Recipe 8.13. Making a File or Folder Read-Only

Problem

You want to prevent a file or folder from being updated by making it read-only.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open Windows Explorer.

2. Browse to the file or folder you want to hide.

3. Right-click the file or folder and select Properties.

4. Check the box beside Read-only.

5. Click OK.

Using a command-line interface

To make a file read-only, use the attrib.exe command:

> attrib +R <Path>

Here is an example:

> attrib +R d:\mysecretscript.vbs

To make a file available for reading and writing, use the -R option:

> attrib -R <Path>

Here is an example:

> attrib -R d:\mysecretscript.vbs

Using VBScript

' This code enables or disables the read-only attribute of a file. ' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------ strFile = "<FilePath>"  ' e.g. d:\mysecretscript.vbs boolReadOnly = True     ' True = read-only, False = not read-only ' ------ END CONFIGURATION --------- set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") ' Change this to GetFolder to hide/unhide a folder set objFile = objFSO.GetFile(strFile) if boolReadOnly = True then    if objFile.Attributes AND 1 then       WScript.Echo "File already read-only"     else       objFile.Attributes = objFile.Attributes + 1       WScript.Echo "File is now read-only"    end if  else    if objFile.Attributes AND 1 then       objFile.Attributes = objFile.Attributes - 1       WScript.Echo "File is not read-only"    else       WScript.Echo "File is already not read-only"     end if  end if