R = Read only attribute of Favorites Folder Hierarchy vs. S = System

[JDJ]

After many months fighting with 1 of my 2 PC's I have found the
difference that causes a problem on one but not the other, yet I can't
fix it.

It appears that in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 on my Desktop,
the Folders in my Favorites Hierarchy

i.e.

C:\Documents and Settings\JJ\Favorites and all sub folders have the R
attribute set (which is correct) and which allows the hidden
Desktop.ini files in these folders to be recognized so that the custom
icon's I have assigned to these folders will show (like the rest of
this PC and the rest of my Notebook.

On my Notebook, using the DOS ATTRIB command I can set the R attribute
for these folders, which is missing, but it will be UN SET as soon as
I add any files to the Favorites Folder Hierarchy.

Why I don't know, but as soon as the attribute is un set the custom
icons disappear (the desktop.ini files are ignored).

I can set the S or System attribute, and it does not disappear, and
desktop.ini's are processed and the custom icons come right back, but
I don't think this is supposed to be how it works.

Also, I must set the S attribute, manually from the DOS prompt every
time I add a new folder to the Favorite Folder Hierarchy for me to be
able to assign a custom icon to that new folder.

The Notebook runs Windows Media Center Edition 2004 (which recognized
domains) and not 2005.

I like my machines to look a like.

Copying a folder form the favorites hierarchy on my one PC to the
other PC does not good. On the notebook the custom icon will not show
unless I go to the DOS box and set the S attribute.

WHY CAN'T I SET THE R attribute so it will stick on my Favorites
Folder Hierarchy and also so it will inherit down to any new folders I
create on the notebook PC??

Copying

 

[Tim Slattery]

C:\Documents and Settings\JJ\Favorites and all sub folders have the R
attribute set

No they don't.

The "read-only" attribute is meaningless for folders. What you see
when you choose "Properties" for a folder and click on the "General"
tab is a 3-state check box in its third state": grayed out with no
check. That's trying to tell you that it doesn't apply here. If it
were selected there would be a checkmark in the box. If the option
applied and was not selected the box would be white with no checkmark.

 

[JDJ]

No they don't.

The "read-only" attribute is meaningless for folders. What you see
when you choose "Properties" for a folder and click on the "General"
tab is a 3-state check box in its third state": grayed out with no
check. That's trying to tell you that it doesn't apply here. If it
were selected there would be a checkmark in the box. If the option
applied and was not selected the box would be white with no checkmark.

I agree & disagree with what you say.

I am familiar with the three states. I see a gray check mark on a
light gray background rather than a Black mark on white or a white
empty box but TRY THIS:

Go into the command window and navigate to the Favorites folder in
your user profile and type in

attrib favori~1

e.g. in my case

C:\docume~1\jj>attrib favori~1

the return I get on my good machine is

R C:\docume~1\jj\favorites

I have researched this a little and know that setting the Read only
(R) attribute ON a FOLDER doesn't really make the folder READ only as
you would expect. I.E. I would think with the R attribute set you
could not edit or delete or add new files to that folder but this is
not the case.

If I do the above on my problem machine I do not see the R instead I
get:

C:\docume~1\jj\favorites

response.

If I set the R attribute like so:

C:\docume~1\jj>attrib +R favori~1

I will get the confirmation matching my good machine proving I have
set the R attribute for the Favorites folder.

I'm using the root Favorites folder as an example.

You can go down through you Favorites folder hierarchy and you will
see (at least I do on my good machine) that the R attribute is set for
all the folders in that hierarchy.

I can set the R attribute manually from the DOS command for any given
folder on my problem machine and suddenly the desktop.ini is
recognized and my custom icon appears.

e.g.

C:\docume~1\jj\favori~1>attrib + personal

now the folder personal has the R attribute and if I have customized
the icon the custom icon will suddenly appear.

As soon as I create a new file inside the personal folder the icon
will revert to standard and because the R attribute is unset (verified
from the DOS prompt).

If I set the S attribute it doesn't get unset but I have to do it for
every new folder I create in the Favorites hierarchy.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Windows Explorer does NOT allow you to view or change a folder's Read-only
or System attribute. Changing these attributes can break special folders
and screw up any of your folder customizations. You can ONLY view or change
a folder's Read-only or System attributes by using the attrib command.

