m4a files keep degrading

[Canis]

I seem to be in a pickle. System32 is hidden despite the fact that I have the appropriate boxes checked or unchecked as the case might be in Folder Options. I tried resetting it with the command prompt (attrib -h -s -r c:\windows\system32) with no change.

Is there another way around this without reinstalling Windows? (Which I might do anyway.)