Mass removal of Archive bits

["Myron Gochnauer" goch@xxxxxxxx]

I haven't followed all of the postings on this topic, although I did
download RH's utility. (It works fine with Win2K.)

I'm not sure why any of this was necessary. When I want to change the
attributes of all the files in a subdirectory, I just use Windows Explorer.

1) Right click on the directory.

2) Choose Properties.

3) a) If the attribute you want "on" is "off", or
   the one you want "off" is "on",
   check or uncheck the appropriate box and press "Apply".
  b) Then choose "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files.
  c) Click "Okay" and Explorer will change the attribute to all the files.

4) a) If the attribute you want to change is already set the way to you want
it,
   (but many or all files in the folder are not),
   check or uncheck the appropriate attribute, even though this "goes the
wrong way".
  b) Choose "Apply changes to this folder only."
  c) Now go back and change the attribute in the direction you want.
  d) This time choose, "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and
files."
   Click "Okay" and you're laughing, as we say in these parts.

If your major concern is not the Archive bit, but the Read-Only bit ---
which is normally set when you copy files from a read-only source like a
CD-ROM --- there is a handy utility called "Readonly" that integrates nicely
with Windows Explorer and DOpus. It is a freeby, and can be found at:
http://www.sente.co.uk/ They ask you to register so they can find out
whether it is being used, but it is free.

DOpus has a nice feature of allowing you to manipulate attributes
automatically when you do things like copy or move them. It's very handy
when copying things from CD-ROM. I don't know how many hours I lost over
the years trying to figure out why programs wouldn't work after I copied
customized files into my computer from a carefully-prepared CDROM backup.
Grrr.

Myron