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Unable to hide Desktop.ini

Anonymous
2016-03-09T03:16:35+00:00

Original Title: Desktop.ini won't be hidden

Hi there,

recently, for some reasons desktop.ini files appeared in every folders. Now, I know from searching on the internet that it's not a virus and it needs to be there.

I also know that checking "Don't show hidden files, folders or drives" as well as "Hide protected operating system files(Recommended)" will hide them from my sight.

Except that this doesn't work for me. Desktop.ini files won't be hidden, even though I did all that as you can see here.

 

They still come up everywhere. Here I was trying to ctrl+A and hide selected files all at the same time, but it doesn't work either. The only way now is to hide them individually one by one, which I'd rather not do if possible, since there are so many.

Please, help me. I realize they are important files, so I don't want to delete them by accidents.

Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-11-05T16:04:55+00:00

    Hi,

    I was searching in the Internet for this problem and found your post. I know some time has past, but maybe this will be help for other users.

    The problem was with desktop.ini files, that they were not hidden and not set as system files. Short solution can be this:

    Open Command Line with admin prompt and write down this sequence:

    cd C:\

    attrib +S +H desktop.ini /S

    That will set all desktop.ini files in your C:\ drive with attributes hidden and system. Now, with folder options as set in post, the desktop.ini files won't be displayed.

    With regards,

    Karol Kuppe

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-09T15:31:25+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

    As per description, you are unable to hide desktop.ini.

    The desktop.ini file by default has the System, Hidden and Read-only attributes assigned. So they should not be showing on the Desktop.As mentioned you have already tried to hide the system file.

    I would suggest you to try is one more time and also click on APPLY TO ALL FOLDERS tab.

    Go to Windows Explorer; click on Desktop. Go to Tools/Folder Options. Click View, and check "Hide protected operating system files" -  CLICK "APPLY TO ALL FOLDERS". Just click OK.

    If issue still persists, I would suggest you run a virus scan and check if that helps.

    Microsoft Safety Scanner. I would suggest you to perform a full system scan using the Microsoft Safety Scanner to eliminate any issues related to virus/malware.

    Microsoft Safety Scanner http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx

    Note: Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

    The Microsoft Safety Scanner expires 10 days after being downloaded. To rerun a scan with the latest anti-malware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again.

    Hope this helps, if you need further assistance on Windows let us know we will be glad to help.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-22T02:14:31+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for your suggestion, the scan showed no results though. It seemed there is nothing wrong with my computer.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-03-13T09:52:41+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for your reply,

    You may run the system file checker tool and check if it helps. SFC scan will scan for the corrupted system files on the computer. You may refer to the following article in order to use System File Checker tool appropriately.

    Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-us

    Please reply us back after performing the steps. We would be happy to assist you further on the issue.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-03-10T08:22:17+00:00

    Thank you for your reply. I have followed all of your suggestions but it still doesn't work. The scan also showed no abnormality. I don't know what is wrong with my system.

    Do you have anymore suggestion?

    Thank you.

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