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I saw it before on a computer at school but sadly I failed to find out how to achieve it.

I want to make Windows Explorer read the Registry changes I made instantly without needing to re-log in or killing the explorer.exe process then start it again. I saw it at a unit at school before, one of the teacher was asking us how to show the hidden Folder Options in Windows Explorer via the Registry. I tweaked the registry and was about to log out when I noticed that the changes I made already took effect instantly and that Folder Options was already shown even before Windows Explorer was restarted.

Now I have a problem wherein I want to have that same setup on my own computer. As I said, I failed to investigate what tweak was on the unit at school that made it read the tweaks instantly.

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this is the default behaviour isn't it? I notice registry changes immediately upon making the edit using regedit, I don't have to log out and in again. Unless something is being cached... – Sam Holder Oct 28 '10 at 9:31
Most registry changes take effect immediately, some do require a reboot, log off or explorer restart. – Moab Oct 28 '10 at 16:35
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Very easy. All you need to do is to create a .reg file, double click it and the change is effective immediately.

Copy the following to a text editor and save the file as ShowHiddenFiles.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL]
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001

A CheckedValueof 2 hides hidden files, a checked value of 1 shows them.

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Umm I don't think that's related to my question though... – Registered User Oct 28 '10 at 8:45
"want to make Windows Explorer read the Registry changes I made instantly without needing to re-log" - use a reg file. "hidden Folder Options" and " - "I want to have that same setup" use the provided settings I gave you. If I have misunderstood your question, please make me understand it. – moontear Oct 28 '10 at 8:48
Oh I got what you were trying to explina, but I didn't use a reg file before. I edited it directly at the Registry Edtior. There must be some kind of tweak on the registry to make Windows Explorer act that way besides using Reg files.... – Registered User Oct 28 '10 at 8:54
make Windows Explorer act WHAT way? show hidden files? Besides using the .reg file you can also start regedit.exe and navigate to the path you see above (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software...), double click "CheckedValue" and change the Value data to 1 -essentially that is the same the .reg file does, just manually. – moontear Oct 28 '10 at 9:04
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