I cannot get Win XP to show hidden files or folders

[Guest]

I cannot get Win XP to show hidden files or folders.
Under tools->folder options->view, the 'Do not show hidden files and
folders' radio button is selected, if I select the 'Show hidden files and
foldes’ radio button & exit, when I go back the 'Show hidden files and
folders' radio button is selected again, and none of the hidden files are
visible.

 

[Poprivet]

I cannot get Win XP to show hidden files or folders.
Under tools->folder options->view, the 'Do not show hidden files and
folders' radio button is selected, if I select the 'Show hidden files
and foldes' radio button & exit, when I go back the 'Show hidden
files and folders' radio button is selected again, and none of the
hidden files are visible.

You have TweakUI or something similar that is over riding the settings on
you, most likely. Change it there, if this is the case.

Pop`

 

[Guest]

My workplace just got bit by a virus that does this. Try opening Task
Manager - does it close shortly after it's opened? Do you have an error
message on your desktop that there isn't a disk in the drive (and the message
won't go away)?

We found that there were 4 Trojans on our systems - yet removing them didn't
solve the problem. The darned thing would put itself on a USB drive whenever
it was inserted - and would write an autorun.inf and a setup.exe to the root
of the flash drive. This, in turn, would infect any other computer the flash
drive was used on. It took 3 systems down at work before someone found the
bugger!

It was a file named sspoler.exe or sppoler.exe and was located in the
C:\Windows\system32\drivers sub-directory and it had an icon that looked like
a butterfly. Deleting this file appears to have removed the infection from
the system.

In order to remove the infection, we had to boot with a PE disk to access
the file system and view hidden files.

Hope that this helps!

- John

 

[Guest]

Did you have a resolution to this problem ? If so what did you do to obtain
the resolution? I too have found the same problem on my system.

 

[Guest]

You have TweakUI or something similar that is over riding the settings on
you, most likely. Change it there, if this is the case.

Pop`

If you are familiar with such settings do you know where they are in these
applications?

 

[Nightowl]

Hi Big Bro

It may be that something (or someone) has changed the value of the
checkbox setting.

If you are comfortable with editing your Registry, navigate to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL

In the right pane, CheckedValue should be set to 0x00000001 (1) and
DefaultValue to 0x00000002 (2). If the CheckedValue isn't right,
double-click to change it (or right-click and choose Modify). This
should take effect immediately, no need to reboot.

Now you can go to any folder's Tools | Folder Options | View setting and
see if Show Hidden Files and Folders is working.

 

[Guest]

Hi Big Bro

It may be that something (or someone) has changed the value of the
checkbox setting.

If you are comfortable with editing your Registry, navigate to this key: ....snip...
Nightowl

You were right about something changing the value. Something changed the
"Checked Value" to 3. The "Default value" was 1.

However my "Application Data" folder is hidden when the "Checked value" is
set to 1 and the "Default value" to 2, so I reversed the order and now "Show
hidden files and folders" displays correctly, when the radio button is
checked to do so. I hope there is nothing wrong with this order being
backward from your suggestion. If it is there is still something wrong.

I would love to know what caused this problem in the first place. If there
is a setting in Tweak UI or X Setup Pro I would like to know where it is so
that I can see if either one of them is the cause.

Well at least now I can see the hidden files and folders again, even if
those settings are backwards.

Thanks Nightowl !

 

[Guest]

Hi Big Bro

It may be that something (or someone) has changed the value of the
checkbox setting.

If you are comfortable with editing your Registry, navigate to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL

In the right pane, CheckedValue should be set to 0x00000001 (1) and
DefaultValue to 0x00000002 (2). If the CheckedValue isn't right,
double-click to change it (or right-click and choose Modify). This
should take effect immediately, no need to reboot.

Now you can go to any folder's Tools | Folder Options | View setting and
see if Show Hidden Files and Folders is working.

Nightowl

I just tried to reply to your post and somehow boogered up your post, and
nothing I typed displayed, so I'm trying again.

I did as you suggested but everything was backward, "Hidden files and
folders" will display but only when the radio button was checked not to do
so. I reversed the order of the registry values from what you recommended and
that straightened it out, but is that backward from the way it is supposed to
be? If so, then there is something still wrong.

 

[Nightowl]

Hi Big Bro, please see my replies inline.

...snip...

You were right about something changing the value. Something changed the
"Checked Value" to 3. The "Default value" was 1.

However my "Application Data" folder is hidden when the "Checked value" is
set to 1 and the "Default value" to 2, so I reversed the order and now "Show
hidden files and folders" displays correctly, when the radio button is
checked to do so. I hope there is nothing wrong with this order being
backward from your suggestion. If it is there is still something wrong.

Hmm. . . this is very interesting. Is that folder the only hidden one
that isn't shown with the value set to 1, or don't any hidden folders
show up?

The values I gave for SHOWALL, 1 for CheckedValue and 2 for
DefaultValue, are what I have in my registry and what I've found on the
web. As the CheckedValue and DefaultValue for the NOHIDDEN key (which
corresponds to the "Don't show hidden files and folders" radio button)
are both 2 (you might want to check whether they are on your system?), I
guessed that 1 means "show" and 2 means "don't show".

The registry takes the DefaultValue data if it can't for some reason
read the CheckedValue. . . so it could be that the default of 1 you set
for SHOWALL is what's actually being used. Could you -- while you have
the hidden folders visible as you want -- check this key?

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
In the right pane, look for the value called "Hidden". What is it set
to?

I would love to know what caused this problem in the first place. If there
is a setting in Tweak UI or X Setup Pro I would like to know where it is so
that I can see if either one of them is the cause.

I don't use TweakUI and don't know the other program, sorry. Not to
worry you, but there are some worms and viruses that interfere with this
setting. It could be that you have a nasty somewhere, or that you did
have and it was removed but changes it made to the registry weren't
repaired.

Well at least now I can see the hidden files and folders again, even if
those settings are backwards.

It shows we're on the right track I think it'd be wise to do a
little more digging, though, to try to find out what's going on. I'll be
interested to know about that Hidden value