Different virus causes different type of damage on your computer. Most of the time the virus are programmed to disable Windows Task Manager, Regedit, command prompt, folder options and etc. These restrictions are meant to prevent a normal computer user from using these built-in Windows diagnostic tools to remove the virus from computer.
There are some virus that will cause destruction such as encrypting recently used files so you are forced to buy the decryption key from the virus programmer. Then there’s another type of virus such as BDS.Mirc.Backdoor that will hide your document files by setting the hidden and system attributes to the file. You can still see the files if you set to show hidden files and folders plus disabling hide operating system files. If the virus is capable of restricting Folder Options, chances are you think that your files has been wiped out by the virus but in fact it is hidden in your system.

There’s still hope if you think that your files are gone because of virus. Here’s how to check if the file is still around, and if it is, you can reset the attributes of the file to view it normally in Windows Explorer.
Here’s how to show hidden files and folders or system files.
1. Go to Control Panel and open Folder Options.
2. Go to View tab and select “Show hidden files and folders”. Then uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”. Do take note that some virus that are still active in computer will revert the changes that you made. So make sure your computer is clean from virus first by scanning with an antivirus program.

3. Try to look for your missing files in your hard drive. There is a tool called RSIT is able to help you find files or folders created or modified in the last 1 to 3 months.
4. If you managed to locate your files which is hidden but visible because you’ve configured in Folder Options to show, then you’ll need to unhide the hidden file. Here are 3 methods to reset the system and hidden attributes.
i) attrib command

- This is the old school method of doing it without using any software. Just run command prompt (Start > Run > CMD), type the command attrib -H -S C:\path\to\your\file.doc. You can also use the asterisk character to define multiple extensions. For example, attrib -H -S C:\raymond\*.* would remove the hidden and system attribute of all files in raymond folder at C drive.
ii) iReset

- This is a portable tool to reset your system or hidden files and folders so you can view or access them normally. You will need to drag and drop your files or folders into the cross sign and then click the reset button. This tool is free for personal use but if you want to use it for business purposes, then you’ll have to license the application.
iii) Attribute Changer

