How to turn Desktop.ini invisible again?

[sanferno]

I don't know what I've done that all Desktop.ini files are shown in every folder of an especific HDD drive. They continue doing the job they should, but until some days ago they were hidden.

I've un/cheked "show hidden files and folders" and restarting x2, but it doesn't seem to affect them.

[Robert2]

Have a look at Show Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 7, 8.x, 10, or Vista

[sanferno]

Thank you, but that hasn't been changed.
I also think it might be related with that, but maybe in a x2 way.

[Kilmatead]

What do you mean by "of a specific HDD drive"? They only appear visible on that one single drive, or all drives?

And (obvious question), you're sure they all still have their HS attributes set...?

[sanferno]

Yes K, I'm meaning to one HDD drive with single partition. The others I have remain without this issue.

That "obvious question" for you, doesn't seem so much for me since as you can see in the image. Maybe you've found the key
I guess "H" is for hidden, but "S" stands for what?

att.jpg

[Kilmatead]

'S' stands for the 'S'ystem attribute, indicating the object is primarily (though not exclusively) intended for use by the Windows OS itself. (All desktop.ini files are HS by default, the Hidden attribute simply informing x2 whether or not they should be displayed.)

Apparently something (a side-effect of your 'C'ompressed-state?) stripped these attributes from your partition objects... I don't know enough about volume-compression to comment further except to say that if you don't need it, don't use it (to avoid the unnecessary access overhead) - but that's up to you.

Right-clicking the drive in question and selecting "Properties" will display the checkbox option "Compress this drive to save disk space"... perhaps you've been "curiosity-clicking" again...

[sanferno]

'S' is shown with the x2 attributes button. Yesterday I looked only on Windows properties and there is nothing about it.

I think this was caused because some days ago I was messing with 'System Volumen Information' and 'Recicle bin' in order to 'recover' about 50GB that both were stolen from my free space. We can call that "curiosity-clicking".

Anyway, as always, you've shown me the solution, thank you!

[Kilmatead]

I looked only on Windows properties and there is nothing about it.

Windows tends not to encourage people to be too inquisitive about the world around them.

In case you are curious about other attributes files/folders can contain (and which may be displayed in x2), please see this thread.

We can call that "curiosity-clicking"

File compression is just the start of it: Considering that you're our local topographical expert, a well known conspiracy/fact[*] indicates that there's a direct correlation between the sea-level height of a location and the number of times people have "curiosity-clicked" on that same location in Google Maps.

For example, many people falsely believe that the city of Venice is sinking "because the Adriatic plate underneath the city is subducting beneath the Apennines Mountains due to plate tectonics and the slow compaction of the sediments that support the city".

This, obviously, is not true.

It's actually sinking because of all the silly American Tourists who can't stop clicking on it as a holiday destination, and further pummelling it into the ground. I mean, once upon a time the city of San Francisco was nice and flat, but with all the goofy people clicking on different areas of it desperately trying to find an Uber Cab, it has now become a bumpy calamity of a place. And don't get me started on why New Orleans really flooded.

Interestingly, this happens in reverse too: the moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 1.48 inches per year - not, as the powers-that-be would have you believe, due to natural gravitational forces, but simply because of all the people who keep clicking on pictures of it on the internets. There is a reason that (in the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) mice are actually in charge of everything - that Left-Mouse-Button is a seriously weighty weapon.

"Curiosity-clicking" is ruining the environment. You heard it here first. We should all move to Nepal. At least it will take longer to become the New Atlantis. You should put that shiny new PhD of yours to good use and look into this (previously unknown) environmental threat. The planet (and the moon) needs your help.

[*] I may, or may not, have just made these "facts" up. I do that sometimes.

[sanferno]

According to your last reply, I might have a PhD, but that's clearly not enough to get your level, gardening, programming and now you surprise us with "geografical imagination'. It sounds weird, but I prefer to think so and not that some pollen has affected you this morning.

Oh, I almost forget it! I've compressed the HDD to have more storage. Maybe it's slower, but for what I use it, it's fast enough. I'm not an expert in that, it's just a matter of space. Could it damage the drive?

[Kilmatead]

Could it damage the drive?

No, drives are fairly robust things and (unless seriously cheap) can easily sustain a high level of regular activity. Compression will tend to stress a CPU more (think of it as a background form of constantly zipping/unzipping)... so whether a slower computer is worth the trade-off is up to you. Considering that (mechanical) terrabyte drives are rather cheap these days, the advantages of compression are less evident in the non-enterprise space than they used to be.

A minor concern is when data-corruption does occur, normal "recovery" methods are virtually impossible with any embedded form of compressed or encrypted source, so (as always), pray to the Backup God for your salvation.

If the drive is an SSD there will be a slightly greater overhead of wear and tear associated with compression as data is constantly moved around in cache and that does impact drive lifespan, but that really should not be a major concern. (People tend to blow that caveat out of proportion, and while it is always worth mentioning, it should not be taken too literally.)

[sanferno]

I've been using it for some years in WD Green series, which aren't the fastest HDD, but they do for me. Most of the data stored is for archival, so the "lower-speed/extra-cpu" impact isn't quite big in this case.