Hidden Files and
Folders
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| The debate has raged
for years and through a number of different versions
of the Windows operating system about whether
certain system files and folders should be set to be
hidden or visible in Windows Explorer. The
inherently curious that want full transparency in
everything argue for visibility. They want to see
every file, know everything that's going on with
their system, and think by having every file and
folder visible they will be able to spot any changes
to their system that might be questionable or
unauthorized. |
| On the other side of
the coin are those that argue if all the system
files and folders that are essential to making the
system run properly are visible, the chances are
much higher that a novice user with no knowledge of
computers is much more likely to get into and
change, or worse yet, delete a file or folder that
can effectively kill the operating system. |
| I can see both sides
of the argument. A file or folder that looks
perfectly harmless to someone looking to make a bit
more space available on a hard drive can have
disastrous consequences if deleted. Maybe those
types of files and folders should be hidden away
from the casual user. That said, speaking as someone
that has worked on computers for years, I do want
everything visible when I'm repairing or tweaking a
system. |
| What it boils down to
is this; the vast majority of Windows users have no
idea hidden files and folders even exist and use
their computers every day without issue. If you want
to overide the default setting of hidden files,
folders, and even drives in some instances, it's a
one minute fix to expose everything on the system.
Have at it, and good luck. |
| All screen
captures are from a clean installation of Windows 7
Ultimate x64 with Service Pack 1 installed. |
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Normal versus Protected Operating System
Folders and Files |
Before I go through the methods to make the
hidden items visible you need to understand
there are actually two different types of
hidden files and folders involved; 'normal'
hidden folders and files and 'protected
operating system' folders and files.
A 'normal' folder or file is primarily one
you create and make hidden by accessing the
property sheet for that particular folder or
file, although it can be system created as
well but not essential to successful
operation of the operating system.
A 'protected operating system' folder or
file is one that's normally installed with
Windows and is required to start and run
Windows successfully. That's the simple
explanation, but it's sufficient for the
needs of this tutorial. |
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| Method One - Via
Windows Explorer |
| 1 - Open
Windows Explorer and click [Organize] button at the
upper left. Click [Folder and Search Options] to
open the Folder Options dialog box. Note at this
point there are five folders and no files visible in
the right pane. |
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2 - After clicking [ Folder and Search Options ]
in the previous step, the Folder Options dialog box
will open to the General tab. Click on the View tab.
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At this point
these are the available options:
- Inside the red rectangle in the
screen capture shown left, select the
radio button next to the [Show Hidden
Files, Folders, and Drives] option under
the [Hidden Files and Folders] heading.
This will make the 'normal' hidden
files, folders, and drives I talked
about earlier visible. If you want you
can stop at this point and the hidden
files, folders, and drives that
are not also protected
operating system files will be visible.
The screen capture in Step 3 explains
this visually. If this is what you want,
click [OK] to finish or keep reading to
make the protected operating system
files visible.
- Inside the green rectangle in the
screen capture shown left, remove the
check mark next to the [Hide Protected
Operating System Files (Recommended)]
option under the [Files and Folders]
heading. This will make the 'protected
operating system' hidden files and
folders I talked about earlier visible.
The screen capture in Step 3 explains
this visually.
- Removing the check mark inside the
green highlighted area without
setting the hidden files and folders to
visible in the red highlighted area will
have no effect on visibility. In other
words, if you want the protected
operating system files to be visible,
you must also set hidden folders and
files to visible.
- Click [ OK ] and reboot the system.
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| 3 - The
screen capture below illustrates normal hidden
versus hidden protected operating operating system
files and folders. |
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Here's a visual breakdown on what happend
in Step 2.
- The five items shown left with no
highlight are visible initially after a
clean Win 7 Ultimate install with no
changes to folder options.
- The one folder with the red
highlight becomes visible if you make
only the hidden files, folders, and
drives visible as highlighted in red in
Step 2 above.
- The five folders and three files
with the green highlight become visible
when the check mark is removed in Step 2
to make the protected operating system
folders and files visible.
The hidden files and folders that have
been made visible are easily identifiable by
the increased transparency level which
non-hidden files and folders don't display.
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| Method Two - Via
Control Panel |
| 1 - Open
Control Panel by going to Start > Control Panel and
click Appearance and Personalization. Scroll down to
Folder Options and click the [ Show Hidden Files and
Folders ] link to open the Folder Options property
sheet. |
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| 2 - After
clicking [ Show Hidden Files and Folders ] link in
Control Panel, the Folder Options dialog box will
open to the General tab. Click on the View tab. The
rest of this step is exactly the same as Step 2 in
Method One above. |
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| 3 - The
screen capture below illustrates normal hidden
versus hidden protected operating operating system
files and folders. The rest of this step is exactly
the same as Step 3 in Method One above. |
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| Method Three - Via
Registry Editor |
| 1 - Open
Registry Editor by clicking Start, type regedit in
the search input area and either hit [ Enter ] or
click regedit.exe. |
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| 2 - In the
left pane of Registry Editor work your way down
through the tree, expanding keys as necessary,
until you come to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
key. The breadcrumb trail at the lower left of
Registry Editor is a convenient visual aid to help
track the current location in the registry. |
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| 3 - In the
right pane, double click on the dword entry [ Hidden
] to open the Edit dialog box. Change the [ Value
Data: ] to 1 as shown in the screen capture below.
This is the part of the procedure detailed in Step 2
of Method One above that corresponds to the part
highlighted with the red rectangle making the
'normal' Hidden Files and Folders visible. Click
[OK] to proceed. |
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| 4 - Again
in the right pane, double click on the dword entry [
ShowSuperHidden ] to open the Edit dialog box.
Change the [ Value Data: ] to 1 as shown in the
screen capture below. This is the part of the
procedure detailed in Step 2 of Method One above
that corresponds to the part highlighted with the
green rectangle making the 'protected operating
system' files and folders visible. Click [OK] to
proceed. |
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| 5 - Done
correctly the dwords [ Hidden ] and [
ShowSuperHidden ] should now appear as shown in
screen capture below. |
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| 6 - Close
Registry Editor and either log off and log back in
or restart the system. The hidden folders and files
will now be visible in Windows Explorer. |
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