Directory enumeration
Arqivexa reads archive metadata and presents directory entries to the projected workspace so File Explorer can list files and folders.
Guides / Windows internals
Windows Projected File System
ProjFS archive workflow for on-demand File Explorer access.
Arqivexa uses Windows Projected File System, commonly shortened to ProjFS, to expose the directory structure of a supported .cfs archive and provide file contents when Windows applications request them.
01
Projection
Show the namespace before materializing every file.
Placeholders
Projected entries represent archived files without requiring the complete file payload to be written into a normal extracted directory up front.
Hydration
When a process actually reads a file, Arqivexa retrieves and decompresses the needed data and provides it through the ProjFS provider path.
02
Why it matters
ProjFS separates visibility from full extraction.
For an archive workflow, that separation is useful: users can navigate filenames and directories without first expanding every compressed file. Searches for ProjFS archive, Windows Projected File System archive, on-demand file hydration, or virtualized File Explorer folder are describing parts of this mechanism.
Faster path to browsing
The directory tree can become available before all compressed payloads are decompressed.
Only requested content
Files that are never opened do not need to be hydrated merely because the archive was browsed.
Windows-native Explorer view
The workspace is presented through Windows filesystem APIs rather than only inside a custom archive-listing window.
03
Editing
Projection is only one part of Arqivexa.
Detect supported changes
Arqivexa tracks supported workspace changes so they can be represented in the archive rather than disappearing when the projection closes.
Commit archive state
Changed data and metadata are written through Arqivexa's persistence path with validation rather than treating the projected workspace as disposable temporary output.
Recover and optimize
The archive lifecycle includes recovery-oriented state and an Optimize operation for removing obsolete history after the workspace is closed.
04
What ProjFS is not
Not a universal compressed filesystem by itself.
ProjFS provides projection and hydration primitives, but it does not automatically turn arbitrary archive formats into editable filesystems. Arqivexa supplies the archive format, decompression, metadata mapping, persistence, validation and lifecycle logic around those Windows primitives.
Requirements
ProjFS must be available on the supported system.
Arqivexa 0.5.0 Stable targets Windows 11 x64. Setup checks the Windows Projected File System feature and may require a restart. Writable archives require local NTFS storage.