Vanished directory

Today I tried to run a DOS program (XyWrite) and got an error message --
invalid directory for PIF file.

I checked the path, and the C:\XY directory had vanished from the path.

I put it back, tried again. Got the same error.

I then checked and found that the entire directory had vanished, poof, without
a trace.

Has anyone else had anything likie this happen in Windows 7 (Home Premium)?

The antivirus software (Avast) seems to be working, and has not reported any
viruses, but it seems odd that both the directory and the path reference
should vanish, so I suspect that some rogue program has removed them.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 12/11/2011 14:35, Steve Hayes wrote:
> Today I tried to run a DOS program (XyWrite) and got an error message --
> invalid directory for PIF file.
>
> I checked the path, and the C:\XY directory had vanished from the path.
>
> I put it back, tried again. Got the same error.
>
> I then checked and found that the entire directory had vanished, poof, without
> a trace.
>
> Has anyone else had anything likie this happen in Windows 7 (Home Premium)?
>
> The antivirus software (Avast) seems to be working, and has not reported any
> viruses, but it seems odd that both the directory and the path reference
> should vanish, so I suspect that some rogue program has removed them.
>
>

If just the directory had vanished, then I'd tend to think it might be
some accidental move caused by mouse slip or something like that. But
that wouldn't account for the path having changed in a command.

It sure sounds as if some program has been at work there; and that
program appears to have had the aim of either removing (or tidying up
after a move of) the said directory.

You'd expect a coordinated change like that to have happened from within
the XyWrite suite itself.
Has there been a recent update?

Try the discussion group;
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/xywrite
There's an archive of past messages and an email address for the chap
who maintains it.

Ed

On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:08:01 +0000, Ed Cryer <> wrote:

>If just the directory had vanished, then I'd tend to think it might be
>some accidental move caused by mouse slip or something like that. But
>that wouldn't account for the path having changed in a command.

Yes, that's what I thought, though I'd expect some kind of "Do you really want
to do this" warning before removing an entire directory and all the files in
it.

>
>It sure sounds as if some program has been at work there; and that
>program appears to have had the aim of either removing (or tidying up
>after a move of) the said directory.
>
>You'd expect a coordinated change like that to have happened from within
>the XyWrite suite itself.
>Has there been a recent update?

Since it's a DOS program (word processor/text editor), it doesn't have
anything like that. What is in the directory is the program file (editor.exe)
and various configuration files for setting up keyboards, date formats etc.

I was able to copy the entire directory over from my desktop computer and put
the directory in the path again, but I just wondered why it had disappeared
like that. I want it in the path so that when I click on the desktop shortcut
(or type "editor" on the command line), it loads the program and its
configuration files.

But what worries me is that if one directory can disappear like that, others
might as well.



>
>Try the discussion group;
>http://www.freelists.org/webpage/xywrite
>There's an archive of past messages and an email address for the chap
>who maintains it.
>
>Ed
>
>

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 13/11/2011 03:30, Steve Hayes wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:08:01 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>
>> If just the directory had vanished, then I'd tend to think it might be
>> some accidental move caused by mouse slip or something like that. But
>> that wouldn't account for the path having changed in a command.
>
> Yes, that's what I thought, though I'd expect some kind of "Do you really want
> to do this" warning before removing an entire directory and all the files in
> it.
>
>>
>> It sure sounds as if some program has been at work there; and that
>> program appears to have had the aim of either removing (or tidying up
>> after a move of) the said directory.
>>
>> You'd expect a coordinated change like that to have happened from within
>> the XyWrite suite itself.
>> Has there been a recent update?
>
> Since it's a DOS program (word processor/text editor), it doesn't have
> anything like that. What is in the directory is the program file (editor.exe)
> and various configuration files for setting up keyboards, date formats etc.
>
> I was able to copy the entire directory over from my desktop computer and put
> the directory in the path again, but I just wondered why it had disappeared
> like that. I want it in the path so that when I click on the desktop shortcut
> (or type "editor" on the command line), it loads the program and its
> configuration files.
>
> But what worries me is that if one directory can disappear like that, others
> might as well.
>
>
>
>>
>> Try the discussion group;
>> http://www.freelists.org/webpage/xywrite
>> There's an archive of past messages and an email address for the chap
>> who maintains it.
>>
>> Ed
>>
>>
>

This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
actually done myself by mistake.
Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
other ones, without any confirmation dialogue appearing. I've then had
to go looking for the missing folder; easy enough to do if you remember
the name or that of a unique file in it.
It is especially easy with items in the Start menu. Just hit left
button, swipe across the menu and release at random.

