This is weird. A super-hidden file?

[Ravanx]

I have set my folder options to "Show all Hidden Files". There is this folder with 160 files inside.

When I am inside the folder, select all 160 files, right-click, select Properties, it mentions that there are 160 files.

However when I am outside the folder, select the folder, right-click, select Properties, it tells me that there are 161 files now.

Does anyone know what is wrong? How can it be that there is one file hidden from view even though I have set to "Show all Hidden Files"? Is this some kind of super-hidden file?

 

[gregrocker]

Try also the Folder Options>View choice to show Protected OS files.

Those two choices should allow you to see all files.

 

[Thorsen]

Isnt there another option to still keep system files hidden even when you have show hidden files enabled?
the 161th file might be a system file

 

[Ravanx]

Try also the Folder Options>View choice to show Protected OS files.

Those two choices should allow you to see all files.

I see. Just curious, what kind of system files would get created in a folder I created for video files?

Edit: Seems like it was the thumbs.db file. Thanks gregrocker.

 

[Ravanx]

And here's the weirder part - in another similar case. I have a folder with 9 files on hard disk A. However when I select the folder (not the files), right-click, select Properties, it tells me that there are 8 files.

Now, when I backup hard disk A manually on hard disk B, that particular folder is copied over as well. When I select the folder (not the files) on hard disk B, right-click, select Properties, it tells me that there are 10 files now.

Edit: The part on the extra additional file from thin air seems to be solved. It was the thumbs.db file, a relic from Win XP. However, what about the issue in which I have 9 files but "Properties" only mentions 8?

 

[derekimo]

I have set my folder options to "Show all Hidden Files". There is this folder with 160 files inside.

When I am inside the folder, select all 160 files, right-click, select Properties, it mentions that there are 160 files.

However when I am outside the folder, select the folder, right-click, select Properties, it tells me that there are 161 files now.

Does anyone know what is wrong? How can it be that there is one file hidden from view even though I have set to "Show all Hidden Files"? Is this some kind of super-hidden file?

If you are inside the file it's not going to count the one you're in, so when you go to the outside of that file it will add the one you just left. Inside-160 Outside-161.

 

[Vertex]

Well I guess there are some super hidden files that are just suspicious. There are times that when the anti virus detects a hidden threat in your USB, usually with weird names even if you enable to show hidden files in the folder options, you look inside the USB and you still don't see the hidden virus file with a weird name.

There are also temp files that disappear. Such as when you open a saved Word document, a temp file is created in the same folder where the Word document is saved then disappears shortly after you have closed the Word document.

 

[karlsnooks]

There are times that when the anti virus detects a hidden threat in your USB, usually with weird names even if you enable to show hidden files in the folder options, you look inside the USB and you still don't see the hidden virus file with a weird name.

Welcome to Malware.

Most, but not all malware, can be removed with MSE (microsoft security essentials) or MalwareBytes anti-malware.

Malwarebytes

 

[fseal]

Well I guess there are some super hidden files that are just suspicious. There are times that when the anti virus detects a hidden threat in your USB, usually with weird names even if you enable to show hidden files in the folder options, you look inside the USB and you still don't see the hidden virus file with a weird name.

There are also temp files that disappear. Such as when you open a saved Word document, a temp file is created in the same folder where the Word document is saved then disappears shortly after you have closed the Word document.

The word thing is it's saving an ongoing auto backup of your edits so that if word or the computer crashes you can recover most or all of your editing. But when you save the document or exit word normally then there is no need for the live backup. The file is deleted by word when no longer needed.

I don;t know about the super hidden files though. What I do know is that it's possible through the windows api to create files/folders such that explorer has a hard time dealing with them. NTFS allows folder paths up to either 1024 or 4096 characters in length but explorer will choke on anything > 256 bytes for example. I don;t know all the tricks but there may be ways which virus writers use that specifically cause explorer to not show the files but using other (better) file tools you'd see them.

 

[CarlTR6]

Well I guess there are some super hidden files that are just suspicious. There are times that when the anti virus detects a hidden threat in your USB, usually with weird names even if you enable to show hidden files in the folder options, you look inside the USB and you still don't see the hidden virus file with a weird name.

There are also temp files that disappear. Such as when you open a saved Word document, a temp file is created in the same folder where the Word document is saved then disappears shortly after you have closed the Word document.

When you are working with a Word Document, the temporary document is there as long as you have that document open. Should you have a power outage or should Word crash, you can restore your document from that temporary file. Any canges you made in the document will not be there; it is a copy of the document as you opened it. When you save or close the document, the temporary file is deleted.

 

[Ravanx]

I have set my folder options to "Show all Hidden Files". There is this folder with 160 files inside.

When I am inside the folder, select all 160 files, right-click, select Properties, it mentions that there are 160 files.

However when I am outside the folder, select the folder, right-click, select Properties, it tells me that there are 161 files now.

Does anyone know what is wrong? How can it be that there is one file hidden from view even though I have set to "Show all Hidden Files"? Is this some kind of super-hidden file?

If you are inside the file it's not going to count the one you're in, so when you go to the outside of that file it will add the one you just left. Inside-160 Outside-161.

I was inside a folder, not a file. 160 and 161 are both the number of files, not folder.

So, does anyone know about the phenomenon i mentioned before?

And here's the weirder part - in another similar case. I have a folder with 9 files on hard disk A. However when I select the folder (not the files), right-click, select Properties, it tells me that there are 8 files.

Edit: Can we please avoid discussing about the post by derekimo quoted above or what I mentioned about it. I feel that discussion on it is rather out of topic here since the current progression of the thread is now "Why does Properties mention 8 files, when there are actually 9 files?"
To set things straight and in response to Casca's post below.
A folder is a folder and a file is a file.
A folder is not a file and a file is not a folder.
A folder is the place where the file resides in. A file is the thing you access.
They are different. Period.

 

[karlsnooks]

ravenx,
go to an elevated command prompt,
type dir
then type attrib.

depending upon attributes you get different answers.

I include an example;

C:\>dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is D613-6024

Directory of C:\

06/10/2009 02:42 PM 24 autoexec.bat
06/10/2009 02:42 PM 10 config.sys
02/17/2010 12:51 PM <DIR> Intel
07/13/2009 07:37 PM <DIR> PerfLogs
03/23/2010 08:34 PM <DIR> Program Files
02/17/2010 01:35 AM <DIR> Users
03/24/2010 09:47 AM <DIR> Windows
2 File(s) 34 bytes
5 Dir(s) 139,810,914,304 bytes free

C:\>attrib
A C:\autoexec.bat
A C:\config.sys
A SH I C:\hiberfil.sys
A SH C:\pagefile.sys

C:\>


sorry about missing spaces==that's the result of the way that this forum handles spaces when you do a cut and paste and in fact, generally they have a nasty habit of removing what is considered to be extraneous spaces.

 

[Casca]

The containing folder is a file.

 

[Ravanx]

ravenx,
go to an elevated command prompt,
type dir
then type attrib.

depending upon attributes you get different answers.

I have a good idea of dir, cd does.
But what exactly does attrib do? Or rather, what is the purpose of using it or what is the result I am supposed to obtain from using it?

Edit: I already did it before I made this post...

 

[karlsnooks]

ravanex,
Just do it. Your computer will not collapse.

 

[Vertex]

MS Office creates those backup files in case of a power outage but working only with Wordpad for processing, I don't have that kind of option though