A few days back, a client came to me and told me that he was having trouble with his Windows XP. The show hidden files and folders was not working at all. If he selected the radio button “Show hidden files and folders”, and then press Ok .. the changes would just disappear upon opening the dialog again. It was probably some virus attack after which the Windows registry was not being updated properly. So here is what I did to restore it back. There are so many methods to restore back the registry. If one method is not working, please try another one.
Method 1:
Go to registry editor by running regedit in the run box.
Go to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoft
WindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
In the right hand area, double click hidden and change the value to 1.
Now you’re all set to go. Check it in your tools menu if the changes have taken effect.
Method 2: (By Random Hajile)
1. Click “Start” -> “Run…” (or press Windows key + R)
2. Type “regedit” and click “Ok”.
3. Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer
AdvancedFolderHiddenSHOWALL
4. Look at the “CheckedValue” key… This should be a DWORD key. If it isn’t, delete the key.
5. Create a new key called “CheckedValue” as a DWORD (hexadecimal) with a value of 1.
6. The “Show hidden files & folders” check box should now work normally. Enjoy! 
Method 3: (By Denny)
1- Click Start –> Run –> regsvr32 /i browseui.dll –> enter
A confirmation message will appear like given below
2- Click Start –> Run –> regsvr32 /i shell32.dll
Wait for the confirmation and click OK.
Method 4:
If none of the above methods work, please download our Smart Virus Remover from here:
[download id=”6″]
Using this Virus Remover please restore your Windows settings and your show hidden files and folders will be set to default.
Please spare a few moments from your precious time and tell us about your experiences.
Comments
1,097 responses to “Show Hidden Files and Folders not working?”
Thanks a lot for your post…
the solution worked .. hurray[:)]
Just Add This to your Registry to fix it
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”
“ValueName”=”Hidden”
“DefaultValue”=dword:00000002
“HKeyRoot”=dword:80000001
“HelpID”=”shell.hlp#51105”
“CheckedValue”=dword:00000001
Hi all,
i had installed a mcafee anti virus software few weeks back, due to some problem i was unable to uninstall it properly. So myself i have removed it manually.
Now i am unable to use mcafee with full function. Even unable to install it completly.
any solution for this?
Hi everybody
i too have this show hidden files problem.
i have tried everything. when i change hidden value in registry. radio buttons of show hidden files and do not show files are unselected. After changing registry value, If i click show hidden files and click apply, It goes back to the default “Do not show”. changes would just disappear.
uhmmmmmmmmm………Try removing the virus(or what so ever that’s interfering with your registry) before doing any registry modification
Hi all,
Please help me out from this.
i had installed a mcafee anti virus software few weeks back, due to some problem i was unable to uninstall it properly. So myself i have removed it manually.
Now i am unable to use mcafee with full function. Even unable to install it completly.
any solution for this?
Hi All i come here today coz i was have abad proplem And i Find teh solution here posted by Random Hajile i cant go without say thx alot for your hep …
i wanna say somthing for all that kasper sky and avg is not the best antiviruses there is McAfee 8.5 + Anti SpyWare i used It Right Now It’s Really Good But You Have To Download the last update to see that it’s the best One .. Alot Of Kiss For All
For Contacting ===> l8l_Angel_l8l@yahoo.com <=== i am ready to help any one thanx all 😡
hi. i tried above solution but if i restart my computer the again not able to see hidden file …pls if can help me
hi.. i tried ur solutio on “not albe to show hidden file ” but if i restart my computer it again return to intial condition…pls help me
Dear friends;
I have 2 questions from you:
(1): I deleted the entire folder of the Acrobat 8.o from my computer. In normal way, It could not unintalled so I deleted all the files associated with Acrobat 8.0. It is still present from Add/remove programs. The problem is, when I clik on the right button of mouse on any file/folder, windows intaller opens and searching for the Acrobat 8.0. How to fix this problem.
(2): How to change the drive letter of a drive/cd-drive.and also to change the name of the CD-Drive.
That was awesome. Thanks for the solution 🙂
Thanks for the information. Now I am able to see hidden folders.
Thanks
Ilyas
Thanks alot Random Hajile, really appreciate your help.
Thanks this works
its not working
wat to do now
pls help
its urgent
Hey friends, gud to see urdu being used on a forum 🙂
yaar i have the same problem that u just gave the solution for..that is hidden files option not working..i tried searching for the “hidden” key in the registry but i couldn’t find it..the virus must have deleted it..please help..i even tried creating one key by that name but it does not work.
Hah !!! Stupid RAVMON .. left its aftereffects on my PC
..
Nice to see someone of my own country to be helping out ..
