Unhide Program Data in root folder

Is it safe to "unhide" the Program Data folder in your windows installation root? I mean; right click, press "properties" and then untick the "hidden" option.

I've just done it, but got a warning saying it could not do it to all files.

Leave well alone it's set like that for a reason

Samuria said:

Leave well alone it's set like that for a reason

Yeah, but I have already done it...so have I messed something up?

MasterChief8810 said:

Yeah, but I have already done it...so have I messed something up?

Probably not - changing permissions or ownership would likely mess things up though. Don't do it!

The error message was because you probably took the default option to apply to this folder and subfolders - some of which you don't have permissions for. You'll get the same message if you try to hide it again.

RolandJS said:

My Windows 7 ProgramData has been unhid for years, however, I only poke around in it to learn what some programs have stored in there. Just me being nosy :)

The first thing I do on a new system is to set File Explorer to show extensions, hidden files and system folders. I can be nosey to my heart's content without the need to change anything.

RolandJS said:

My Windows 7 ProgramData has been unhid for years, however, I only poke around in it to learn what some programs have stored in there. Just me being nosy :)

Does that mean unhid like I did or have you just turned on the "show hidden folders and files"?

When you "hide" a file, it's not really hidden. It's just that it has its "hidden flag" set. That flag tells Windows Explorer not to display it.

You can unhide files and folders ... quite tedious. Or you can instead change your Windows Explorer options. Just tell Explorer that you want to see hidden files. They won't be hidden any more. Not any of them. And you don't have to change any file settings.

margrave55 said:

When you "hide" a file, it's not really hidden. It's just that it has its "hidden flag" set. That flag tells Windows Explorer not to display it.

You can unhide files and folders ... quite tedious. Or you can instead change your Windows Explorer options. Just tell Explorer that you want to see hidden files. They won't be hidden any more. Not any of them. And you don't have to change any file settings.

OK :)

So I guess I haven't done anything wrong or broken my system in any way then.

Thank you all for replying!