Hidden Files/Folders do not show in Windows Explorer
Last week one of my client came to me with his laptop saying his laptop is running extremely slow. When I started the laptop, it took 10-15 minutes to get the Desktop. I was shocked; the laptop having a DUAL CORE processor with 1.5 GB of RAM is taking that much time to start up.
When I opened Task manager, I was confirmed his laptop is infected with a bunch of virus. Ended some of the suspicious process and laptop started running some how faster. Then I updated the virus definition and ran a scan, found few malwares/trojans and deleted successfully, but I was not satisfied with that. I wanted to go in-depth. Then I started searching the virus manually but would not be able to see the hidden files/folder in Windows Explorer, even if I changed the setting in the folder options. It will not show the hidden files. After working a couple of hours on his laptop, I found some steps to resolve the problem. Here are the steps it may be helpful.
- Click Start > Run > Regedit
- Registry Windows will open.
-
Navigate to the registry folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL
-
You will find a key called CheckedValue. Double Click CheckedValue key and modify it to 1. This is to show all the hidden files. Now you should be able to view all the hidden files, and also to alter its status from folder options.
NOTE: Please back up your registry before editing anything in it.
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Comment by elearning on 29 January 2008:
nice found dude, i did tried to access registry but when ever i access it i cant do changes due to lake of knowledge about registry. can u provide some information or resource to get information about registry and how to change and its effect.
thanks
Comment by Rob on 29 January 2008:
Good call! Microsoft lock-up windows with all sorts of hidden processes, it’s only experienced users who can view and turn off all the unnecessary bits and pieces… let alone trojans and malware!
Comment by Music Site on 29 January 2008:
Thank you for the information, but do you mean the hidden files can be infected by the virus too?
Comment by Sunieet on 30 January 2008:
@ Music site,
Yes, the virus can infect any file. It may be a hidden file, system file…. Generally virus hide the show hidden files options because most of virus are in hidden mode.
Comment by Nikki Lee on 30 January 2008:
Thanks for the info! May I ask what anti-virus did you use to successfully delete the virus? In your opinion would Avast be a good Anti-virus for your computer?
Comment by Ajay M on 31 January 2008:
@ Nikki
Why dunt you try AVG free version. I am using that and quite satisfied.
Comment by Ajay M on 31 January 2008:
@ Elearning
Keep watching this blog and in near future we are coming up with many registry tricks. I will also provide a free download e-book on registry.
Comment by Alka on 31 January 2008:
i have the same issue with my laptop .it takes me 10-120 minutes to bring up internet explorer and also i see the same issue as you described that in the task manage i have several processes whic are eating up cpu .. but editing the registry is a challenge for me and i am afraid that i may not break something ..
do you think refromatting will help
Comment by Bingo Online on 31 January 2008:
i think the quickest way to get this done is to format it?
sometimes clients are just a pain in the neck
itchy fingers!
Comment by Music Site on 31 January 2008:
@sunieet,
Can I find the virus and get rid of it without looking for the hidden files? I mean is the a program that can find those hidden files and get rid of the virus? I think this way it will be time saving,
@Ajay,
do you think AVG can find the hidden files and get rid of the virus?
Thank you.
Comment by Sunieet on 1 February 2008:
@ Music site
Some of my friends say, Avast is detecting this virus but I am not sure. You may try Avast (http://www.avast.com/) for removing this virus. But I am using AVG as my virus scanner. If anything else, please ping me back. I ll be happy to help you further.
@ Alka,
If you are afraid of about the Registry editing, you may start reformatting your laptop but please make sure you have backed up your personal data and it is virus free.
Comment by Ajay M on 1 February 2008:
@ Music site
As I am using AVG and I am quite satisfied with it, I recommended that. About removing the w32.USBWorm virus (which caused this issue in case of sunieet) then there is no program till date to remove it. You have to manually delete it and this can be done by showing hidden files only. This worm is presenet in C: drive ina hidden folder called heap41a.
Comment by Mike on 2 February 2008:
Thanks for the info, since I’m not really familiar with modifying reg entries I’m also looking forward to that ebook on reg tricks.
Comment by srinivas on 3 February 2008:
excellent answer. you solved my big problme. keep posting about registry
Comment by Ajay M on 3 February 2008:
@ Mike and Srinivas
Yes this blog will have many more registry editing stuffs in future. The book is on its way to be posted too.
Comment by sims cheats on 4 February 2008:
You didn’t mention if it was Vista. My lapto has it and I have to say it is a dog at waking up.
Comment by Weight Loss Wand on 4 February 2008:
Thanks for the information. We all know that virus can effect any type of the files and the best way to get rid of this is to get formatted.
