>I want to delete all files is a user chosen dir. I use ADIR() to get a file listing and the command DELETE FILE .... to delete each file using a FOR ... NEXT loop.
>But this fails when it encounters a hidden file.

It fails because it can't "see" the file. You'll find that the FILE() function will also return false. What you need to do is to set re-set the hidden attribute so that it's no longer hidden. There's a utility in the files section (under Win32 and Other APIs) that you can download that will allow you to do this. I believe it was written by Hank Fay.