Resolved Files Hiding

Recently a did a Norton Restore operation and all went well. (I also use an backup program called Genie Timeline for daily use which backs up to a 1.5TB external drive automatically.)

However, when I went into the external drive after the restoration I found that the only visible files were those backed up on the day of the restore. In My Computer it was clear, however, that there was over a TB of backed-up files on the disc which I could not now see (I don't compress or encrypt backed-up files on this drive so they are normally visible in Windows Explorer).

I then did a search of the external drive with Windows Search and found that I could find any file I wanted if I used its correct file name, and then transfer it successfully to my data drive.

What I'm wondering about is why I cannot see the files on the external drive, yet they can be found, seen, and extracted using the Windows search function? Is there a way that I could restore their visibility? Any help would be appreciated.

 

This is the solution if you're using Win 7.

Open command prompt from START MENU > RUN. Type CMD and hit enter. Go to the drive, for example your flashdisk is on drive E. Type “e:” and enter.
The command we use to restore files is ATTRIB. Type this command :
attrib –s –h *.* /S /D and hit enter. Finished!

Would anyone suggest a similiar solution for XP?

 

My 'Folder Options' is set to 'Show hidden files and folders' but the files, such as the files invisible on my external drive, are not showing.

Incidently, I did a Windows Search for .dbx files on the external drive today and found all the unrestored email files. I can copy and past anything I find in a search on the drive but they still won't show when I open the drive with windows explorer.

 

Alas, after I successfully did a Genie Timeline Recovery yesterday the computer failed to boot into Windows. I got this message on-screen: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data. Now I can't get into my computer to do anything whatsoever.

My Windows Boot Manager seems to have become damaged, so I've posted a question further up on this forum. My original problem seems a minor one now.

Just as well that I've access to a laptop!

 

Thanks.

Regarding the subject of 'hidden files', I can access the files by doing a Windows search on the external drive, copying them and pasting them where I want. This seems to be a workaround which solves the problem.