Windows Vista Invisible downloaded files [on Desktop]

Can someone tell me how to access files that are on my Desktop, yet inexplicably are totally invisible either by eye or by doing normal Windows searches (or Advanced ones including hidden etc files)?

I'm on Vista Home Premium SP1, and recently upgraded Internet Explorer to IE8. Unaware that my Ancestry family history research site is not yet properly updated for IE8 I tried to download several census images to my Desktop in the normal way (as .JPGs). Initially I got unfamiliar system messages saying that for security reasons the files would be stored in a Virtual Folder, and did I want to open it? I found that by agreeing to that I could then move (or was it just copy?) files from there onto my Desktop for normal use. Now that I have tried to investigate retrospectively, I suppose that the folder I was being directed to was maybe my AppData Virtual Store, although I can find no files there after the event.

For some reason, I no longer get such messages, but new attempts to download files from Ancestry in the standard way do not appear on my Desktop either. Yet when using the BrowseFolders feature during SaveAs, the list of existing Desktop files STILL includes those invisible ones from prior saving attempts. And by accident I found that they are really still there - for when trying to upload a different .JPG from my Desktop to Facebook, they again showed up in a browse window. Most significantly, when I then tried to upload the invisible ones into Facebook that worked. I can now read the files - but only on my Facebook page!

So, I know that the files are really on my Desktop, yet are totally invisible on it or within Windows Explorer. Activating Compatibility View for the website makes no difference to this strange situation. Can someone explain how it can happen, as well as giving me a way to render the invisible files visible in the normal way again?

Thanks!

 

I often save files temporarily to the Desktop when I plan on accessing then a short time thereafter.

Might I suggest using firefox to save your files or to a different location like Arie suggested?

 

To Arie - Same problem wherever I try to save the downloads.
To all - I'm not so concerned about getting new downloads, as I can work around that issue (or even revert to IE7 instead of IE8). But can someone explain HOW files can be invisible on the Desktop or from Explorer, yet are evidently there anyway, and simply hidden?
Thanks

 

To Steve - Sorry, I should have said that I routinely have FolderOptions set to 'show hidden files & folders', and I did try (to no effect) showing system files too. But I cannot see any third folder option of relevance - so could you possibly spell that out?
Thanks

 

I think number 2 below, renaming it in a CMD prompt will solve it but experiment first with a new, unwanted folder. I’ve never tried this with files.

1. Make a folder invisible by right-clicking the folder > Rename and type Alt+0160. You should now have a folder without a name. To get rid of the Icon, right-click on the folder > Properties > Customize Tab > Change Icon to a blank one.

2. Delete an invisible folder by renaming it in a CMD prompt. Click the Windows Orb (Start), type cmd and press Enter, now type ren X newfoldername (the X is actually Alt+0160) and press Enter. Now you’ll be able to delete the folder.



I forgot to say that Alt+0160 represents holding down the Alt key and typing 0160 on the keypad (not on the main keyboard).

 

To Steve - Sorry, I see that you must mean the option to hide file extensions - which I've never had ticked anyway. In any case, doing an Explorer AdvancedSearch and ticking its box for including all hidden stuff surely overrides those options settings? So my issue is evidently something else. Thanks anyway.

To BurrWalnut - Your instructions seem to be for deleting a folder once it has been made invisible. I did make one as suggested then did make it invisible as instructed. But could not follow the CMD stuff that you gave as "ren X newfoldername" to make it visible again. I tried replacing the X with the words 'Alt+0610' - and each time got a cannot-find-file message back. I tried putting the cursor there then doing '0610' on the number pad while holding down the Alt key - and got a bad-syntax message back. So I am not sure what I was supposed to type in place of the X? Just now I still have a nameless folder that will not delete, and am no further forward in tracking down my invisible files...

 

I gave you the instructions for creating then deleting a folder with no name so that you could carry out a test. I’m using x64 Windows 7 RC with UAC turned off but Vista will, undoubtedly, be the same.

With further testing, I have been able to create an invisible folder (and file) on the Desktop and remove it without using the CMD prompt. I suspect you didn’t use the CD command to navigate to the correct folder to do the rename.

Here is a detailed explanation of what I have done (remember Alt key means hold it down while typing 0160 on the keypad, not the main keyboard):

1. Right-click Desktop > New > Folder and name it ABC.
2. Right-click ABC > Rename > Alt key +0160 > let go of Alt then press Enter to remove the name.
3. Right-click ABC > Properties > Customize Tab > Change icon > scroll to the right to find a blank icon > Apply > OK.

I know in XP, that you now have an invisible icon on the Desktop, in Windows 7 you have an outline of the folder. I don’t know about Vista as I haven't booted a Vista system, I suspect it’s invisible as per XP.

4. You can now right-click the outline icon (Windows 7) or right-click the location of the invisible folder (XP) and Rename it, give it an Icon or Delete it. When I say, right-click the location of the invisible folder, just pick the position where you thought the icon was and you will know the difference as "˜white space’ will show Arrange icons and the like, whereas a folder will show Open, Rename, Delete, etc.

5. If it’s a file you have created, renaming it using the Alt key leaves the extension, e.g. txt, which can be erased giving a warning message. There is no Customize Tab associated to a file so the icon cannot be changed, well not very easily.

If you cannot rename or delete your file, your problem may be different to what I know as an invisible folder/file.

Good luck.

 

Further Update

I have done some testing on Vista and have discovered that it is less flexible than Windows 7 in renaming an invisible folder. It‘s as I said before:

1. Go to the Windows Orb (Start) > All Programs > Accessories and right-click Command Prompt, then "˜Run as Administrator’.
2. Type cd\users\**your username **\desktop and press Enter.
3. Type ren X and press Enter.
4. ABC should now appear on the Desktop, where you can right-click and Delete it.

NOTE. The X in 3 above represents a double-quote (shifted 2), followed by holding down Alt and typing 0160 (on the keypad), followed by a double-quote, followed by a space, followed by ABC (the new folder name).

 

Hello again BurrWalnut,
Thanks for posts 11 & 12. My problem last time with the command line procedure was not being in the wrong folder but because you had not mentioned the crucial double-quotes either side of the Alt+0160 entry. I have therefore now been able to do all the things you have suggested... almost!
Having created the invisible folder, then renamed it from the prompt, it has indeed been possible to 'delete' it again - meaning that afterwards I was able to right-click-then-delete-it from an Explorer list of Desktop contents. And sure enough it no longer showed up when using the Dir command from the prompt, so seemed to be truly gone. BUT the semi-invisible no-icon-and-no-name folder marker is still on the Desktop, despite a refresh! Right-click deletion attempts do nothing.
In fact I just experimented by dragging a junk file and dropping that onto the non-icon - which immediately triggered making the marker visible as a standard folder icon again, and making it re-show on the Explorer list as a nameless folder which will not delete, even when I've deleted the file inside. In fact it's less likely to cause any trouble in future if I can easily see where it is, so I'll now just leave it there.
Meanwhile, those accidentally hidden Desktop JPG files which prompted my first posting are truly invisible whatever I do. I know they are still there because I can still see them when browsing the Desktop picture contents from Facebook. And I just checked that they still do upload to the site as real files. But as you say, this original invisibility issue is evidently not the one you are expert on.
But thanks again for all your efforts - I'll try another tech forum.