How do I fix super-invisible files when "attrib -h -s" fails?

[Thenin]

How do I fix super-invisible files when "attrib -h -s" fails?

This is a weird one! I used robocopy to copy millions of files to the root of a new NTFS partition. But they're all not just invisible, but "super-invisible"! By which I mean that every attempt to unhide them with the "attrib -h -s *.*" command results in the message "*.* not found"! You can't unhide files that the OS doesn't see, I guess.

I just learned now that robocopy has a known bug when copying to the root folder. There are many threads about this bug, but this one seems to be the most useful: Robocopy hides files after copying them

The most useful bit of info from that page is that "attrib -h -s" isn't enough. It advises that you first use "attrib +A *.*", which sets them up for a subsequent "attrib -h -s" command.

But "attrib +A *.*" doesn't work in my case either! I get the same error message: "*.* not found.

What can I do now? I absolutely do NOT want to re-copy all those millions of files, which took a full day.

 

[Brink]

Hello Thenin,

See if the command below may work for you instead.

ATTRIB -H -S "Drive letter:\*" /S /D

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/56005-file-folder-hide-unhide.html

 

[Thenin]

Hello Thenin,

See if the command below may work for you instead.

ATTRIB -H -S "Drive letter:\*" /S /D

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/56005-file-folder-hide-unhide.html

Thanks, Brink!

I started that command hours ago, and it still has not completed, so I don't know if it will work. But when I look at the drive to see what's going on, none of the files are visible yet.

Do you think that's normal?

 

[RolandJS]

Brink, do you think OP may benefit from using one of several very good Puppy Linux USB or DVD boots? I've used them, however, I was working with normally visible files; don't know if Linux is powerful enough to unhide the abovementioned files.

 

[Brink]

Hello Thenin,

See if the command below may work for you instead.

ATTRIB -H -S "Drive letter:\*" /S /D

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/56005-file-folder-hide-unhide.html

Thanks, Brink!

I started that command hours ago, and it still has not completed, so I don't know if it will work. But when I look at the drive to see what's going on, none of the files are visible yet.

Do you think that's normal?

It depends on how many files are on the drive for how long it may take, but that is a long time.

Did you run the command in an elevated command prompt?

 

[Brink]

Brink, do you think OP may benefit from using one of several very good Puppy Linux USB or DVD boots? I've used them, however, I was working with normally visible files; don't know if Linux is powerful enough to unhide the abovementioned files.

I don't use Linux, so I don't know.

 

[Thenin]

Well, just now the computer in question had a BSOD. When I rebooted and looked at the disk, there are still no files in evidence, even though a huge portion of the disk shows up being used.

I guess I have to start over, dammit!