Comment by USC Trojan Fan on 4 February 2008:
Hi Ajay, thanks for the tip .. was this for windows vista or xp? I’m assuming it was vista, but just wanted to double check. Vista has been running really slow for me lately and I think this might be a contributing cause.
Comment by Dom Poznan on 4 February 2008:
Thanks for the tips, I finally managed to get my sisters laptop running … it took over 10 mins to get to the desktop and it was frustrating as hell
Comment by Ajay M on 5 February 2008:
@ USC
It holds true for both. However this can not be attributed to system slow down. There may be a host of other reason for system slow down. You may consider paying a glance at this:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?docname=c00815926&cc=us
Comment by Mattresses on 5 February 2008:
Hi-Jack This is a great tool for removing things that have installed themselves in firmware. check it out.
Comment by Ajay M on 5 February 2008:
@ Matresses
Do you mean to say Hi-Jack this??
Comment by Sunieet on 5 February 2008:
@ Sims Cheats.
I am sorry for the late response. The steps also work for Windows Vista. Please make sure, you have backed up your registry before editing anything in it.
@ Matteresses
Yes, Hijack This is a great tool for removing Virus/Malware from the system but you need t o know about the running process of Windows before deleting any process using HiJack This.
Comment by teeth whitener on 6 February 2008:
When you say you “found few malwares/trojans and deleted successfully”, do you use software for this? If so what do you use?
I know I have some malware on my laptop, yet I cannot seem to find it.
Comment by Community Information on 7 February 2008:
“Spybot Search and Destroy” is good for finding spybots and malware.
Comment by Sunieet on 8 February 2008:
@ teeth whitener,
I am sorry dude, I did not get you. If you are talking about Hijack This, please send me the log file generated by HiJack this and I will try to help you further.
To do so, open HiJack This and Click Do a System scan and save a log file. Then send me the log file. I ll do my best…
TC..
Comment by Motivator on 14 February 2008:
Click “Start”
Or either they follow this steps to view hidden folders and files
Click “Control Panel”
Switch to the classic view (if you’re using Windows XP.)
Click “Folder Options”
Click the tab called “View”
Check “Show hidden files or folders”
If you also wish to view system files, Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
Comment by Scuba Diving on 15 February 2008:
i tell ya, definitely should enable ‘view hidden files’
gives me great control over my PC
Pingback by Most Popular posts at a glance | Techie Zone on 18 February 2008:
[...] Hidden Files/Folders do not show in Windows Explorer: [...]
Comment by Bob Liddle on 10 March 2008:
I think that this is an too old shortcut. Computer is vast that there are many such shortcuts.
Comment by aryana on 13 March 2008:
it didnt help
( no matter what I do it keep switching back to its default value, like:
check value becomes 0 again everytime I open it
Comment by Ajay M on 14 March 2008:
@ Aranya,
Plz put ur query in the forum and we will continue assisting u.
Comment by Mike 424 on 18 March 2008:
thx dude!!!
it really works!!!
my problem is now solved thx to you
Comment by akash on 28 March 2008:
if the value rolls back to 2 while u are at current user of regedit , the repeat the same process in the local machine of the regedit and do it in safe mode. i hope this way will remove the damm do not show hidden file problem. if not let me know i will do more research on this.
Comment by Data Recovery Software Blog on 29 March 2008:
Windows Native tool is always a best option for defragging drives
Comment by waqar on 10 April 2008:
when i edit the registry checkvalue 1 but do not show the hidden files and folder how to remove the virus plz tell me about that
Comment by JFreak on 16 May 2008:
Thks a lot, in my case the key don’t exist but just created with the value and works so fine. Again thank you. But microsoft relly sucks. why do simple things so complicate??
Comment by kool cruiser on 9 June 2008:
thanx a tonn pal…….mine ws infekted wid a virus kalled rolepi HV …..I killd tat moafukr
thru sm onlne scannin but stll not abl to unhde ma folders….i follw ur way n its kool..
thanx……
Comment by Pavliga on 15 August 2008:
great, usefull 0_0
Pingback by 10 most popular Posts of the year 2008 | Techie Zone on 31 December 2008:
[...] 10. Hidden Files/Folders do not show in Windows Explorer [...]
Comment by prince on 15 January 2009:
Hi..i have this problem with hidden files.Every time i try to change the checked box value to 1.Next time wen i open it it goes back to zero value.i am also infected by ddr.exe.then there is also AHnRpta.exe. i can find this AHNRpta.exe using search option but i am not able to delete it
Comment by Vertu Replica on 25 January 2009:
i too had problems with the hidden files but i just updated new virus and it was all clear and ready to use the box.
Comment by irvan on 28 January 2009:
thanks. i have same problem too. I can’t change value of check box to show “Hiden Files adn Folders” , even i scan with AVG and Avira it’s can’t solve my problem, now i will try your advice