Help me... My files have become Invisible

[manuajith]

I had used a program called free folder hide to hide some of my folders. While they were 'hidden' some error occured with the os and i had to reinstall windows xp(had to format c: drive). Now i dont see any option for making the folders visible. I have tried installing the program again, but it just doesnt show my previously hidden folders.Knowing that the data is still on the harddrive and there is no way to access it,... Please help me guys....

[Raccoon]

Where were these hidden folders located? Were they on C drive? If yes, how do you expect to access them now? By magik?

[dheeraj_kumar]

Yeah, If your hidden folders were in C drive, they were erased with the format... *poof* its not here!

[manuajith]

guys if it were on c, i wouldnt have asked this question, i know they would be gone. the files were on f drive.pls help

[manuajith]

no one here knws how to help me? does that mean my files are permanently gone?

[NucleusKore]

I was waiting for just that^. Boot with a Ubuntu live cd and see if you can find your folders. It automatically mounts the windows partitions and you will be able to access them from your Desktop.

[lywyre]

Try running chkdsk on f: . Also try listing the directories from a command prompt using F:\>dir /ah /as This lists all files and folders in the root that have hidden or system attribute set. You can remove the attribute using attrib -h -s <foldername>

[manuajith]

i am unable to find the folder using command prompt. its not showing in the list. how actually does software like these hide the files?
ill try using ubuntu.

[Faun]

why so serious ?

[paid]

you may install seperate Windows XP in another partition or use live CD. if the files hidden by registry modified by software you would be luckier to recover this way