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Files are hidden despite turning on show hidden files

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#1
honeyfixit

honeyfixit

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Okay so I'm backing up all my saved music in the cloud (google drive), and I'm noticing that when the folders show up on google drive there are extra files that I can't see in Windows Explorer.  I do have show hidden files on (I double checked before posting) but still these files don't show up.  They're mostly album art, but there's also this mysterious "desktop.ini" file in every folder (my music is organized in folders by artist).  It's not a big deal as these files are tiny but I still wonder why windows doesn't show them.  I've included a google drive screenshot of one folder so you can see.  And one of the desktop.ini file.  I'm not a programmer so I'm not quite understanding this.

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Edited by honeyfixit, 29 March 2018 - 06:33 AM.

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#2
paws

paws

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Hi honeyfixit,

Yes it can be a little perplexing, however the desktop.ini files are Windows System Files.

That is to say they are created by Windows itself ( usually!) and are the method that Windows uses to control the appearance for example of your folders and its behaviours.

 

You have "show hidden files" as on, and that is fine but you need to go one step further if you want to see your desktop.ini files on your computer, you need to scroll down to and clear the tick from the box labelled Hide Protected System Files, click apply and then OK and then they will be visible.

 

However after satisfying yourself that all is well, it would be wise to hide the Protected System Files once more, as if someone can see them, then they could start messing with them and that could ruin your computer!

 

Here's further information on desktop.ini files

https://msdn.microso...2(v=vs.85).aspx

Regards

paws


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