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Revealing Hidden and System Items

By default, Windows Explorer hides files and folders that have
either the hidden attribute or the system attribute set. Such files not
only don't show up in folder windows; they're also invisible to the
Search command. The operating system keeps these things out of
sight, on the assumption that what you can't see you can't delete,
rename, or corrupt.
To make hidden files and folders visible, choose Tools / Folder
Options in Windows Explorer, click the View tab, and select Show
Hidden Files And Folders. To make visible files and folders with
system and hidden attributes (the so-called "super-hidden" items),
clear Hide Protected Operating System Files (Recommended).
If you want hidden and system files and folders to stay invisible
most of the time, but you occasionally need to search for such
items, you can open a Search window, use the Tools menu to
reveal the hidden stuff, perform your search, and then use the
Tools menu again to put things back in their original state.

Displaying or Hiding Extensions

Windows Explorer normally displays file name extensions only for
file types unknown to the registry, leaving you to discern the type
of most files by their icons or their entries in the Type column (if
you're using Details view). If you find this level of feedback
inadequate - if you long for the full filename.extension
presentation of an MS-DOS directory listing, for example - you
can go to the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box and clear
Hide File Extensions For Known File Types.
If you need to see extensions only for certain registered file types,
however, there's a better solution:
1. Choose Tools / Folder Options, and click the File Types tab.
2. Select the file type whose extension you want to see.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Select Always Show Extension.
These steps add the string value AlwaysShowExt to the class
definition registry subkey for the selected file type. You could
achieve the same result by opening a registry editor and adding
this subkey by hand, but we recommend that you make direct