# Why are only some of the folders in my Program Files folder showing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650 "2008-02-22T00:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/1 "2008-02-22T00:49:17Z")
Windows XP, Home, SP2 HP Pavilion I recently had to do a system restore on my computer, and now only about the first 20 folders in my Program Files folder are showing. The others are there…I can access them by typing their location directly in the address bar. They’re just not showing. What’s causing this and what can I do? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/2 "2008-02-22T01:34:14Z")
I hate to ask the obvious, but is there a scroll bar? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/3 "2008-02-22T01:36:05Z")
Or one of those Godawful little drop-down arrows? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/4 "2008-02-22T01:48:36Z")
I’m not sure why, but windows could of hidden them for some illogical reason. Do you have “view hidden files and folders” activated in the folder’s options menu? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/5 "2008-02-22T02:13:03Z")
No scroll bars or drop-down arrows. Show hidden files and folders is checked. [Here is a screenshot](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jayjaybear/untitled.jpg). Only the first 32 folders are showing. If I delete folders that are showing, folders further down the alphabet appear, but only in a one-to-one ratio to what I’ve deleted. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/6 "2008-02-22T02:18:37Z")
Do you get more if you switch to the _list_ or _details_ view? If you create a new folder does it show up? Can you create a folder with the same name as another folder you suspect to be in that view but is unvisible? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/7 "2008-02-22T02:24:34Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] Do you get more if you switch to the _list_ or _details_ view? If you create a new folder does it show up? Can you create a folder with the same name as another folder you suspect to be in that view but is unvisible? [/QUOTE] No, List and Details end at the same point. I can create a New Folder and have it be visible, but I can’t rename it to a folder that isn’t visible but is existent. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/8 "2008-02-22T02:42:00Z")
what happens if you _show hidden files_? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/9 "2008-02-22T02:42:09Z")
Okay, now that I’ve closed by Program Files folder and gone back in, the New Folder (still named “New Folder”) is gone, presumably moved to its alphabetical place in the list, which doesn’t show past the D’s. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/10 "2008-02-22T02:46:30Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] what happens if you _show hidden files_? [/QUOTE] That option is already checked. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/11 "2008-02-22T02:49:41Z")
Any difference if you view the contents in explorer (file tree view)? Or open the folders pane by clicking “folders” in the toolbar. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/12 "2008-02-22T02:59:35Z")
Try to organize your folders by name (and by that I eman use the right-click option “sort files by…”) sometimes after a restore things will overlap and become invisible. Also, go into one of your invisible folders, go to properties and tell us if anything seems different. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/13 "2008-02-22T03:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=Jragon] Try to organize your folders by name (and by that I eman use the right-click option “sort files by…”) sometimes after a restore things will overlap and become invisible. Also, go into one of your invisible folders, go to properties and tell us if anything seems different. [/QUOTE] “Arrange by” doesn’t work for that. I don’t know what I’d be looking for to be different in “Properties”. I think I’m going to restart and see if that does anything. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/14 "2008-02-22T03:30:49Z")
After restarting (and having chkdsk run and find a couple of corrupt file record segments), everything’s showing up like it’s supposed to. This all smells like incipient hard drive failure (it’s the third time chkdsk has run in the last 7 startups), which makes me nervous… ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/15 "2008-02-22T14:57:54Z")
That’s hilarious. I wouldn’t assume the HD is going bad, tho. What usually triggers the chkdsk, can you tell? Also, is the disk using fat or ntfs? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-of-the-folders-in-my-program-files-folder-showing/438650/16 "2008-02-22T16:32:18Z")
[QUOTE=arseNal] That’s hilarious. I wouldn’t assume the HD is going bad, tho. What usually triggers the chkdsk, can you tell? Also, is the disk using fat or ntfs? [/QUOTE] Wish I knew what triggered it. The time I had to run recovery was after chkdsk had removed a windows component. I can remember chkdsk saying it was deleting a particular file, then when windows started again it threw an error and said that file was missing (to which I said, “Duh!” because the stupid machine had just removed the file in question). I had to do recovery because I couldn’t even start windows in a way that I could do anything with it (even safe mode). At this point, I can’t remember what file it was or exactly what the error box said, unfortunately. I just assume that if it’s finding reasons to do a chkdsk too often, there’s probably something wrong with the disk. It’s using NTFS.