Attribute bit resets on boot

[Leslie Milton]

I rely on the attribute bit for dailly backups of files in work on my XP
professional laptop, using XCOPY to copy only files with A set. I've noticed
lately that, after a cold boot (START as opposed to HIBERNATE), the A bit
reappears as set for many of the files for which it has been cleared by the
XCOPY transfer. I have a batch file CHECKATTR.BAT that checks for files that
would be transferred according to the A bit (Dir *.* /S/A:A ). After running
my XCOPY backup file, CHECKATTR.BAT reveals zero files. But after a re-boot,
it comes up with a list of most of the files in my INWORK folder, so it'd be
a lengthy process copying them all to my USB drive. It seems that somehow XP
is remembering the files that had A cleared and sets them back. I thought
at first this might be yet another irritating feature of my Norton 360
anti-virus program, but In a chat session with a tech, I was assured that
there's no use of the A bit.

I hope someone has a clue to this mystery.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I rely on the attribute bit for dailly backups of files in work on my XP
professional laptop, using XCOPY to copy only files with A set. I've
noticed
lately that, after a cold boot (START as opposed to HIBERNATE), the A bit
reappears as set for many of the files for which it has been cleared by
the
XCOPY transfer. I have a batch file CHECKATTR.BAT that checks for files
that
would be transferred according to the A bit (Dir *.* /S/A:A ). After
running
my XCOPY backup file, CHECKATTR.BAT reveals zero files. But after a
re-boot,
it comes up with a list of most of the files in my INWORK folder, so it'd
be
a lengthy process copying them all to my USB drive. It seems that somehow
XP
is remembering the files that had A cleared and sets them back. I
thought
at first this might be yet another irritating feature of my Norton 360
anti-virus program, but In a chat session with a tech, I was assured that
there's no use of the A bit.

I hope someone has a clue to this mystery.

You should use the /d switch for your backups, not /m. It's much more
reliable.

 

[CTOS]

Using the xcopy /M switch does remove the archive bit and the archive bit
does not appear unit the file is changed. Seems strange that doing a cold
boot would reset the archive bit.

Someone else had the same strange occurance with xcopy and Norton 360.
Their solution was to uninstall Norton 360 and go with another A/V product.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Internet_Email/Anti-Virus/Symantec/Q_23708518.html

 

[Leslie Milton]

Thanks, Pegasus. I've been using the /d out of necessity, it's just a hassle
revising the .bat file to update the date. L.M.

 

[Leslie Milton]

Thanks, CTOS, especially for taking the trouble to refer me to the URL. I
was assured in an on-line chat with the support service that N 360 doesn't
touch the A bit, but perhaps the tech was unaware of its full scope. Other
annoyances have made me think about switching my anti virus/firewall
provider, but I saw a report of a recent test in which N360 was notable for
defeating all the threats in a test, so I'm hoping I'll be able to fix this
problem without removing N360. LM