attribute problem

[ron]

helping a friend with XP Home ed. This is a hard one that i haven't run
into before.
he was attempting to get rid of spyware. had to turn Restore off. Then
he tried to delete lingering files in a folder per instruction. Couldn't
delete them so changed folder attribute from read-only to not read
only. Did get the files deleted but i don't think it had anything to do
with attributes. OK at this point.

later things went way down hill. He later went back to reverse what he
did with the attribute. Apparently was one level up and changed
attribute to read only for Program Files folder. I don't think this was
real bad but apparently there were two check boxes one of which was for
changing all files and folders underneath that folder to read-only. i
don't know if this was the default or not. any way to get the
attributes back to default via a tool or other method since System
Restore wasn't active. What are the ramifications? checked a few files
and some still say archive as well as read-only.

any thoughts other than it shouldn't have happened.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Ron,

Ignore it, as WindowsXP ignores "read-only" as an attribute on folders. It
only applies to files.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Jeff Gaines]

helping a friend with XP Home ed. This is a hard one that i haven't
run into before.
he was attempting to get rid of spyware. had to turn Restore off.
Then he tried to delete lingering files in a folder per instruction.
Couldn't delete them so changed folder attribute from read-only to
not read only. Did get the files deleted but i don't think it had
anything to do with attributes. OK at this point.

later things went way down hill. He later went back to reverse what
he did with the attribute. Apparently was one level up and changed
attribute to read only for Program Files folder. I don't think this
was real bad but apparently there were two check boxes one of which
was for changing all files and folders underneath that folder to
read-only. i don't know if this was the default or not. any way to
get the attributes back to default via a tool or other method since
System Restore wasn't active. What are the ramifications? checked a
few files and some still say archive as well as read-only.

any thoughts other than it shouldn't have happened.

You can do the same thing in reverse. Change the attributes on the top
level folder to not read only and you get the option to apply to sub
folders and files.

 

[ron]

Rick,

I'm a little confused by your answer. As I stated the check box he chose said
all folder and files beneath the Program Files folder would be changed to
read-only.
The reason we were concerned is that after that action we tried to download
the Ad-Aware update and the system seemed to hang. I thought that if the
files in all those folders were now read-only that they couldn't be updated.
Do you see what i mean? Do you think will be a problem?

Ron

 

[ron]

Jeff,

Will that change the archive attribute also? I am concerned how this
affect the ability to update programs, etc. I assume having files read only
would interfere with that function. Also, should all files and folders
below the Program Files folder be not read-only? Any guidelines out there
on which should be what?

Thanks,

Ron

 

[Jeff Gaines]

Jeff,

Will that change the archive attribute also? I am concerned how this
affect the ability to update programs, etc. I assume having files
read only would interfere with that function. Also, should all files
and folders below the Program Files folder be not read-only? Any
guidelines out there on which should be what?

Thanks,

Ron

I don't know about the archive bit, my backup program compares file
size/date/time so I don't think they are used for anything much on my
system.

If you have XP on your own PC you can look at Program Files in Explorer
and see what is hidden. On mine it is Installshield Installation
Information, Uninstall Information and Windows Update. All others are
read/write as are all the files I checked.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

Rick,

I'm a little confused by your answer. As I stated the check box he
chose said all folder and files beneath the Program Files folder
would be changed to read-only.
The reason we were concerned is that after that action we tried to
download the Ad-Aware update and the system seemed to hang. I
thought that if the files in all those folders were now read-only
that they couldn't be updated. Do you see what i mean? Do you think
will be a problem?

Ron

In WinXP all FOLDERS are Read Only.
If the FILES within those folders are not Read Only then they can be written
to, changed or deleted.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

 

[Jeff Gaines]

In WinXP all FOLDERS are Read Only.
If the FILES within those folders are not Read Only then they can be
written to, changed or deleted.

Does Explorer lie about attributes then? Some of my directories are
shown as read only but they are in the minority.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

Does Explorer lie about attributes then? Some of my directories are
shown as read only but they are in the minority.

While I did not check every folder, I did check a lot of them and couldn't
find one that was not Read Only.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx