Weird Windows Bug - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

CSflim · 12-17-2005, 07:44 AM

Came accross this weird bug in windows today.
I was copying a number of folders into my Music folder. It is laid out in an artist/album/track.mp3 format. Since I was copying in a number of albums from artists of whom I already had material stored I had to click Yes to the merge folders warning from windows. Since none of the files would be of the same name, I didn't have to worry about losing any files.

The problem was that already in the Music folder I had a folder called 'Sigur Rós' (notice the accent on the ó), and I was copying in a folder incorrectly named 'Sigur Ros' (without the accent). This shouldn't really have been be a problem, I would have expected to end up with two folders, 'Sigur Rós' and 'Sigur Ros', one with the older two albums in it 'Ágaetis Byrjun' and '()' and the other with the newer 'Takk' in it.

But this isn't what happened at all! Instead I now have two folders 'Sigur Rós' and 'Sigur Ros', BOTH containing 'Takk'. 'Ágaetis Byrjun' and '()' are nowhere to be seen! They are gone! (Luckily I was able to grab a copy from my mp3 player, so I didn't lose it, but that was lucky, I would have been pissed!)

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/5898/screen4zd.gif" border="0" width="510" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

The weird thing is that 'Sigur Rós' and 'Sigur Ros' appear in explorer as two seperate folders, but act as a single folder. There is only a single folder, changes made in one folder are shown in the other.

Though this was a weird quirk, and thought I'd share.

cyrnel · 12-17-2005, 09:32 AM

Interesting. (insert critical Spock look here)

Any chance one of the folders is a shortcut and you have the arrow overlay turned off? edit: scratch that - both show but only one would in the explore view.

Do you ever copy files to this area with programs other than Windows Explorer?

XP or ?

What filesystem?

Did you try to fix it yet? Move files and delete the apparently cross-linked folders?

CSflim · 12-17-2005, 09:49 AM

No, no shortcuts are involved.

The OS is XP Pro SP 2, file system is ntfs. Only ever used Windows Explorer iirc.

I fixed it by deleting both folders, creating a new folder, and copying the contents in again.

After deleting the first folder, I tried to explore the remaining Takk, it threw an error, something along the lines of 'location reffered to cannot be found'. The folder icon was still there, and it allowed me to delete it.

cyrnel · 12-17-2005, 11:23 AM

That's ugly. fsck time.

I suspect some ignorant code sterilized the diacritical at a bad time. Explorer is tested internationally pretty well which is why I think of tweaky music managers/renamers/etc.

Always knew we should have stuck with low-order ASCII. :joking:

12-17-2005, 07:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
CSflim Sky Piercer Location: Ireland	Weird Windows Bug Came accross this weird bug in windows today. I was copying a number of folders into my Music folder. It is laid out in an artist/album/track.mp3 format. Since I was copying in a number of albums from artists of whom I already had material stored I had to click Yes to the merge folders warning from windows. Since none of the files would be of the same name, I didn't have to worry about losing any files. The problem was that already in the Music folder I had a folder called 'Sigur Rós' (notice the accent on the ó), and I was copying in a folder incorrectly named 'Sigur Ros' (without the accent). This shouldn't really have been be a problem, I would have expected to end up with two folders, 'Sigur Rós' and 'Sigur Ros', one with the older two albums in it 'Ágaetis Byrjun' and '()' and the other with the newer 'Takk' in it. But this isn't what happened at all! Instead I now have two folders 'Sigur Rós' and 'Sigur Ros', BOTH containing 'Takk'. 'Ágaetis Byrjun' and '()' are nowhere to be seen! They are gone! (Luckily I was able to grab a copy from my mp3 player, so I didn't lose it, but that was lucky, I would have been pissed!) <a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/5898/screen4zd.gif" border="0" width="510" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a> The weird thing is that 'Sigur Rós' and 'Sigur Ros' appear in explorer as two seperate folders, but act as a single folder. There is only a single folder, changes made in one folder are shown in the other. Though this was a weird quirk, and thought I'd share. __________________

12-17-2005, 09:32 AM	#2 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Interesting. (insert critical Spock look here) Any chance one of the folders is a shortcut and you have the arrow overlay turned off? edit: scratch that - both show but only one would in the explore view. Do you ever copy files to this area with programs other than Windows Explorer? XP or ? What filesystem? Did you try to fix it yet? Move files and delete the apparently cross-linked folders? __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195 Last edited by cyrnel; 12-17-2005 at 09:35 AM..

12-17-2005, 09:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
CSflim Sky Piercer Location: Ireland	No, no shortcuts are involved. The OS is XP Pro SP 2, file system is ntfs. Only ever used Windows Explorer iirc. I fixed it by deleting both folders, creating a new folder, and copying the contents in again. After deleting the first folder, I tried to explore the remaining Takk, it threw an error, something along the lines of 'location reffered to cannot be found'. The folder icon was still there, and it allowed me to delete it. __________________

12-17-2005, 11:23 AM	#4 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	That's ugly. fsck time. I suspect some ignorant code sterilized the diacritical at a bad time. Explorer is tested internationally pretty well which is why I think of tweaky music managers/renamers/etc. Always knew we should have stuck with low-order ASCII. :joking: __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195