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 were 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_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
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:
1. Click "Start" -> "Run…" (or press Windows key + R)
2. Type "regedit" and click "Ok".
3. Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL
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!
