file? If not, why not just compress
all files?

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

Compressing folders results in some performance loss when accessing the
compressed folders.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307987

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http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
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http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

I now have a new question. Can these files be uncompressed?

Yes, it's just a file attribute.

If so, is there any advantage to uncompressing a file?

The NTFS compression is not always recommended and its compression ratio
is not that big anyway. "How To Use File Compression in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307987/en-us

| You may notice a decrease in performance when you work with NTFS-
| compressed files. When you open a compressed file, Windows
| automatically decompresses it for you, and when you close the file,
| Windows compresses it again. This process may decrease your computer
| performance.
| ...
| You cannot encrypt an NTFS-compressed file.