'Show Hidden Files' has damaged windows 10

Hi
Last night due to email problems I needed to access some hidden files in appdata so I ticked 'show hidden files' , and left it running over night as it looked like it was going to take some time. This morning the files are still hidden, and on a restart my task bar has completely frozen, programs are crashing when I open them (photoshop, Firefox ) and generally Windows10 is unusable. I've tried to restore windows to an earlier point but when I finish the process it says it has failed, and no files have been changed.
Any idea on how trying to 'show hidden files' could have caused so much damage? And how can I get it all working again?
Frances

ok well that's seems to be what triggered it, my main concern is just to get things working again, I've read that virus checkers can stop Windows restore from working but I cannot uninstall my anti-virus because I cannot open control panel.

Yes it is the same in safe mode, I'm just running a SFC scan from safe mode now.

trans6 said:

I've tried to restore windows to an earlier point but when I finish the process it says it has failed, and no files have been changed.

The system restore failure is not due to anything you have done, there is a known problem...

Installing the January cumulative update for the Win10 Anniversary Update leaves System Restore useless on many systems

Windows 10 update KB 3213986 triggers System Restore error 0x80070091 | InfoWorld

...and a lengthy thread on possible ways round it here...
System Restore fails: AppxStaging %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApp 0x80070091
...though as the fixes mostly involve taking ownership of system folders and deleting/renaming them I'm leaving mine 'broken' and awaiting a fix from MS. In the mean time, restoring from a system image is the only practical option.

It is an unfortunate coincidence that this system restore problem surfaced at the time you needed system restore the most, but it wasn't anything you did - just bad timing.

Thanks for your help - yes I ran system restore and came across across that error and haven't had any luck restoring it. It looked like I moved or somehow damaged the files in my appdata folder last night when I tried to unhide that folder. When using another user profile everything works fine. In my own profile most of the programs show error files and the task bar is frozen. I'm at a loss of what to do, I've spent all day on this when I have deadlines approaching 😂 Do you think a repair install of Windows 10 would work?

trans6 said:

Do you think a repair install of Windows 10 would work?

That would be what I'd try next.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade

A repair install of Windows 10 will likely NOT work because it does not restore user files, only the Windows 10 system files. You need to move to a different user account and if the new/different user account is created as an administrator you can copy your data files from your old user account to your new one.

Thanks for your help I was about to do a repair install, but I will hold off. I have a lot of files under my old user name so this will be a big job, and I need to figure out the whole administrator thing because at the moment I can't even open the folders in my old account when I'm in the new one. Thanks again for your help.