i just thought i would share this with yall, in case you guys run into the same problem as i did.
if you want to change the file attribute of something, say from hidden to unhidden, just follow these steps.

open up cmd (in vista, just type cmd into the start search)
Attrib [drive letter]:\[folder name]
(example, Attrib C:\MyDocuments)
next should popup a bunch of properties that the folder can have, S or H or R. those stand for share, hidden, read only.
if you want to make that specific folder unhidden, then simply type
Attrib -h C:\MyDocuments
if you want to hide it, replace the - with a +

i found all of this and more from this online book
Windows Administration at the ... - Google Book Search