Question:
Hiding certain files from folder display?
I would like to hide the .DS_Store files as well as the duplicate files that appear once they are copied from my USB thumb drive... the ones that add '._' to the front of the file name, thus placing it at the top of the file list alphabetically but below folder names... very annoying visually.
Some of the '._' files disappear when I select "Do not show hidden files and folders" in the Folder Options control panel. But, some remain as do the .DS_Store files. Anything out there that can selectively hide only those files? Or, software that lets you manually select to hide files "that start with..." or something similar? Thanks in advance.
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
I never see anything like that on my USB drives, what's the purpose of those files? Oh, and I'm not awayre of any way to filter out non-system files.
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
Only thing i can think of is right click on those file and check to give them hidden file status. It's a step by step process and no way to do them by the masses. Sorry i don't know any program that do so either. Just have to take your time doing it one by one i guess. How many of those files are there anyway.
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
I don't know the purpost of the files... to annoy me, perhaps :D They appear, I believe, when an app is run off the USB card on another computer, then mounted on my home computer. The Mac OS hides these from the viewer which I like. There's gotta be a way to get rid of these en masse. I'll keep searching...
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
Create a new Text File on your desktop with Notepad. Add these 2 lines:
Attrib +h C:\*._* /s
Exit
Close the file, then rename it something like 'hide.bat' (the extension is important). Double clicking the file should hide all the files that are named "anything._anything" on your C: drive. Substitute a specific directory or another drive if you prefer. The "/s" applies this to all files in the subdirectories of the one you specify. Use another file with a '-h' instead to unhide them.
-Lee
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
Lol great suggestion. I'll make note of this. It'll be a great prank to friends' computer. lol imagine hiding all .exe
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
I don't think that'll do anything. Hidden files are still accessable, so if you hide XYZ.EXE, and then go to Start/Run XYZ.EXE, or have a shortcut pointing at it, I think it will still run.
My favorite 'prank' was that exe that you could drop in someone's startup folder that turned the screen upside down. ;)
-Lee
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
Well yeah, why not just uncheck in the folder options the show hidden files. Those files will always be there. Even on your hdd, say if you open a word document, it will create a hidden temporary file.
There was one time though that a folder containing msn explorer (which i never installed or asked for or anything, windows itself is a spyware i guess...) system files and stuff like the uninstall didn't show up even when the option to show hidden files and folders was on. But you could access the folder if you knew the location. Odd. Microsoft must be hidding lots of crap on our comps.
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
Create a new Text File on your desktop with Notepad. Add these 2 lines:
Attrib +h C:\*._* /s
Exit
Close the file, then rename it something like 'hide.bat' (the extension is important). Double clicking the file should hide all the files that are named "anything._anything" on your C: drive. Substitute a specific directory or another drive if you prefer. The "/s" applies this to all files in the subdirectories of the one you specify. Use another file with a '-h' instead to unhide them.
-Lee
Thanks very much for this amazingly useful piece of info! Good riddance useful files!!! Of note, I initially copied the info above by hand and neglected the space after the second asterisk. After running the process which was instantaneous (vs if you run the correct file as you wrote above, it takes about 10-15 seconds to complete) and rebooting, my Mcafee privacy service could not boot stating a component was missing. I noted my error and corrected it with -h and all was fixed... gladt it was that easy:o Thanks again for this tip, very helpful. The reason I don't keep all hidden files from being seen is that there is some pretty useful stuff there that is nice to have visible. The ._ files and .DS files are completely useless to me, so hiding them selectively is ideal.
Answer:
Re: Hiding certain files from folder display?
To be on the safe side, I would use the name of the directory that you copy these files to instead of just C:\ (i.e. - C:\My Documents\*._*).
I don't know if you realized it, but you could put more than one line in that text file, too...for example:
Attrib +h C:\*._* /s
Attrib +h C:\*.DS /s
Exit
Or, you could have seperate batch files (that's what these collections of command-line functions are called) to do each set, whatever works for you.