Ed

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:28:04 +0000, Ed Cryer <> wrote:

>On 13/11/2011 03:30, Steve Hayes wrote:
>> On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:08:01 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>>
>>> If just the directory had vanished, then I'd tend to think it might be
>>> some accidental move caused by mouse slip or something like that. But
>>> that wouldn't account for the path having changed in a command.
>>
>> Yes, that's what I thought, though I'd expect some kind of "Do you really want
>> to do this" warning before removing an entire directory and all the files in
>> it.
>>
>>>
>>> It sure sounds as if some program has been at work there; and that
>>> program appears to have had the aim of either removing (or tidying up
>>> after a move of) the said directory.
>>>
>>> You'd expect a coordinated change like that to have happened from within
>>> the XyWrite suite itself.
>>> Has there been a recent update?
>>
>> Since it's a DOS program (word processor/text editor), it doesn't have
>> anything like that. What is in the directory is the program file (editor.exe)
>> and various configuration files for setting up keyboards, date formats etc.
>>
>> I was able to copy the entire directory over from my desktop computer and put
>> the directory in the path again, but I just wondered why it had disappeared
>> like that. I want it in the path so that when I click on the desktop shortcut
>> (or type "editor" on the command line), it loads the program and its
>> configuration files.
>>
>> But what worries me is that if one directory can disappear like that, others
>> might as well.
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Try the discussion group;
>>> http://www.freelists.org/webpage/xywrite
>>> There's an archive of past messages and an email address for the chap
>>> who maintains it.
>>>
>>> Ed
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
>actually done myself by mistake.
>Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
>dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
>other ones, without any confirmation dialogue appearing. I've then had
>to go looking for the missing folder; easy enough to do if you remember
>the name or that of a unique file in it.
>It is especially easy with items in the Start menu. Just hit left
>button, swipe across the menu and release at random.

Not silly at all - it's an eminently sensible suggestion, and I'll go looking
for it soon. I have indeed moved folders to other folders where I didn't
intend to move them. It's all too easy to do that without noticing.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 11/13/2011 11:01 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:28:04 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>
>> On 13/11/2011 03:30, Steve Hayes wrote:
>>> On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:08:01 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>>>
>>>> If just the directory had vanished, then I'd tend to think it might be
>>>> some accidental move caused by mouse slip or something like that. But
>>>> that wouldn't account for the path having changed in a command.
>>>
>>> Yes, that's what I thought, though I'd expect some kind of "Do you really want
>>> to do this" warning before removing an entire directory and all the files in
>>> it.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> It sure sounds as if some program has been at work there; and that
>>>> program appears to have had the aim of either removing (or tidying up
>>>> after a move of) the said directory.
>>>>
>>>> You'd expect a coordinated change like that to have happened from within
>>>> the XyWrite suite itself.
>>>> Has there been a recent update?
>>>
>>> Since it's a DOS program (word processor/text editor), it doesn't have
>>> anything like that. What is in the directory is the program file (editor.exe)
>>> and various configuration files for setting up keyboards, date formats etc.
>>>
>>> I was able to copy the entire directory over from my desktop computer and put
>>> the directory in the path again, but I just wondered why it had disappeared
>>> like that. I want it in the path so that when I click on the desktop shortcut
>>> (or type "editor" on the command line), it loads the program and its
>>> configuration files.
>>>
>>> But what worries me is that if one directory can disappear like that, others
>>> might as well.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Try the discussion group;
>>>> http://www.freelists.org/webpage/xywrite
>>>> There's an archive of past messages and an email address for the chap
>>>> who maintains it.
>>>>
>>>> Ed
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
>> actually done myself by mistake.
>> Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
>> dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
>> other ones, without any confirmation dialogue appearing. I've then had
>> to go looking for the missing folder; easy enough to do if you remember
>> the name or that of a unique file in it.
>> It is especially easy with items in the Start menu. Just hit left
>> button, swipe across the menu and release at random.
>
> Not silly at all - it's an eminently sensible suggestion, and I'll go looking
> for it soon. I have indeed moved folders to other folders where I didn't
> intend to move them. It's all too easy to do that without noticing.
>
>
If you know the folder's name use Void's Everything or another search
program.

--
Zaidy036

In message <>, Steve Hayes
<> writes:
>On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:28:04 +0000, Ed Cryer <> wrote:
[]
>>This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
>>actually done myself by mistake.
>>Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
>>dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
[]
>Not silly at all - it's an eminently sensible suggestion, and I'll go looking
>for it soon. I have indeed moved folders to other folders where I didn't
>intend to move them. It's all too easy to do that without noticing.
>
>
In XP, this is especially the case with the auto-open feature: when I
drag something to the tree in the left pane, Windows "helpfully" expands
the branch I'm moving to - usually just at the moment I let go the mouse
button, with the result that whatever I'm moving drops into a
sub-directory, and I have no idea which one. I'd be surprised if 7
doesn't also have this "helpful" behaviour.