- If a file has a hidden attribute, you can easily remove it by right clicking the file, go to Properties, and uncheck the Hidden checkbox. But if it also has system attribute, then the Hidden checkbox will be grayed out and you can’t change that. With Attribute Changer, you can now change all kind of file and folder attributes from the same area.
All 3 methods above should be able to help you reset your files and folders attributes. Depending on the situation, you can select which method works the best. I normally use the attrib command because it’s simple and straight forward. But if the command prompt has been disabled, I can still opt to use iReset or Attribute Changer.
Related posts:
hi! i was wondering how to work with the attribute with a folder name with spaces? and how can we remove the virus?
10x bro..really worked for me.
Yes it solved the problem, but how to removed the virus that cause this. The hidden folder and the .exe file of that folder still recurring when i plug my USB flash drive to that certain computer.
USB Attributes Cleaner is other alternate option.
USB Attributes Cleaner: has the two option to clean flash drive.
1. reset attribute button : scan files and folder in usb to clear/remove hidden, read-only and system files.
2. remove shortcut button: after done scanning with the antivirus, you will notice many shortcuts appeared. Its very trouble to remove them manually.
link: mediafire.com/?a1trhhiq284bcox
Hope this little software may also helpful for some of you.
Works like a charm. Thanks.
tnx
attrib -s -h /s /d
How do you use the attrib command to work on file folders?
Simply Superb!!!!!!!!
So I have done this….and everything reappears. But there is a problem. The virus came from an email and it is still active. It keeps a pop up on the screen that simulates a PC scan and shows a bunch of nasty errors. then it recommends that I pay Data-Recovery.com to fix my machine. Well, I won’t do that. But the virus keeps doing weird things now and then. How do I find it and kill it? It prevents me from starting my taskmanager. Help
Sorry, the command syntax got lost in my last post. Here it is.
attrib -h -s C:\*.* /S /D
With the /s it will change the attributes on files in the subdirectories too. With the /d it will change the attributes on the actual directory entries too.
It’s cool, it worked fast, and easy. like A B C. keep it up.
Thanks mate. It worked out well….
Thank you so much.. it was very useful
Thank you!!
Hvala!!
Thank you very much for providing the software to change the attribute it has worked..
worked thank you so much. i almost fromatted haha
cool thanku
THANK YOU THANK YOU MATE, where will I send my USD 1,000 donation ;) thanks a lot and more power
Thank you :-) Helped me a lot
Thank You so much! I used iReset and it WORKED!!! Thank you!!! :-D
exactly what i was looking for!!!!
thanxxx………….very helpful tools
hey this is helping about. i still have no idea where the virus came from. relatively speaking, im really careful with what i download online.
my question here is that, while the old school method works, it only works for anything i type in that contain no spaces. how do u type in “attrib -H -S f:\” followed by a folder with spacing to undo the hidden problem? “misc_folder” does not work
:) works great for me…
thnx man…
Thank a lot for this…..
Thank you for your post and very useful information.
:-)
thanks mate!
thanks for this software this is great tool and may Jehovah bless you with much knowledge to continue to develop such nice and simple software.
cool 1 thanks ……………….! <3
thanks so much…problem solved
Thanks a lot… very useful…
Love yah!
Thanks, man! It helps~
I used the IReset software and it worked perfectly.
Screw the virus!
Have a nice day!
Malaysia
Thanks a lot man!
You are a life saver!
ps. if the file name is: “hello world”
You will have to write it like this to change the folder attributes:
attrib -H -S C:\”hello world”
very informative, easy to follow and 100% working – it helped me reset files that has been tampered by virus to a working file, /no1
works fine, perfect…thanx a lot!
Thank you. But I encountered a problem with my friends XP. We tried to run it in safe mode but when we restarted the program it suddenly got a blue screen error and it will not start loading. I did everything choosing start window automatically,safe mode,safe mode with networking,safe mode with command prompt but non of them makes his computer start.
Thanks a ton. This is the best solution……
attrib -H -S *.*
Thank u raymond. u r handy
Thank U
man i luuuvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv u very mucccccchhhh
Thanks yaa…it was most useful for me…
once again Thank You very much…
oh u r great . thnx for the stuff.well this de bst solution i had ever find for my problm.
this one helps…thank you
Thanks for the help, muchisimas gracias me funciono muy bien, bien echo
i want download link
just perfect, huuuuuuh can now breath.
thanks it help me the cmd line
Thanks yaa…it was most useful for me…
once again Thank You very much…
thanks very useful tools
thankyou…..
this article is very usefull for IT people
thank you :)
this article is very useful
SUPERB HATS OFFF
ITS WORKING
thanX man 100/100 working
Thanx a lot man.
I was searching for this everywhere on net.
Love u.
Thanks alot! im having this problem for months now. Such a saver… Many thanks again
thamks u realy a good ray
Its Works ………….Thanks Dear……………………
Thanks……..for the post……
Man ur so amazing!!!
U rocks. U help me solve my issue due to virus. thanks
hey thank you very much. It’s working…… :D
Best Work ! I found this page as the first result while googling. Thanks
thanks
Thank you. Thank you.
This has really helped me a lot. Thanks for sharing! May you be blessed.
That is a great knowledge. God bless u
thank you so much for your information.it really helped me
thanks for the tip. really working and it helps us a lot.
Thank you for the Command Prompt version, it works excellent and it finished my 8GB USB pendrive in 10 seconds!
Thank you very much once again!
thanks from the deep part of my heart.
its really working well.
i used this dos command, its very nice.
once again thanks.
Thanks for this great solution. Its really amazing!!!!!!!!!
great job ray! they just fooling us with those viruses and make money for it “anti-virus program”. You did a good job!
thanks from Mongolia
Hi !
I have to try this tip then I will say something . . .
muchsisimas gracias me sirvio de mucho tu post… saludos desde la capital mundial de las cebollas…!!!
very nice Artical. My girl friend missed her project file because virus infected . she thought i deleted that files. now i can show that project files using this .Thank uuuuu
SOLVED
thanx ray…u r d man…problem solved with i reset…
Terimakasih informasinya mas Raymond, sangat berguna, ini yang saya cari selama ini.
Thanks alot! im having this problem for months now. Such a saver… Many thanks again.
hi five ray.. you are good hahah
Thank you so much! the virus is really a headache… thanks for the tip… i thought my files were all gone… (Relief) :)
amaizing solution!!!!!!!!!!!! its so g888888888888!!!!!i have tried it for year and u solved it just in second!!!!!!!!!!!!so gr8fulllllllllllll to uuuuuuuuuuuuu
thanks u verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry much
WOW! this is the best tutorial ive seen regarding hidden folders. thank you so much ray!
Thanks a lot , u made it a lot easy and removed my headache. Its really good information.
Thanks much for sharing such useful info. i-Reset worked just fine for me :-)
Thank u my friend Attribute Changer is worked fine for me
So great. . and now my problem with my phone is solve. . thank you. . i have my folder shown again! ehehehe. . tnx
HI ray this is good,
Please tell me how to crack the administrative password
and how to hack the yahoo mail passwords.
Hi raymond,
please help me crack pastel partner 2009.Thanks in advance
Aggrey
A better option is to use attrib command in MSDOS. i have removed extension of many files with this. Not just many its any
thanx ray.this is very useful tutorial
Great write up Raymond. I never can read enough new ways to repair the damage done by malware :)
nice tip
thanx alot Ray.
Want to unhide all folders and files.
Example for Drive D.
Just press -> key in “attrib -s -h -r d:\*.* /s /d” will show out all hidden folders and files.
Easy then other method……..^_&
what a wonderful post and only 9 comments..looks like people post comments to get freebies like iphider etc only..
my question ray is can this happen even while using a good ativirus like kis2009 for eg..?
isthere a software to prevent viruses from making registry entries? like for eg lock registry?
thanks for the info..
Another useful tip and a good soft. Actually there are rather an impressive questions on the net how to recover reset files and folders attributes, and this infos can save them surely.
Raymond, thank you soooooo much, i encounter this problem since few month ago and never find any solution, once again thank you so much, i only could wish you best of luck with your life. :)
Thanks for the tip mate, cheers!
thanx for d info !!!
Nice Post!
Is there any tool to block windows Registry?
great tutorial ray and thanks for the info :)
This is the virus that infected my thumbdrive at my college library. It did one more thing though, it created an exe file with the same name and icon for you to double click and open. I suggest we untick the option for hide known file types extension so not to be fooled!
a excellent tip ray!!!
but just tell me if it is needed if we use a good security system?
currently i use kis2009.