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re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 4:31 am Posted by Keith Stanier (1655 messages posted) Norm wrote: |In my dual boot system, capable of booting to either Windows 98SE or Windows XP, |using attrib.exe, I am able to change the system and hidden file attributes of files |in the \Windows folder and its subfolders in the Windows 98SE partition, but not |in the Windows XP partition. Hi Norm. Well the normal attributes in Windows Explorer don't allow you to change to file or folders System attributes in either Win98 or XP. You could try Run: attrib c:\windows\foldername -s The attributes use r - Read Only, h - Hidden, s - System so -r will remove the Read Only attrib and +r will make it Read Only. The same goes to s and h, + makes and - removes. Why do you want to do this anyway? You can set the folder options for both Explorers so it shows Hidden and System folders. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 6:23 am Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) I can't imagine a good reason for doing this. On Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 8:17 pm, Norm wrote: >In my dual boot system, capable of booting to either Windows 98SE or Windows XP, >using attrib.exe, I am able to change the system and hidden file attributes of files >in the \Windows folder and its subfolders in the Windows 98SE partition, but not >in the Windows XP partition. > >Any one have any idea as to the reason? > >Gratias, > >Norm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 11:16 am Posted by Norm (4 messages posted) The reason the system and hidden attributes need to be changed (removed) is to enable backup from and to external drives after booting to pure DOS, from a floppy that contaiins generic drivers to access the external drives from "pure" DOS.; i.e., not the DOS windows of Windows 98SE or Windows XP. Normally, the process here is any and all folders of Windows XP are copied to and from external hard drives from the Windows 98SE partition, from the DOS command line, in its DOS window mode. Likewise, normally the process here is any and all folders of Windows 98SE are copied to and from external hard drives from the Windows XP partition, from the DOS command line, in its DOS wiindow mode.. In the first case, xcopy32 (with its /s/e/h/r switches) of Windows 98SE is used. In the second case xcopy (with its /s/e/h/r switches) of Windows XP is used. But without removing the system and hidden file attributes, they wouldn't be copied from pure DOS. Using pure DOS, then, is used as the last resort should access to the Windows 98SE or Windows XP partition fails. Norm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 11:47 am Posted by Keith Stanier (1655 messages posted) Well Norm if your WinXP is formatted NTFS then you don't have a true DOS. Win98 can't read an NTFS drive either. Why can't you copy these folders under Windows if you can view all folders whether hidden or system? You can still use the attrib.exe functions under DOS. Have you tried attribing the folder under Windows? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 12:23 pm Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) I was pretty sure that you wouldn't have a good reason. Such a backup is really worthless, you won't be able to use it for anything when you need it. Why don't you look into one of the disk imaging tools for backing up? They really work. On Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 11:16 am, Norm wrote: >The reason the system and hidden attributes need to be changed (removed) is to enable >backup from and to external drives after booting to pure DOS, from a floppy that >contaiins generic drivers to access the external drives from "pure" DOS.; i.e., not >the DOS windows of Windows 98SE or Windows XP. > >Normally, the process here is any and all folders of Windows XP are copied to and >from external hard drives from the Windows 98SE partition, from the DOS command line, >in its DOS window mode. > >Likewise, normally the process here is any and all folders of Windows 98SE are copied >to and from external hard drives from the Windows XP partition, from the DOS command >line, in its DOS wiindow mode.. > >In the first case, xcopy32 (with its /s/e/h/r switches) of Windows 98SE is used. >In the second case xcopy (with its /s/e/h/r switches) of Windows XP is used. > >But without removing the system and hidden file attributes, they wouldn't be copied >from pure DOS. > >Using pure DOS, then, is used as the last resort should access to the Windows 98SE >or Windows XP partition fails. > >Norm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 2:41 pm Posted by Norm (4 messages posted) My Windows 98SE and Windows XP partitions on drive C:, as well as both external hard drives are formatted to FAT32. This was necessary to enable me to boot to pure DOS, as one of the three drive C: boot options on my current system; which is what I want, and need. Ths current system is also capable of booting to pure DOS to A: drive (floppy). I have successfully used attribute.exe to remove the system and hidden file attributes from files in the \windows folders of the Windows 98SE partition, after booting to that partition. This is the method I used to back up my earlier system to external drives. That system could only boot to Windows 98SE and pure DOS. I can also successfully do the same with the \windows folders of the Windows 98SE partition on my current system; bootable also to pure DOS, and Windows XP. But using attribute.exe to remove the system and hidden file attributes from files in the \windows folders, after booting to the Windows XP partition has not been successful. And that's the rub. I have not been able to determine why this is so, and only so for the Windows XP partition. Norm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 6:52 am Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) Well, if you are a really persevering person, you have a lifetime's worth of challenge in front of you. On Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 2:41 pm, Norm wrote: >My Windows 98SE and Windows XP partitions on drive C:, as well as both external hard >drives are formatted to FAT32. This was necessary to enable me to boot to pure DOS, >as one of the three drive C: boot options on my current system; which is what I want, >and need. Ths current system is also capable of booting to pure DOS to A: drive (floppy). > >I have successfully used attribute.exe to remove the system and hidden file attributes >from files in the \windows folders of the Windows 98SE partition, after booting to >that partition. This is the method I used to back up my earlier system to external >drives. That system could only boot to Windows 98SE and pure DOS. > >I can also successfully do the same with the \windows folders of the Windows 98SE >partition on my current system; bootable also to pure DOS, and Windows XP. > >But using attribute.exe to remove the system and hidden file attributes from files >in the \windows folders, after booting to the Windows XP partition has not been successful. >And that's the rub. > >I have not been able to determine why this is so, and only so for the Windows XP >partition. > >Norm > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 11:05 am Posted by Norm (4 messages posted) That "life time of challenges" lasted one day. I resolved the problem by using a program - part of a package of Norton's Ver. 8 utilities - I got back in the days of DOS. It's a file attribute utility called FA.EXE. It "does the trick". Using it, I am able to remove the hidden and system files from the Windows XP \windows folder, and all its associated folders. That utility program is now included in my boot up floppy that boots to Windows 98 pure DOS, which includes generic drivers for my Maxtor and Seagate external drives - loaded with entries in config.sys - enabling me to access all partitions of the C: drive and everything on my two external hard drives. This is to be used in the event booting to Windows 98SE fails. My normal method of copying ALL Windows XP files, including the \windows folder and its subfolders - to and from the external hard drives - is by booting to the Windows 98 partition on drive C:. This method entails the use of xcopy32.exe of Windows 98SE with its /s/e/h/r/i/c/y switches. When all else fails, booting to pure DOS - from a floppy disk - often comes to the rescure. But until I discovered the generic drivers for external hard drives -created by Panasonic software engineers - accessibility of the two external hard drives from pure DOS was not possible. Gratias for the help and suggestions. Aloha from Hawaii, Norm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: changing system and hidden files in \Windows folders Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 12:35 pm Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) You can't declare success until you've actually used the procedure to successfully restore your hard drive. Bet it doesn't work. Disk imaging software is a hell of a lot easier, and it does work. I can replace my hard drive if it were to fail, and have everything back up and running five minutes later. And that I have done. On Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 11:05 am, Norm wrote: > >That "life time of challenges" lasted one day. > >I resolved the problem by using a program - part of a package of Norton's Ver. 8 >utilities - I got back in the days of DOS. It's a file attribute utility called >FA.EXE. >It "does the trick". > >Using it, I am able to remove the hidden and system files from the Windows XP \windows >folder, and all its associated folders. That utility program is now included in my >boot up floppy that boots to Windows 98 pure DOS, which includes generic drivers >for my Maxtor and Seagate external drives - loaded with entries in config.sys - enabling >me to access all partitions of the C: drive and everything on my two external hard >drives. > >This is to be used in the event booting to Windows 98SE fails. My normal method of >copying ALL Windows XP files, including the \windows folder and its subfolders - >to and from the external hard drives - is by booting to the Windows 98 partition >on drive C:. This method entails the use of xcopy32.exe of Windows 98SE with its >/s/e/h/r/i/c/y switches. > >When all else fails, booting to pure DOS - from a floppy disk - often comes to the >rescure. But until I discovered the generic drivers for external hard drives -created >by Panasonic software engineers - accessibility of the two external hard drives from >pure DOS was not possible. > >Gratias for the help and suggestions. > >Aloha from Hawaii, > >Norm [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum