Yay, Windows problems!

I'll have to start calling this The Weekly Windows Challenge...

I recently acquired one of those little USB storage sticks.
I attempted to add the portable version of Firefox 2.0b2 onto it, but no matter what I tried it did not work.
Eventually I learned that the directories had been marked as Read-Only so it refused to start. (That, and the drive is horribly slow).

It gets stranger: No actual files are read-only; Just the directories.
Anyway, I unchecked it and Windows understood; it went through every sub-folder/file and made them writable.
...Or so it said. Somehow, they still went back to being marked as Read-Only as before.

Now, the really weird part is that while Windows says these are Read-Only, they actually can be written to. I can still add files to the directories and even rename them.

I eventually decided to give up on that thing, deciding that the USB drive is the usual poorly built computer technology which I've come to expect.

Then came a very startling discovery!
Every single file, even on my local hard drive, is being marked as Read-Only.
I can still write files, but they are marked as that for seemingly no reason at all.

I'm going to assume that Explorer is reasonably properly built (a dangerous assumption at this point), which means that when it tells me a file is Read-Only it actually means something, since it wouldn't just keep a cache of files which it thinks it remembers being read-only because it's too lazy to check it each time... right?!

I looked at this:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421
But it can't possibly be my problem since this has only just occurred and I'm not actually getting any problems (yet). The files, in fact, are not even marked as Read-Only; just the folders are, and I can still move them about freely.

Also, I ran a virus scan, etc. yesterday so I doubt that the problem is there. (Since it occurred today, before my eyes).

Any similar mysterious tales of files being acquired by invisible beings?

If I remember correctly (which I probably don't) all directories may or may not be read as red only due to some legacy compatibility in the NTFS or FAT file system... They are not actually read only... if I remember correctly, directories CAN'T be marked as read only, only the files.

Which version of Windows are you using?

Enay: I'm using Windows XP Pro.

Toby: Hm... I guess that means my above concerns regarding Explorer not just conveying simple, straight-forward information regarding read-only-ness were accurate?
I'll see if I can find more information. Something is working wrong somewhere, and I don't like it...

The error still persists after my computer was turned off for many hours.

Somebody tell me why this doesn't surprise me at all.

What means read only? Is this the same as Write protection?

I guess this is all the result of a bugous USB driver. Did you have to install some special drivers for the USB stick? IF so, you should try to get a driver update. Recently, most new stuff won't work properly out of the box, but needs a driver update: graphics, burners etc.

In the nd of the day you have to ask yourself: is it a fatal thing? does it stop my machine from working in any way? If it's not then don't worry to much.

The Portable Browser thing may be a seperate issue. There are special Browser version for Sticks, did you use them? And: did you know the Sticks can be rewritten only a limited time, I think it's around 200 thousand times. So be careful with things like frequently updated webcache etc.

I Installed IE7 RC1 today and it completely trashed my current windows install - I friggin hate windows sometimes.

JFK could be right about the faulty USB driver.

I recently had problems with a missing DLL for USB stuff, but I retrieved it straight from the XP install disk so it should work.

The USB stick has recently been crashing Explorer as I write a file, it is really slow, and trying to copy the browser over this time resulted in "Failed to copy firefox.exe: Path is too deep".

...I think I'm going to go back to flash cards...

To avoid writing files too often, I believe the cache is turned off in this build. Could be wrong, though, in which case: Good riddance.

Could it be this or this

Ohh Windoze.... With a company that make so much moo-lah you think they could design a more informative networking utility.

WINDOZE.. Firefox rools

Thanks, Tonyg.

The 2nd one sounds like what's going wrong... maybe I just never noticed before and it's been like this forever.

Pretty brilliantly disgusting, anyway!


Sounds to me like they were too lazy to properly operate a file system, thus storing two values in one and giving it a very confusing title?
It seems that sometimes "read-only" means read only, while other times it means something completely different!
How can people call this thing user friendly...

I'm a bit reluctant to try the workaround in your 2nd link, since I don't really want to trust Windows not to destroy all my files when I do it, but I will remember that in case this gets to be a problem.

The general rule is you can safely turn off the Read only flag and apply it to all files and subfolders etc and be certain that they are read/write enabled, despite what opening another properties box tells you...

>>"Failed to copy firefox.exe: Path is too deep"

Thought they fixed this years ago.

you're in a pickle

I got this on my flash pen aswell, except I was copying OpenOffice. In my case, running scandisk on the USB filesystem fixed the problem.

You need to remember that removable strage devices for the most part, are still using FAT-32 which isn't exactly the most robust filesystem in the world.

Also if you've ever plugged it into a Mac you're in for a world of hurt.

Okay, that does it.

I have come to one conclusion:
I have acquired a faulty USB flash memory thing :(
Once again, I got the Path is Too Deep error, and it has proven itself useless for transferring large numbers of files.
Apparently it was built to transfer single big files, or maybe nothing at all.

I learned a wonderful thing today, though:
If any of you become involved in building an operating system, please, for the love of God, do Not Built The Entire Desktop Around The File Manager unless it is a really good multithreaded file manager that will not hang the whole system when it gets confused.


Anyhow, case closed.


Edit:
New question: What does "Path is too deep" mean, anyway?
Look here: http://codebetter.com/blogs/sahil.malik/archive/2004/08/30/23742.aspx
Lots of different problems, some similar to mind involving USB storage and others involving networks and hard drives.

Response to a similar problem to mine:
"You're gonna hate your life now :). That error typically means a generic hardware failure. The problem is - it could be anywhere between from where you started copying - to where the copy ended."

The error seems to even come up if Explorer's avi preview function takes precedence over the file copying resulting in a buffer underrun.

Could this be another case of misleading phrases in Windows Explorer?

What, like Windows?
Tools-->Folder Options-->View-->Advanced settings-->Launch folder windows in a seperate process