user account

i have just accidently hidden my user account. How do i unhide it ? Windows 7 ultimate.

Thanks Shawn. I followed that through, via lusrmgr.msc However, I found that my "hidden"?? user account (Robert) was in fact not disabled. The administrator account was, so I enabled that. Shut down/restart brought up both administrator and Robert. Selecting Robert brought up my usual background and program options as before, but user account "Robert" was still not visible under users. Only "administrator" and "public" were visible, and I could still not gain access to my documents. I tried going back via lusrmgr.msc and disabled "Robert", then shut down and restarted. Sure enough, my computer fired up with the administrator account only. I again went via lusrmgr.msc and enabled "Robert". A restart again brought up both accounts. Continuing via "Robert" brought the same result of my usual background and programme options, but no "Robert" user or documents. I can right click on users/ properties/ previous versions and see my documents saved from a couple of days ago, so I know that they are there somewhere.! So it is best that it tell you what I actually did to get myself into this pickle . I was searching for a file that I knew would be in the hidden folder "AppData ". When I right clicked on folder "user/Robert", then clicked "properties", I thought I saw an option that would allow me to see hidden files. I checked "attributes/hidden". That's when the damage was done. My computer churned away for about half an hour, then after that I could no longer see my user "Robert" or my documents. I realized that I had done something dumb, but it was too late. I assumed that I had simply hidden my user account, but it looks like it is something different to that. That is what I am trying to recover. I would really appreciate some guidance on how to do that. Thanks, Robert.

Doing a system restore sounded like a great idea. I certainly got excited when it appeared to be going through the restoring process. However, on restart, it claimed that it could not complete the restoration due to a file error. I did all the right things like disabling my anti-virus. I tried from several archived restore points, but with the same failed results. I have since created another user and loaded my backup files into it. But my original user is still there, and appears on the startup screen, opening with all the correct screens and programme settings. But when I go into c :/users/… my original username does not show, and I cannot access my documents. I know it is there, because if I try to create another user with the same name, it tells me that that already exists. Surely there must be some way to undo what I have done, without starting all over again with a new username and setup, and leaving the the old one lurking on my computer somewhere?? I really appreciate your help on this. A frustrating way to spend my Saturday on such a beautiful summer's day trying everything to solve this!

You have set the hidden attribute on your files. You somehow need to unhide the files. You might be able to go into folder options from the control panel to do this. Also try Windows Explorer and see if you can unhide from there. You might be able to shell to a command line and navigate to the file location(s) and type attrib -h

Also type attrib /?

I don't know for sure if Windows 7 still has the attribute command.

Details about the attribute command:

DOS Command: ATTRIB

Thanks guys. Problem now solved!

The difficulty that I was having in unchecking the " hidden" box that I had mistakenly checked in the first place, was that I could no longer see my user file in order to reverse that process. I finally realized through the combined advice of you all that I had to "show hidden files" before I could get to my user file to reverse my error. While I remain a little confused in understanding the difference between those two separate processes, I solved my problem by going through the steps below, which I have summarised for my own records. I used your very helpful " How to…" guides (4 of them), in order to learn how to undertake each process. When I was searching for a solution to this prior to joining up with your group, I noted that others had done the same thing and were a also seeking answers. Maybe this could become one of your " How to…" standing instructions.

Anyway, thanks heaps to you all for your great help and assistance in guiding me through this potential disaster. At least I learnt some new stuff as a result, and will also be a little more careful next time. I will remain a member and maintain a watch. Hopefully they will be something that I will be able to help someone with. I use windows 7 speech recognition exclusively, (this note has been written simply by talking to my computer), as I can no longer use a keyboard. It is fantastic. But it needs persistent & determined use in order to achieve a high level of operation. Maybe we could have a forum on this topic?

Anyway, thanks again and regards from the land of Oz. Another beautiful summer's day here in Melbourne, Australia.

Solution to accidentally hiding my user file.
1. Click “start”
2. Click “control panel”
3. If control panel is in “category” view, change to “small icons” view.
4. Click “folder options”
5. Select the “view” tab
6. Under “hidden files and folders”, change selection to “show hidden files, folders, and drives – ON”
7. Click “apply”, then “OK”
8. Open windows explorer, and click on “local disk C:”
9. Then click “users”, and you should now be able to see the user that you had previously hidden.
10. Right click on your user file
11. Click “properties”
12. At the bottom of the “general” tab, under attributes, you will see the box labelled “hidden”, that you ticked in the first place to bring about this disaster. UNTICK THAT BOX.
13. Click “apply” then “OK”. The process to unhide all files in this user will begin. You will watch the reverse of the lengthy process that you saw happening when you ticked this box in the first place. The whole thing will take close to an hour for the computer to complete.
14. Everything should now be restored. Restart computer to check. Then have a beer.
Robert.