TC
Still not working. Can you help me
works and thanks a lot . solved my problem
Not sure where to put this but my computer is loaded with viruses trojans etc. Even after trying out that reg edit thing it still wont show. Tried anti viruses none of them seem to work. The virus i was trying to delete has a hidden folders in C: drive but as i cant show them I can’t delete them. Other side effets of the virus/s are unable to defrag, when I double click on CL drive it comes up the open with: window. Also occasionaly when I open task manager every time I move my cursor onto it it disapears. When I right click on C: and D: drive strange little symbols are up the top. These vaguely resemble 2Y.A Any help appreciated.
thank sir for getting my problem solved
help me Help me
how to get “Hide protected operating system files” back if it missing.
I must check it because there is a autorun.inf in C drive. But “Hide protected operating system files” missing so I can’t view it.
Help me!
hi,
Some really good articles at your blog….!! Congrats..
This msg is to ask you wether or not i can use your articles at my website (www.freedownloadsnlinks.co.nr) ???
Looking forward to a positive response…
Thankx
Thanks Random Hajile..ur suggestion worked!!
cheers!!
thanks Random Hajile
your solution worked….
thanks a lot…
thannnnnnnnnks inta 3abkary
it’s not working in my case. i’ve changed value to “1” three times, but when i tried to see the view hidden files… the value in registry automatically changed to “2”.
bhai, pls. help me. i am fed up!..
thank you very much!
this worked perfectly! hope you won’t get tired of helping out other people, again, thank you so much!
I tried the registry tweak… but its still not working…
thank u very much
hi,
thanks for your advise, but problem is steel pending, i am trying to solve this problem than i will inform all of you.
don’t u have any other methods .. it didn’t work in my PC
Dear Random Hajile, thx bro. Now i can delete all those hidden folders i created to check!! Ur a lifesaver.
salam
really i’m thank you for helping me.
🙂 🙂
🙂 🙂 🙂 hello dear friends 🙂 🙂 🙂
in my computer,user Accounts’s name is different from welcoming screen!!!
what must i do?
Dear Sir,
thank u very much.. now i can able to c all the folders at my drive..
Have a g8 day,
S.Jayatheerthan
Thanks, that worked.
Just a one word to describe ya ………. Superb
Thank You guys a lot, you solved a big problem ….
Thanks a ton dude. It cracked it. Lobely
thank u dude but we should change the setting always dude…… plz find out tell?
hi all
can any one help me here.
i want to se hidden files.in my VIEW tab in Folder options, I cannot find the “hidden files and folder” option. can any one dig their head for me,
thanks
Shaz
It’s a very good advice for all the people who are facing this problem.
Thanks for this solution.
Deepak
dear all
my be we need any windows utilities or program or anti virus which is fixing all these problem any body have this program or solve thanks by
it didnt work iguess its some kind of a virus that should be removed
thanks Muhammad Abdullah,
I got the folders options error which is now corrected by your help.. thanks…
Allah Hafiz
One of my users had the exact same issue.
But in his case the registry values (both CheckedValue for NOHIDDEN and SHOWALL) kept reverting to 0 (zero).
I used RegMon and observed that every couple of seconds EXPLORER.EXE is setting the CheckedValue to 0 (zero).
Using ProcessExplorer I suspended the process EXPLORER.EXE and the updates stopped – I was able to change the value to 1 and it remained 1 after several refreshes with F5.
But with this process suspended the system was unusable, so I resumed it and the updates to 0 started again.
I used HijackThis and found an Autorun entry for C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AVPO.EXE which turned to be part of a malware – Trojan-PSW.Win32.OnLineGames.blt
I was unable to see if the file still exists (maybe it’s hidden).
He had SAV 10 running but the definitions were more than an year old (6/30/2006) and LiveUpdate completed successfully but didn’t change the date.
I tried several anti-rootkit tools but the only useful one was Rootkit Hook Analyzer – it told me that there are 18 hooks and 3 of them were by WINCAB.SYS which is another malware AKA Infostealer.Perfwo.B
In Command Prompt I searched for -R-H-S files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ and it found the following 3 files:
AVPO.EXE
AVPO0.DLL
AVPO1.DLL
I was able to change their attributes and delete the .EXE files.
So, I used Unlocker and was able to delete the 2 DLLs.
Rebooted the laptop and tested – now the setting in Folder Options stays and everything is back to normal.
So, it was one interesting case – I hope it might help you too…
Daniel
it is the unique solution for this problem. and it worked perfectly for me.try this urself.
Hi Sanix, Thanks for such a nice post…This really help lot of people there and also me….Keep it up
Yes
i solved my problem to change reg vaule
Change registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL
CheckedValue set to 1