An adamantly invisible file on NTFS! How can I make it visible?
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I have a file, which I know is there, but I have no way of seeing it. Like the man on the stair ;) As I was using Windoze XP I met a file which wasn't there It wasn't there again today Oh, how I wish it'd go away! Well, I know it is there, because reading the MFT in a binary disk editor reveals it (I'm using Runtime's DiskExplorer for NTFS - a brilliant package I can't recommend highly enough). I also know it's there because if I try to create a file with the same name, I get the following errors: "
A file with the name you specified already exists" if I use Windows explorer to rename a file. :wtf: "Access is denied" if I try and copy a file to this name in the command prompt window or in the recovery console. X| So, it exists. I see it on disk, and Explorer, Command prompt and Recovery console all agree. The file is there. But I can't see it in Explorer, or in the command prompt window or in the recovery console! It just plain isn't there! Yes, I have set the options as follows in the explorer: "Show hidden files and folders" is set "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" is not set As a consequence I can see everything on my disk! Everything that is, except this one file! What could cause this? How can I patch the MFT and/or root index entries (it's in the root directory) to make it visible? What deep dark mysteries of the NTFS are are work here. It has only 3 MFT attributes. They are:$10 = $STANDARD_INFORMATION $30 = $FILE_NAME $80 = $DATAaccording to DiskExplorer (I've not attempted a manual decode of the MFT entry yet - DiskExplorer does it for one). It data is non-resident, it has but 1 run. More info gladly provided. What I'm fishing for is an understanding of what can possibly make a file so invisible. Oh, "CHKDSK /R" is finds no problems with it. It's a healthy file. Just an invisible one. Any clues? Any further tools useful in learning or diagnosing? :confused: For anyone eager to understand the possible origins of such a bizarre file, it is the logical offshoot of the problem described in this thread: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/n1040090780[^] -
I have a file, which I know is there, but I have no way of seeing it. Like the man on the stair ;) As I was using Windoze XP I met a file which wasn't there It wasn't there again today Oh, how I wish it'd go away! Well, I know it is there, because reading the MFT in a binary disk editor reveals it (I'm using Runtime's DiskExplorer for NTFS - a brilliant package I can't recommend highly enough). I also know it's there because if I try to create a file with the same name, I get the following errors: "
A file with the name you specified already exists" if I use Windows explorer to rename a file. :wtf: "Access is denied" if I try and copy a file to this name in the command prompt window or in the recovery console. X| So, it exists. I see it on disk, and Explorer, Command prompt and Recovery console all agree. The file is there. But I can't see it in Explorer, or in the command prompt window or in the recovery console! It just plain isn't there! Yes, I have set the options as follows in the explorer: "Show hidden files and folders" is set "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" is not set As a consequence I can see everything on my disk! Everything that is, except this one file! What could cause this? How can I patch the MFT and/or root index entries (it's in the root directory) to make it visible? What deep dark mysteries of the NTFS are are work here. It has only 3 MFT attributes. They are:$10 = $STANDARD_INFORMATION $30 = $FILE_NAME $80 = $DATAaccording to DiskExplorer (I've not attempted a manual decode of the MFT entry yet - DiskExplorer does it for one). It data is non-resident, it has but 1 run. More info gladly provided. What I'm fishing for is an understanding of what can possibly make a file so invisible. Oh, "CHKDSK /R" is finds no problems with it. It's a healthy file. Just an invisible one. Any clues? Any further tools useful in learning or diagnosing? :confused: For anyone eager to understand the possible origins of such a bizarre file, it is the logical offshoot of the problem described in this thread: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/n1040090780[^]whats 'that' file name?? I was born intelligent
Education ruined me!.