I assume that Microsoft changed this in XP because people did not understand
it in earlier versions of Windows and broke their Special Folders and folder
customizations. And they do not seem to understand this in XP either.
There is an MSKB article that explains all of this, but most people skip the
explanation and go right to the part about WORKAROUND and attrib and skip
past the Warning. Notice how I do not include a link to that article here.

<quote>
In some previous versions of Windows, you can change the Read-only attribute
for folders by using the Properties dialog box for the folder, but no
versions of Windows permit you to change the System attribute by using
Windows Explorer.
<quote>

Read-only for folders does not mean Read-only like it does with files.

A file that is marked Read-only can be read, but it cannot be changed or
deleted.

You can delete, rename, move or change a folder that has the Read-only
attribute set. But if it's a System folder, you'll get a Warning.

For folders the Read-only and System attributes are used by Windows Explorer
to determine whether a folder is a special folder or whether you have
customized the folder using the Customize tab of Folder Properties.

If you customized a folder using the Customize tab of Folder Properties, a
desktop.ini file is created in that folder.

Desktop.ini files normally have the Hidden and System attributes.

Special folders include:
Cookies, Control Panel, Desktop, Downloaded Program Files, Favorites, Fonts,
History, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, My Videos, Recycle Bin, Shared
Documents, Shared Music, Shared Pictures, Shared Videos, SendTo, Start Menu,
Startup, Temporary Internet Files, etc.

Most of those Special Folders have a desktop.ini file. Sometimes the
desktop.ini file cannot be seen (super hidden) even if you have Display the
contents of system folders and Show hidden files and folders selected in
Folder Options. The desktop.ini file in Downloaded Program Files, for
example cannot be seen.

To see the desktop.ini for Downloaded Program Files...
Paste the following line into Start | Run and click OK...

%windir%\Downloaded Program Files\desktop.ini

The desktop.ini should open.

When a folder has the Read-Only attribute set, Windows Explorer reads the
Desktop.ini of that folder to see if any special folder settings need to be
set. That is all Read-only means for a folder.

The Read-only check box in Folder Properties does NOT apply to the folder.

The Read-only check box for folders is there for convenience, it allows you
to change the Read-only attribute of all the files contained in that folder.
The Read-only check box indicates whether the files in the folder are
Read-only, NOT the folder. If you select this check box all of the files
in the folder will be Read-only. If you clear the check box, none of the
files in the folder will be Read-only. If the check appears green or gray,
then some of the files in that folder MAY be Read-only.

If the check appears green or gray, it indicates either a mixed (some of the
files may be Read-only) or undetermined condition. Windows Explorer
displays the green or gray check because it would take too long to verify
the state of the read-only attribute for every file in the folder.

The System attribute serves to protect files from accidental deletion.

The System file attribute by default is set by the operating system or some
other program to mark files that are essentially important for proper
functioning of system.

The System attribute is usually used jointly with Hidden and Read-only
attributes to provide maximum protection of system files. The System
attribute is usually regarded by programs as a mandatory rule which forbids
any actions to be taken upon files or folders marked with this attribute.

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421

Find all Directories with the Read-only attribute.

DIR \ /S /a:dr Will list all Read-only directories on C: with out changing
directory.

DIR \ /S /a:dr >dirR.txt Will pipe it to C:\dirR.txt

DIR \ /S /a:dr >"%userprofile%\desktop\dirR.txt" Will pipe it to dirR.txt
on Desktop.

DIR \ /S |FIND "i" |MORE A nice command to list all directories on the
hard drive, one screen page at a time, and see the number of files in each
directory and the amount of space each occupies.

To see all of the desktop.ini files on the C: drive, if they have the System
attribute set...
Open a command prompt....
Start | Run | Type: cmd | Click OK |
Change Directory to C:...
Type: cd\ and hit Enter.
Type: attrib /S desktop.ini and hit Enter.

If any desktop.ini files do not have the System attribute set, you'll have
to use Search.

Douglass Thrift has a fix for desktop.ini files that have lost their System
and Hidden attributes. The file is Desktop_ini.zip

http://computers.douglasthrift.net/winxpfaq/Desktop_ini.zip

It automates typing in a command prompt:

cd\

attrib +h +s desktop.ini /s

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In