File names appear in blue

What is the meaning of file names that are blue?

 

In 2003 mean compressed, in XP i guess you can change the seetings

 

Also, those in green are encrypted and those in red can only be accessed by Windows.

 

When I first noticed them they seemed to be windows system files (inf, sys etc) now they are everywhere, html, jpg and completly random. My web site has about 20 html pages but onlt 3 are blue. The same with the jpg's. Alot of pics but only some are blue. I haven't done anything different to these files.

 

They must have been compressed. Right-click the folder/file, properties, general tab, advanced and you will see the status.

 

Strange. Files are compressed. I never did it....knowingly.

 

Running XP's Disk Cleanup tool will compress older files if you go with the default settings. I generally refuse but not because it does any harm. For some folks it gets hung on some corrupt file and causes the "Eternal Wait." I just uncheck it as a matter of standard procedure. YMMV

If the blue color is distracting, you can change the view so that it doesn't look any different than any other file. Just open My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > View > and scroll to the box labeled "Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color" and untag it.

 

When I added a second physical hard drive to my Windows XP machine, the filenames on the second hard drive were shown in blue. I like this because it helps me know which hard drive I'm viewing in Windows Explorer.

 

I would seem you have selected to compress the other drive at some point in its life. Second drives aren't shown in color by nature.