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I am the administrator of my sole home computer. Suddenly, I cannot open
control panel from my screen. However, when I switch to the other user's
screen I can access the control panel from there. Can anyone help me to get
access to the control panel without switching to another user who uses the
computer less than I. Thank you.
Quote John Inzer:
If you have Nero InCD installed...the following
article may be useful:
(936686) Icons are missing from Control Panel,
or you cannot start Control Panel, the Welcome
Center, or games in Windows Vista
I'm having the same problem this morning after migrating applications from my
XP box to the new Vista box. Uninstalled roxio and uninstalled all hotfixes
installed today, to no avial. No, I don't have Nero InCD. The orig Admin
account is the one having issues, the other Admin account and User account
are fine.
Anyone have other suggestions? (and yes I am going through the rather large
CBS log from command line checking... 99% checked, some files corrupted but
unable to be fixed, trying currently to go through the logs to find the files
but it's taking forever...)
Hi Kim--
Why not try to fix Vista?
***SFC as a Remedy***:
SFC or System File Checker is a bit like the spare tire in your car or a
backup battery I suppose. In Vista of course, they have changed it somewhat
and come up with a new name--Redmond stands for name it something different
twice a year and now it's part of WRP or Windows Resource Protection. It
scans protected resources including thousands of files, libraries, critical
folders, and essential registry keys, and it replaces those that are
corrupted with intact ones. It fixes a lot of problems in Windows XP, OE,
Windows Vista, Win Mail, IE6, and on Vista or if it is installed on XP, IE7.
It protects these things from changes by any source including
administrators, by keeping a spare of most of them.
How to Run SFC:
Type "cmd" into the Search box above the Start Button>and when cmd comes up
at the top of the Start menu>right click cmd and click "run as Admin" and
when the cmd prompt comes up at the cmd prompt type "sfc /scannow" no quotes
and let it run. This may fix things quite a bit. It replaces corrupt files
with intact ones, if you're not familiar with it.
***Startup Repair from the Vista DVD***
How to Use The Vista DVD to Repair Vista (Startup Repair is misnamed by the
Win RE team and it can be used to fix many Vista components even when you
***can boot to Vista):
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
If you elect to run Startup repair from the Vista DVD (it can fix major
components in Vista--I've verified this many many times; it's good for more
than startup problems, and the Win RE team simply screwed up when they named
it not understanding its full functionality):
Startup Repair will look like this when you put in the Vista DVD:
http://www.vistaclues.com/wp-content...r-computer.png
You run the startup repair tool this way (and system restore from here is
also sometimes effective):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us
How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
It will automatically take you to this on your screen:
http://www.vistaclues.com/wp-content...r-computer.png
That will allow you to go to the Vista setup that has a Repair link on
thelower left corner>click it and then you'll see a gray backgrounded list
and I want you to click Startup Repair from it and follow the directions.
The gray screen after you click the first link in the above pic will look
like this:
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winv...ir/Image17.gif
Click Startup Repair, the link at the top and after it scans>click OK and
let it try to repair Vista. It will tell you if it does, and if it
doesn't, try System Restore from the Recovery Link on the DVD. If these
don't work booting into Safe Mode by tapping the F8 key and using System
Restore from one of the safe modes besides VGA may work. That means you
have the option to try 4 different safe modes to get to system restore, (one
from the Recovery link on the DVD) and sometimes one will work when the
others won't.
You could also try a Repair Install with Vista which is done exactly the
same way as in XP:
***Repair Install Steps*** (can be used for Vista) MVP Doug Knox
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...ps/doug92.mspx
***Repair Install Steps*** (can be used for Vista) MVP Doug Knox
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...ps/doug92.mspx
Repair Install (Method 2 in this link):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/315341
In addition you can use the Bootsect tool to manually repair the boot sector
by accessing the command prompt from the DVD or from F8 and typing at the
prompt:
Bootsect.exe is available from the \Boot\folder of the Windows Vista DVD and
can be run from within System Recovery or Windows XP on a dual boot.
1. Use Bootsect.exe to restore the Windows Vista MBR and the boot code that
transfers control to the Windows Boot Manager program. To do this, type the
following command at a command prompt: Drive:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All
In this command, Drive is the drive where the Windows Vista installation
media is located.
Note The boot folder for this step is on the DVD drive.
2. Use Bcdedit.exe to manually create an entry in the BCD Boot.ini file for
the earlier version of the Windows operating system. To do this, type the
following commands at a command prompt.
Note In these commands, Drive is the drive where Windows Vista is
installed. • Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /create {ntldr} –d "Description
for earlier Windows version"
Note In this command, Description for earlier Windows version can be any
text that you want. For example, Description for earlier Windows version can
be "Windows XP" or "Windows Server 2003".
• Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=x:
Note In this command, x: is the drive letter for the active partition.
• Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
• Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} –addlast
3. Restart the computer.
____________________________
******Using the BootRec.exe Tool
Using the System Recovery Tool from the Repair link on the DVD after the
language choice in the lower left hand corner you can select command prompt
and you have the following options:
Bootrec.exe (You can use this tool to recover Vista even when you do not
receive the error message that is the title of the 2nd linked MSKB below):
How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to
troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-us
Error message when you start Windows Vista: "The Windows Boot Configuration
Data file is missing required information"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927391/en-us
Good luck,
yes, sfc /scannow was what gave me my CBS logfile. done that. and going
to 'system protection' then 'repair' said there was nothing to fix. I do
not have an original vista disk, my system came with a recovery disk -
meaning I can reinstall the dozen what they consider key applications, or do
a factory re-install.
I had a system recovery point and backup of the registry. Unfortunately,
the registry repair assistant program then reboot said it fixed things but
now I can't find the reg backup and have no system restore points.
ARRRRRGGGHHH!!! I am now faced with going back to factory reinstall unless
I can fix the admin account. Reminder the original administrative account is
the one with problems, the other admin account (used to migrate apps/files
from the old xp laptop) is fine and other general user accounts are fine. I
really don't want to re-factory-ize it if the other accounts work OK. And
I'm leery of just going line by line regedit in the affected account.
Other suggestions? Yes, if I had a full vista install disk REPAIR fixes
most things, but I've only got a recovery disk... (it's vista home premium
on a Toshiba x205-SLI1.... the laptop is niiiiiice, now if I can only whack
Vista into shape...)
I have similar problem. I think I deleted some files which i think is
infected with virus. After that, control panel cannot be opened. