Unable To See Hidden Files

We must have usually faced a problem that we cannot ‘view the hidden files’, even after selecting the option from the Folder Options Menu, and when we go back to check, we see that it has been mysteriously restored to ‘Do Not Show Hidden Files & Folders’.

It happens due to a small bug/virus which edits the Registry to create trouble for us.

Here is how we can solve it :

☻ [Theoretical Way]

Go to Registry Edit

[Start -> Run -> type "regedit"]

Browse to :

“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\Advanced\Folder
\Hidden\SHOWALL”

and set the value of the key “Checked Value” as 1

☻ [Practical Way]

Open notepad,

copy paste the following [between start and stop]:
// START
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\Advanced\
Folder\Hidden]

“Text”=”@shell32.dll,-30499″

“Type”=”group”

“Bitmap”=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00, 74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\

00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00, 65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,53,00,\

48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e, 00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,34,00,00,\

00

“HelpID”=”shell.hlp#51131″

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder
\Hidden\NOHIDDEN]

“RegPath”=”Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\ CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced”

“Text”=”@shell32.dll,-30501″

“Type”=”radio”

“CheckedValue”=dword:00000002

“ValueName”=”Hidden”

“DefaultValue”=dword:00000002

“HKeyRoot”=dword:80000001

“HelpID”=”shell.hlp#51104″

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder
\Hidden\SHOWALL]

“RegPath”=”Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\ CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced”

“Text”=”@shell32.dll,-30500″

“Type”=”radio”

“CheckedValue”=dword:00000001

“ValueName”=”Hidden”

“DefaultValue”=dword:00000002

“HKeyRoot”=dword:80000001

“HelpID”=”shell.hlp#51105″

// STOP

Save it as whatever_u_want.reg

Double Click on that file to solve the problem,

it can be carried, mailed or kept as back-up too.

(Please remove the space in between registry entries)