File Folders don't show up in My Computer!!

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This is a new problem. I’m running Windows XP Pro, all the latest patches/fixes/etc. have been applied, so I think I’m current with all.

Today when I went looking for a document, I opened My Computer | F hard drive, and found that one of my folders was missing. Not a happy feeling. Before panicking, i did a search, and there it is in the search results!! Rebooting did nothing to solve the problem. The folder doesn’t show when I try to store things there or when I try to load from the folder. Other folders seem to all show up.

Any ideas anyone?
Thanks
Bob Chapman

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Is this F drive a USB device?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Is this F drive a USB device?

Nope, it’s an internal SATA drive.
Bob

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You can use the My Computer | Drives section of TweakUI to make sure the drive is not hidden (i.e. unchecked = hidden). If you don’t have TweakUI you can download from Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP.

Joe

--Joe

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Joe,
It seems like the drive is there but not the folder, i.e. not a hidden drive.

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Oops. You are correct. Hope that does not add too much confusion.

Joe

--Joe

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… i did a search, and there it is in the search results!! …

Try opening Windows Explorer and see if the drive shows in the left pane.

If it still isn’t in that view, try My Computer, Manage, and click on Disk Management. Let us know what you see in the result. If you can do it, a screen shot would be helpful.

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Try opening Windows Explorer and see if the drive shows in the left pane.

If it still isn’t in that view, try My Computer, Manage, and click on Disk Management. Let us know what you see in the result. If you can do it, a screen shot would be helpful.

I think that I’ve attached a screen shopt of Disk Management. It’s Drive F: that’s giving me trouble, which is a logical partition of C:. Oddly, I see that it has somehow become the Boot drive, which it never has before.
I have been installing a bunch of new software — can that have caused this in some way?

Or is XP “hiding” it because there are now somehow system files there?

Bob Chapman

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Your screenshot hasn’t made it. After clicking Browse… and selecting the picture, you must click UPLOAD to add the picture to your post.

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I think that I’ve attached a screen shopt of Disk Management. It’s Drive F: that’s giving me trouble, which is a logical partition of C:. Oddly, I see that it has somehow become the Boot drive, which it never has before.
I have been installing a bunch of new software — can that have caused this in some way?

Or is XP “hiding” it because there are now somehow system files there?

Bob Chapman
[/quote]

I can’t figure out how to show you the screen shot. It’s uploaded successfully (the system says), and that I should use “manage Current Attachments” menu to do something with it, but I don’t k now how to make the picture visible in this post.

Bob

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This time, the screenshot made it. If you don’t use the attachment manager, the attachments are simply displayed at the end of the post, below your signature.

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I can’t figure out how to show you the screen shot. It’s uploaded successfully (the system says), and that I should use “manage Current Attachments” menu to do something with it, but I don’t k now how to make the picture visible in this post.

See the FAQ at [post=”759433″]Post 759433[/post]. Step-by-step instructions are there.

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The cross hatching on most partitions means that it is a hidden drive.

Most of the OEM’s will use one to hide their “System Recover” data.

Your attachment also shows that it is a (Boot) drive. Have you got multi OS’s running on this machine?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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The cross hatching on most partitions means that it is a hidden drive.

Most of the OEM’s will use one to hide their “System Recover” data.

Your attachment also shows that it is a (Boot) drive. Have you got multi OS’s running on this machine?

It’s a dual-boot system, so XP and Vista are both available to me, but only running one at a time.
Bob

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If you go into a Command window and navigate to F: does the folder show when you do a “DIR /AH”?

Joe

--Joe

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It’s a dual-boot system, so XP and Vista are both available to me, but only running one at a time.
Bob

It’s a folder that doesn’t show up in Explorer, correct? The Boot designation could be related but by no means necessarily, I can’t see such connection now. You do indeed have a dual-boot system.

The missing folder, is it created in the other OS (you are looking at the partition from inside XP at the moment)? It shouldn’t matter, but then one perhaps better knows where to look for the problem or correct the problem.

Since you can find the folder with a search, if you right-click it, what attributes does it have. It could have been set to hidden. Then it could be that you somehow have “Show hidden files and folders” unchecked, but you search for all files and folders, even hidden (another setting in the Search Companion as you know). It will show up then in the search result, but not in the Explorer. You said “other folders seem to all show up”, and that could be all OK if they not have the hidden attribute, but if this folder somehow got a changed attribute and you have a system setting to not show, it will be hidden.

To see hidden files and folders:

[*]In Windows Explorer: Tools menu, click Folder Options.
[*]Select the View tab.
[*]Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.

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The cross hatching on most partitions means that it is a hidden drive.

Most of the OEM’s will use one to hide their “System Recover” data.

Your attachment also shows that it is a (Boot) drive. Have you got multi OS’s running on this machine?

Huh, Dave?

It couldn’t possibly be because the OP selected the partition in Disk Management? If cross hatching means a hidden drive, then I can hide my partitions on the fly by just selecting them in Disk Management. It is possible that cross hatching has that use in some other programs, but then it is also given by the context.

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The cross hatching on most partitions means that it is a hidden drive.

Most of the OEM’s will use one to hide their “System Recover” data.

Your attachment also shows that it is a (Boot) drive. Have you got multi OS’s running on this machine?

The cross hatching in Disk Management shows the selected drive, not a hidden drive.

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The cross hatching in Disk Management shows the selected drive, not a hidden drive.

Thanks. THis has been resolved.
Bob

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RESOLVED!!!

Somehow the folder had gotten re-named to “Documents” — probably I fouled it up someway, so when I searched for it, of course I couldn’t find it.

Thanks for all the help.

Bob

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That was getting confusing. Glad you got it resolved. Thanks for posting back.

Joe

--Joe

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My error

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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