Registry Changed

I recently caught a virus which changed my registry and now I can't change the folder options. Any help and advice is appreicated. My hijackthis log has also been cleared.

what do you mean? you folder option has been disabled / invisible? or you have your folder options visible but cannot make the changes you set?

I'll show you a screen dump of what it looks like.

This is the top of the menu. Only the files and folders options are available.
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When I scroll to the bottom of the files and folders options, there should be more options, like to viewing hidden folders but there's not. And the registry change has caused me to stop viewing my hidden folders and not being able to change it back.

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hi! cky_haggard, it could be caused by a registry entry changed by the virus that infected your system. i can't say this is effective but give this a try. Go to Start > Run and type regedit and hit enter Navigate to: 1. HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL 2. DELETE the value CheckedValue on the right panel… the one with REG_SZ having 2 as the data value. 3. Next, create a DWORD value called CheckedValue (the type should be REG_DWORD not REG_SZ). 4. Modify the data value to 1 (0x00000001). This would let you change the "Hidden Files and Folders" option. It worked on my machine. If someone finds this "tip" wrong, please feel free to correct it…

Hi Hurricane Andrew, Your contributions to this forum are most welcome, and valuable, so please keep them coming! It might be wise to advise cky_haggard to back up his registry before he starts…just in case the "old finger trouble" causes a problem. Regards paws

Paws, thank you… cky_haggard, Sorry, I forget the most important thing… yeah, DO BACK-UP your registry first before making changes.

Hey thanks for the replies, but the settings on my registry are different to what you mentioned.

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Hi cky_haggard,

The Registry Keys and Values are just fine in the ScreenShot you posted.
Do not make any changes to those Registry Items, at this time.

I concur with Paws, Hurricane Andrew, your contributions are most welcome.
And like Paws mentioned: Safety First!

Your recommendation may have worked to resolve the situation for cky_haggard, if the problem did reside in the Registry for him/her.

System Registry serves as a traffic director to tell the Operating System where to look for a necessary file and when to go to that file in the correct sequence of accessing a few or hundreds of files in a sequence.

Your recommendation was "competent", but still may not work if the file that is being called doesn't exist in the file structure or has become corrupted.
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cky_haggard,

Let's now look at the other side of the possibilities:

Run your Windows File Protection System File Checker.

Start - Run - (type)sfc /scannow - enter <– notice the required space in front of "/"

This will open a progress panel for Windows Protected Files Manager and show the progress as your Operating System files are scanned for "missing or corrupted" files.

If SFC does identify missing or corrupted Operating System files, it may ask you to insert your Windows XP installation CD so a fresh copy of the correct file can be copied and pasted into the system files.

If you do not have your Windows XP installation CD, or if errors in the process occur, please post back with specifics or questions.

SFC scan and replacements take about 8-12 minutes depending upon the size of your file tree and the speed of your CPU/RAM.
If SFC opens, and then closes within a few seconds or under one minute….. It did not complete, and must be repeated.

Sometimes, a second scan run of SFC is necessary, even if SFC completes the first time, in order to replace all missing or corrupted files. If SFC completes, you can safely run it a second time for good measure.

Best Regards

Thanks for the reply, but when I tried it, it just quickly opened and closed a command window.

Try sfc /scannow from a Command Prompt…


Start - Run - (type)cmd - Enter
This opens a DOS Box with a blinking cursor

at the blinking cursor, (type)sfc /scannow - Enter

When SFC is completed, it will return you to a blinking cursor.
at the blinking cursor, (type)EXIT - Enter (to make the DOS box disappear and return you to Windows