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Show Hidden Files and Folders

June 18, 2009

Have you ever encountered a virus that automatically creates .exe files out of your existing folders in your USB flash drive?

Have you deleted them using an Antivirus?

And when you deleted them, were the folders all gone?

Just today, my sister was crying because my brother deleted the viruses in her flash drive. She was so horrified when she noticed that all her folders were gone! She was crying for 30 minutes before I arrived. Luckily, I’ve encountered this scenario before.

First, I inserted the flash drive. Then on My Computer, right-click on the flash drive icon and click Properties. You will notice that the Used Space and Free Space meters indicates that you have existing files in your USB. But you can’t see them, right? So that means they’re hidden.

So what I did was EXPLORE the flash drive. Went to TOOLS>>FOLDER OPTIONS>>VIEW. Then in that tab, I looked for the “Show hidden files and folders.” Selected it and clicked APPLY. Nothing happened. So my initial suspicions were confirmed. This is really the work of a virus which does something to the registry.

So here is what I did to restore it back. There are so many methods to restore back the registry but this is my favorite method. 🙂

1. Click START.
2. Click RUN or press Windows key + R.
3. The RUN window will appear. Type regedit. Click OK.
4. Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvancedFolderHiddenSHOWALL
5. Look at the “CheckedValue” key… This should be a DWORD key. If it isn’t, delete the key.
6. Create a new key called “CheckedValue” as a DWORD (hexadecimal) with a value of 1.
7. The “Show hidden files & folders” check box should now work normally.

And with that, I was able to save the day. 🙂

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