Windows Explorer & Microsoft Account issues.

Hey, all.

Basically, the "Hide protected operating system files" option in Windows Explorer breaks when signing-in to a Microsoft Account [when it is unchecked, it checks itself automatically & vice-versa; reverting to a local account does not fix it; if an account is purely a local one, i.e. the local account was never turned into a Microsoft Account, the problem never happens]. Why does this happen? I've gone through 2 clean Windows installs & the problem has always happened when I signed-in to my Microsoft Account [during the OOBE, I first create a local account, then I sign-in to my Microsoft Account; I have done this on both installs]. I initially thought I broke something by messing with the Registry, so I went around changing registry settings to their defaults, uninstalling software etc. [did not fix the problem]. This is a per-user problem, not a machine-wide problem. I created a new local account - "Test" & signed-in to it; "Hide protected operating system files" worked without issues. Then I signed-in to my Microsoft Account, restarted & "Hide protected operating system files" broke.

Edition: Windows 10 Pro

Version: 20H2

OS build: 19042.804

Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0

""Hide protected operating system files" broke"
What's the error message?

jmatt said:

""Hide protected operating system files" broke"
What's the error message?

There are no errors. When I go to hide the files, they do not hide & vice-versa. Setting the registry entry for "Show protected operating system files" manually (ShowSuperHidden) works every time. I have tried everything:

Ran every variant of SFC & DISM. No issues were found.

Swapping "C:\Windows\explorer.exe" with another version (taken from a Windows 10 20H2 installation USB). Did not work.

Scanning for Malware using Defender & Malwarebytes. Nothing was found.

I am stumped.

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Try3 said:

Show protected operating system files is not the same thing as ShowSuperHidden

I wonder if the problem would have appeared before you had done any of those post-installation customisations. Denis

I doubt the tweaks have anything to do with the issue. I have reinstalled Windows 10 yesterday, applied all the tweaks that I usually apply when reinstalling Windows 10 on my machine (things like disabling Cortana, uninstalling unnecessary UWP apps - both through Settings & PowerShell etc.) & I haven't noticed the issue at all. I am on a local account (never signed-in to my Microsoft Account). I'm going to make a Windows 10 VM & sign-in to my Microsoft Account to see if the issue really occurs because of Microsoft Accounts (not going to tweak the VM in any way; I'm immediately going to sign-in to my Microsoft Account after going through the OOBE).

- - - Updated - - -

Here's a screenshot of how it's supposed to behave normally:

Try3 said:

That Registry key does not exist in a normal system. You have created it. It is not related to setting or unsetting Show protected operating system files

Denis

I'm pretty sure "ShowSuperHidden" exists on a normal system. And it's related to "Hide protected operating system files", not "Show protected operating system files". I messed up the wording of the option. Sorry.

Alright, so I set up a fresh Windows 10 20H2 x64 VM using VMware Workstation 16.1 Pro & this ISO:

NAME: Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso
SHA1: 69A1739609C1059FDD2E0688891BF59A78413C6B

Install completed without issues. During the OOBE, I created a local account. "Hide protected operating system files" worked without any issues. I installed VMware Tools, rebooted, signed-in to my Microsoft Account, restarted twice & "Hide protected operating system files" broke. So, this is definitely a Microsoft Account problem. But, why does this happen in the first place? Here's a screenshot of the broken behaviour: