Attrib Command

Some useful information about ATTRIB command which you can use for changing attributes.

Display or change file attributes. Find Filenames.
Syntax

ATTRIB [ + attribute | - attribute ] [pathname] [/S]

Key

+ : Turn an attribute ON
- : Clear an attribute OFF

pathname : Drive and/or filename e.g. C:\*.txt
/S : Search the pathname including all subfolders.

attributes:

• H Hidden
• S System
• R Read-only
• A Archive

If no attributes are specified ATRIB will return the current attribute settings. Used with just the /S option ATTRIB will quickly search for a particular filename.

Combining the Hidden and System attributes.

If a file has both the Hidden and System attributes set, you can clear both attributes only with a single ATTRIB command.

For example, to clear the Hidden and System attributes for the RECORD.TXT file, you would type:

 
ATTRIB -S -H RECORD.TXT 

Changing the attributes for a directory

You can display or change the attributes for a directory. To use ATTRIB with a directory, you must explicitly specify the directory name; you cannot use wildcards to work with directories.

For example, to hide the directory C:\SECRET, you would type the following:

ATTRIB +H C:\SECRET

The following command would affect only files, not directories:

ATTRIB +H C:*.* 

Viewing archive attributes

The Archive attribute (A) is used to mark files that have changed since they were previously backed up. The (A) flag is automatically updated by Windows as the file is saved.

If the (A) flag is present - the file is new or has been changed since the last backup.

The MSBACKUP, RESTORE, and XCOPY commands use these Archive attributes, as do many (but not all) 3rd party backup solutions.

New attributes in Windows XP

In addition to A,H,R,S, the latest version of NTFS includes the following new attributes

• E = Encrypted
• C = Compressed
• T = Temporary
• O = Offline

Cheers
Deepanshu