c/Program (86)

[Ess]

I have "lost" my Program (86) folder. Presume it is hidden. How can I resolve please?

[SpywareDr]

There are two "program" folders on Windows 7:

C:\Program Files
C:\Program Files (x86)

Both are marked as "R"(ead only) but not as "H"idden and/or "S"ystem.

[Steve R Jones]

And, C:\Program Files (x86) only shows up on a 64bit Operating System.

Did you make some type of change to the system prior to losing the folder?

[Ess]

Thank you both for prompt replies.

I did try to change attribute(?) for an application folder. My version is 64.
Also I have lost gadget and KIS icons from desktop.

Your assistance appreciated.

[Ess]

Further to my previous:

Just checked menu Compatibility files for Computer>Local Disc(C) and see folders in Sellick>AppData>Local>Virtual Store.

[Welshjim]

Ess--How are you searching for "c/Program (86) "?
Note that is not the correct name, lacking a colon :, and your slash is forward instead of backward.

[Ess]

Jim--I discovered that Folder Program Files(86), Program Files and Windows are showing in Sellick>AppData>Local>Virtual Store after going to Local Disc (C and selecting compatibility files from the menu strip: Organise, Open etc.

[SpywareDr]

Disabling Windows 7 Virtual Store

[Ess]

Disabling TWindows 7 Virtual Store

Thank you for advice. However, being a computer "thickie", I am at a loss of exactly what I have to enter.

"-Go to the new Virtual Directory application folder that Windows 7 created, then right click > Properties > Security Tab > Edit and if the Local Computer (Users) account is not listed, then add it and set the permissions to Full Control and save all the way out of the properties".

Do I add: "C/Local Computer/Users/my name"?

[SpywareDr]

Do I add: "C/Local Computer/Users/my name"?

1. No, that won't work at all because:
   1. A drive letter must be followed by a colon ":" or it's not a drive letter, it's simply the name of a file or folder.
      
      
   2. The delimiter between folder names in Windows is a backslash "\". Forward slashes "/" designate the start of a command line parameter.
   
   
2. The location of the "Virtual Directory application folder that Windows 7 created" in that article is:
   
   
   
   C:\Users\*current logged in user*\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)

[Welshjim]

Ess--What do you plan to do when you find C:\Users\*current logged in user*\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86) ?

[SpywareDr]

I'm guessing it's similar to the problem I linked to above:

Disabling Windows 7 Virtual Store

After a recent MS update, I had a user that ran into issues with a legacy application saving all the documents created into a new Virtual Directory and it effectively broke the application. Windows 7 created a new Virtual Directory in this location: C:\Users\*current logged in user*\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\program name. Even with changing the application to point to the correct folder location, Windows 7 was saving the files in this virtual directory.

To force Windows 7 from placing files to be saved in the Virtual Directory I performed the following steps. Note: You must be a local administrator or logged in as a local administrator on the computer to accomplish this.

-Go to the new Virtual Directory application folder that Windows 7 created, then right click > Properties > Security Tab > Edit and if the Local Computer (Users) account is not listed, then add it and set the permissions to Full Control and save all the way out of the properties.

-Manually copy all of the saved documents or files from the Virtual Directory to the proper location and then rename the folder in the Virtual Directory with something like _old at the end of it to avoid the application from finding it all together.

-From the Windows 7 Start Orb, do a search for Local Security Policy and select it.

-Expand Local Policies and click on Security Options. On the right pane, scroll all the way to the bottom and you will find a setting called " User Account Control: Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations", double click on that setting and change it to Disabled.

The other way of circumventing this is to completely disable Windows 7 UAC (User Access Control), but that is not recommended.