Hidden Files Won't Unhide

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gman
  • Start date Start date
G

Gman

I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I place a
file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not show
hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder options to
show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do a
search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the folder.
Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder options>view,
both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked, unchecking
them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring the system
defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files, I've
tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for the
folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the registry edit
tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and lastly I
did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not work. I
thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for that and
it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions? My last
two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and reload
windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.
 
"Gman" <Gman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:48C98803-A333-47D4-B667-F28E63D5EDE5@microsoft.com...
> I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I place a
> file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not show
> hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder options
> to
> show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do a
> search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the
> folder.
> Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder
> options>view,
> both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked,
> unchecking
> them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring the
> system
> defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files, I've
> tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for the
> folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the registry
> edit
> tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and lastly I
> did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not work. I
> thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for that
> and
> it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
> administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions? My
> last
> two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and reload
> windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.

I don't know why you can't see the hidden files but you can
most likely make them visible again by hitting them hard with
this command:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type this command:
attrib -s -h -r "c:\documents and settings\Gman\my documents\some
folder\*.*"
 
Gman wrote:
> I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I place a
> file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not show
> hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder options to
> show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do a
> search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the folder.
> Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder options>view,
> both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked, unchecking
> them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring the system
> defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files, I've
> tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for the
> folder options show all registry settings, I tried running the registry edit
> tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and lastly I
> did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not work. I
> thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for that and
> it does not work. When making all these changes I am logged in as
> administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions? My last
> two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and reload
> Windows. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.

Having never fooled with this option, this is just a suggestion off the
top of my (bald) head: Since the files show up when you do a search,
right-click them in that window, click Properties, and remove the Hidden
attribute.

--
Joe =o)
 
Open Regedit.exe and go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\NOHIDDEN.
There should be two registry entries there:

- CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
- DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2

(Correct them if necessary.)

Now open the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL.

- CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 1
- DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2

(Correct them if necessary.)

If the problem persists, open Start, Run, type "regsvr32 /i shell32.dll" and
click OK.

--
Regards,
Daniel Martín
Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User


"Gman" <Gman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:48C98803-A333-47D4-B667-F28E63D5EDE5@microsoft.com...
> I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I place a
> file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not show
> hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder options
> to
> show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do a
> search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the
> folder.
> Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder
> options>view,
> both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked,
> unchecking
> them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring the
> system
> defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files, I've
> tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for the
> folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the registry
> edit
> tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and lastly I
> did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not work. I
> thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for that
> and
> it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
> administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions? My
> last
> two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and reload
> windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.
 
Hmmm....I tried all the above sugesstions and still no luck, I did do a
search for the hidden files and when I found them in the search panel I unhid
them and they showed up again. Other than that if make a file hidden it
still won't come back after you unhide it unless you do so through a file
search by name or type for the hidden file.

"Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]" wrote:

> Open Regedit.exe and go to
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\NOHIDDEN.
> There should be two registry entries there:
>
> - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
>
> (Correct them if necessary.)
>
> Now open the key
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL.
>
> - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 1
> - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
>
> (Correct them if necessary.)
>
> If the problem persists, open Start, Run, type "regsvr32 /i shell32.dll" and
> click OK.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Daniel Martín
> Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
>
>
> "Gman" <Gman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:48C98803-A333-47D4-B667-F28E63D5EDE5@microsoft.com...
> > I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I place a
> > file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not show
> > hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder options
> > to
> > show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do a
> > search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the
> > folder.
> > Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder
> > options>view,
> > both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked,
> > unchecking
> > them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring the
> > system
> > defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files, I've
> > tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for the
> > folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the registry
> > edit
> > tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and lastly I
> > did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not work. I
> > thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for that
> > and
> > it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
> > administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions? My
> > last
> > two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and reload
> > windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.
>
>
 
"Gman" wrote:

> Hmmm....I tried all the above sugesstions and still no luck, I did do a
> search for the hidden files and when I found them in the search panel I unhid
> them and they showed up again. Other than that if make a file hidden it
> still won't come back after you unhide it unless you do so through a file
> search by name or type for the hidden file.
>
> "Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]" wrote:
>
> > Open Regedit.exe and go to
> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\NOHIDDEN.
> > There should be two registry entries there:
> >
> > - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> > - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> >
> > (Correct them if necessary.)
> >
> > Now open the key
> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL.
> >
> > - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 1
> > - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> >
> > (Correct them if necessary.)
> >
> > If the problem persists, open Start, Run, type "regsvr32 /i shell32.dll" and
> > click OK.
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Daniel Martín
> > Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
> >
> >
> > "Gman" <Gman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:48C98803-A333-47D4-B667-F28E63D5EDE5@microsoft.com...
> > > I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I place a
> > > file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not show
> > > hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder options
> > > to
> > > show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do a
> > > search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the
> > > folder.
> > > Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder
> > > options>view,
> > > both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked,
> > > unchecking
> > > them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring the
> > > system
> > > defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files, I've
> > > tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for the
> > > folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the registry
> > > edit
> > > tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and lastly I
> > > did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not work. I
> > > thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for that
> > > and
> > > it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
> > > administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions? My
> > > last
> > > two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and reload
> > > windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.
> >
> >
Gman - were you able to find an answer to this issue? I'm having the same
trouble. Using the search feature is helpful, but when you don't know the
name(s) of the hidden file(s) you're dead in the water. Sometimes I like to
do a thorough system cleaning and don't know the names of the hidden files.
 
"Tony" <Tony@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BF3F049E-8322-444B-93CB-B2BA9960793E@microsoft.com...
>
>
> "Gman" wrote:
>
>> Hmmm....I tried all the above sugesstions and still no luck, I did do a
>> search for the hidden files and when I found them in the search panel I
>> unhid
>> them and they showed up again. Other than that if make a file hidden it
>> still won't come back after you unhide it unless you do so through a file
>> search by name or type for the hidden file.
>>
>> "Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]" wrote:
>>
>> > Open Regedit.exe and go to
>> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\NOHIDDEN.
>> > There should be two registry entries there:
>> >
>> > - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
>> > - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
>> >
>> > (Correct them if necessary.)
>> >
>> > Now open the key
>> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL.
>> >
>> > - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 1
>> > - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
>> >
>> > (Correct them if necessary.)
>> >
>> > If the problem persists, open Start, Run, type "regsvr32 /i
>> > shell32.dll" and
>> > click OK.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Regards,
>> > Daniel Martín
>> > Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
>> >
>> >
>> > "Gman" <Gman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > news:48C98803-A333-47D4-B667-F28E63D5EDE5@microsoft.com...
>> > > I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I
>> > > place a
>> > > file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not
>> > > show
>> > > hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder
>> > > options
>> > > to
>> > > show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do
>> > > a
>> > > search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the
>> > > folder.
>> > > Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder
>> > > options>view,
>> > > both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked,
>> > > unchecking
>> > > them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring
>> > > the
>> > > system
>> > > defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files,
>> > > I've
>> > > tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for
>> > > the
>> > > folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the
>> > > registry
>> > > edit
>> > > tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and
>> > > lastly I
>> > > did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not
>> > > work. I
>> > > thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for
>> > > that
>> > > and
>> > > it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
>> > > administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions?
>> > > My
>> > > last
>> > > two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and
>> > > reload
>> > > windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.
>> >
>> >
> Gman - were you able to find an answer to this issue? I'm having the same
> trouble. Using the search feature is helpful, but when you don't know the
> name(s) of the hidden file(s) you're dead in the water. Sometimes I like
> to
> do a thorough system cleaning and don't know the names of the hidden
> files.
>
>

- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type these commands:
dir c:\ /s /ah > c:\Hidden.txt {Enter}
notepad c:\Hidden.txt {Enter}

You will see a list of all hidden files and folders.
 
Thanks - that is a good workaround. I still don't know why hidden
files/folders can't be unhidden on my system, but this is an effective way to
know what is hiding in there.

-Tony

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Tony" <Tony@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:BF3F049E-8322-444B-93CB-B2BA9960793E@microsoft.com...
> >
> >
> > "Gman" wrote:
> >
> >> Hmmm....I tried all the above sugesstions and still no luck, I did do a
> >> search for the hidden files and when I found them in the search panel I
> >> unhid
> >> them and they showed up again. Other than that if make a file hidden it
> >> still won't come back after you unhide it unless you do so through a file
> >> search by name or type for the hidden file.
> >>
> >> "Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]" wrote:
> >>
> >> > Open Regedit.exe and go to
> >> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\NOHIDDEN.
> >> > There should be two registry entries there:
> >> >
> >> > - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> >> > - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> >> >
> >> > (Correct them if necessary.)
> >> >
> >> > Now open the key
> >> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL.
> >> >
> >> > - CheckedValue : Type: DWORD Value: 1
> >> > - DefaultValue : Type: DWORD Value: 2
> >> >
> >> > (Correct them if necessary.)
> >> >
> >> > If the problem persists, open Start, Run, type "regsvr32 /i
> >> > shell32.dll" and
> >> > click OK.
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Regards,
> >> > Daniel Martín
> >> > Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "Gman" <Gman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:48C98803-A333-47D4-B667-F28E63D5EDE5@microsoft.com...
> >> > > I've looked high and low for the answer to this question but if I
> >> > > place a
> >> > > file in a folder, hide that file, change the folder options to not
> >> > > show
> >> > > hidden files the file is hidden. When I go back to set the folder
> >> > > options
> >> > > to
> >> > > show hidden files and unhide the files they never reappear, if you do
> >> > > a
> >> > > search for the hidden files in the folder, the files are there in the
> >> > > folder.
> >> > > Oddly something I never noticed is when you go to tools>folder
> >> > > options>view,
> >> > > both do not show and show hidden files radio buttons are checked,
> >> > > unchecking
> >> > > them to show the hidden files has no effect. I've tried restoring
> >> > > the
> >> > > system
> >> > > defaults for folder options, I've tried also unhiding system files,
> >> > > I've
> >> > > tried a couple of the regedit suggestions I found in the forums for
> >> > > the
> >> > > folder options showall registry settings, I tried running the
> >> > > registry
> >> > > edit
> >> > > tweak on line 129 of Kelleys-Korner-xp.com that did not work, and
> >> > > lastly I
> >> > > did a system restore back about 10 days on my system that did not
> >> > > work. I
> >> > > thought maybe this was the ravmon virus, tried the fix utility for
> >> > > that
> >> > > and
> >> > > it does not work. IWhen making all these changes I am logged in as
> >> > > administrator. I'm baffled and beaten on this one, any suggestions?
> >> > > My
> >> > > last
> >> > > two options are...don't hide files anymore or wip the machine and
> >> > > reload
> >> > > windws. Thanks for taking the time to look and offer suggestions.
> >> >
> >> >
> > Gman - were you able to find an answer to this issue? I'm having the same
> > trouble. Using the search feature is helpful, but when you don't know the
> > name(s) of the hidden file(s) you're dead in the water. Sometimes I like
> > to
> > do a thorough system cleaning and don't know the names of the hidden
> > files.
> >
> >
>
> - Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
> - Type these commands:
> dir c:\ /s /ah > c:\Hidden.txt {Enter}
> notepad c:\Hidden.txt {Enter}
>
> You will see a list of all hidden files and folders.
>
>
>
 
I just discovered a freeware file manager that does show all files, hidden or
otherwise and reminds me of the windows 3.1 file manager, with more
capabilities. Seems the best workaround so far. Thanks for the input on my
issue.
 

Similar threads

AWS
How to restore backups from Amazon S3 to Azure SQL Managed Instance
Replies
0
Views
179
AWS
AWS
AWS
Windows Admin Center version 2306 is now generally available!
Replies
0
Views
129
AWS
AWS
AWS
Public preview: Windows 365 alerts for Cloud PCs in grace periods
Replies
0
Views
117
AWS
AWS
AWS
New Outlook for Windows now available
Replies
0
Views
93
AWS
AWS
AWS
Inside Microsoft Teams Season 6 Episode 3 – Feature Focus with Microsoft MVPs
Replies
0
Views
164
AWS
AWS
Back
Top