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General discussion

files on hard drive not visible with Vista

Feb 8, 2008 8:25PM PST

There are some programs that I have loaded on a brand new HP m8300f computer with Vista Premium, including Adobe After Effects 6.5, that when I try to import a file, the program sees NO FILES at all on the hard drive. Only folders are visible. Even when the drop down box is set to "all files" or specifically the file type I am trying to open.

Files are on the hard drive when you look at it with "Computer" (used to be called "My Computer") and when you click on the files there, they will open. I heard that Vista changed the way Windows handles files. Will some programs not written for Vista simply not be able to see files on a hard drive?

When I ran the Vista Upgrade Advisor, it found no problems with these programs. I knew that Help would no longer work, but not being able to import files is a big problem.

Is there some sort of file handling setting in Vista that might cure this?

Discussion is locked

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Invisible files...
Feb 9, 2008 1:04AM PST

That really shouldn't happen as a result of a Vista compatibility issue, though it's hard to ignore the possibility since multiple programs are having the same problem. In the case of After Effects I would click here to download/install a patch, attempt running the application in Compatibility Mode, uninstall/reinstall, and, if it still fails, shoot off an e-mail to Adobe technical support. It wasn't designed for use on Vista but I don't think that should matter in this case.

John


P.S. Which other apps are experiencing this disappearing act?

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Vista problems
Feb 14, 2008 8:57AM PST

I tried compatibility mode and other things suggested by others, and the problem was not resolved.

I heard a while back and now know that the help system on not so new programs does not work in Vista. Is there any way to resolve this? On some programs, I had to do custom installs and avoid installing help systems. The Vista upgrade advisor found no problems with these programs when I tested them.

Also, does Vista add any tags or anything to graphic, audio, or video files moved to a hard drive on a computer running Vista?

And does Vista make you connect to the internet to allow you to do things? Does Vista report what it sees you do on the computer? I found out that Windows Media Center would not allow me to scan for TV channels with the TV tuner card that came with the computer unless I connected to the internet and some sort of TV listing site first.

I have another computer that i use on the net. This one I want to keep for actually running programs.

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This sounds like the age old CODEC issue.
Feb 14, 2008 10:07AM PST

If the codec is not installed or not Vista compatible those files may indeed not show up.

The only good news is that Adobe's support line is very conversant about this issue on Vista. Let them help you out.

Bob

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NO files visible
Feb 14, 2008 10:22AM PST

NO files are visible, only folders. No BMPs. No RTFs or Word files. I don't think you need special codecs to see some of these.

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I write some Windows apps...
Feb 14, 2008 10:32AM PST

And the file open dialogue box could do that if I call the dialogue box just so. Adobe is the one to ask on this one.