I've asked in XP newsgroups how to kill this helpful behaviour, without
success.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Everyone has always regarded any usage but his own as either barbarous or
pedantic." - Evelyn Waugh, quoted by Lynne Truss in "Eats, shoots & Leaves"
2003

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:47:09 -0500, Zaidy036 wrote:

> On 11/13/2011 11:01 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
>> On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:28:04 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>>
>>> On 13/11/2011 03:30, Steve Hayes wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:08:01 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> If just the directory had vanished, then I'd tend to think it might be
>>>>> some accidental move caused by mouse slip or something like that. But
>>>>> that wouldn't account for the path having changed in a command.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, that's what I thought, though I'd expect some kind of "Do you really want
>>>> to do this" warning before removing an entire directory and all the files in
>>>> it.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> It sure sounds as if some program has been at work there; and that
>>>>> program appears to have had the aim of either removing (or tidying up
>>>>> after a move of) the said directory.
>>>>>
>>>>> You'd expect a coordinated change like that to have happened from within
>>>>> the XyWrite suite itself.
>>>>> Has there been a recent update?
>>>>
>>>> Since it's a DOS program (word processor/text editor), it doesn't have
>>>> anything like that. What is in the directory is the program file (editor.exe)
>>>> and various configuration files for setting up keyboards, date formats etc.
>>>>
>>>> I was able to copy the entire directory over from my desktop computer and put
>>>> the directory in the path again, but I just wondered why it had disappeared
>>>> like that. I want it in the path so that when I click on the desktop shortcut
>>>> (or type "editor" on the command line), it loads the program and its
>>>> configuration files.
>>>>
>>>> But what worries me is that if one directory can disappear like that, others
>>>> might as well.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Try the discussion group;
>>>>> http://www.freelists.org/webpage/xywrite
>>>>> There's an archive of past messages and an email address for the chap
>>>>> who maintains it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ed
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
>>> actually done myself by mistake.
>>> Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
>>> dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
>>> other ones, without any confirmation dialogue appearing. I've then had
>>> to go looking for the missing folder; easy enough to do if you remember
>>> the name or that of a unique file in it.
>>> It is especially easy with items in the Start menu. Just hit left
>>> button, swipe across the menu and release at random.
>>
>> Not silly at all - it's an eminently sensible suggestion, and I'll go looking
>> for it soon. I have indeed moved folders to other folders where I didn't
>> intend to move them. It's all too easy to do that without noticing.
>>
>>
> If you know the folder's name use Void's Everything or another search
> program.

In addition, if you don't know the folder name but you do know the name
of a file in it, you can search for that file name. Or the extension, if
the folder contains files with unusual file-name extensions...

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:45:42 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
<> wrote:

>In message <>, Steve Hayes
><> writes:
>>On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:28:04 +0000, Ed Cryer <> wrote:
>[]
>>>This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
>>>actually done myself by mistake.
>>>Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
>>>dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
>[]
>>Not silly at all - it's an eminently sensible suggestion, and I'll go looking
>>for it soon. I have indeed moved folders to other folders where I didn't
>>intend to move them. It's all too easy to do that without noticing.
>>
>>
>In XP, this is especially the case with the auto-open feature: when I
>drag something to the tree in the left pane, Windows "helpfully" expands
>the branch I'm moving to - usually just at the moment I let go the mouse
>button, with the result that whatever I'm moving drops into a
>sub-directory, and I have no idea which one. I'd be surprised if 7
>doesn't also have this "helpful" behaviour.
>
>I've asked in XP newsgroups how to kill this helpful behaviour, without
>success.

It's very easy to work around this behavior, or to use it to your
advantage. If the folder I want to drop something into is already
visible, I simply do the drag/drop in a single fluid motion, thereby
not allowing the folder tree enough time to expand. If the destination
folder is not visible, I intentionally hover a few ticks to allow the
folder tree to expand before I drop the files. A third scenario is
where I have a minor brain freeze and therefore the risk is higher
that the folder tree will expand on its own, so I simply delay my
movement by a few ticks before I drop the files. Never a problem.

--

Char Jackson

On 11/13/2011 9:16 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:45:42 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
> <> wrote:
>
>> In message<>, Steve Hayes
>> <> writes:
>>> On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:28:04 +0000, Ed Cryer<> wrote:
>> []
>>>> This might seem a silly suggestion, but it's based on something I've
>>>> actually done myself by mistake.
>>>> Deleting in error should be safeguarded against by a confirm delete
>>>> dialogue. But I have moved folders accidentally and dropped them in
>> []
>>> Not silly at all - it's an eminently sensible suggestion, and I'll go looking
>>> for it soon. I have indeed moved folders to other folders where I didn't
>>> intend to move them. It's all too easy to do that without noticing.
>>>
>>>
>> In XP, this is especially the case with the auto-open feature: when I
>> drag something to the tree in the left pane, Windows "helpfully" expands
>> the branch I'm moving to - usually just at the moment I let go the mouse
>> button, with the result that whatever I'm moving drops into a
>> sub-directory, and I have no idea which one. I'd be surprised if 7
>> doesn't also have this "helpful" behaviour.
>>
>> I've asked in XP newsgroups how to kill this helpful behaviour, without
>> success.
>
> It's very easy to work around this behavior, or to use it to your
> advantage. If the folder I want to drop something into is already
> visible, I simply do the drag/drop in a single fluid motion, thereby
> not allowing the folder tree enough time to expand. If the destination
> folder is not visible, I intentionally hover a few ticks to allow the
> folder tree to expand before I drop the files. A third scenario is
> where I have a minor brain freeze and therefore the risk is higher
> that the folder tree will expand on its own, so I simply delay my
> movement by a few ticks before I drop the files. Never a problem.
>
or drag to the folder name in the address bar BUT do not go thru the
open window where another folder might "catch" you.

--
Zaidy036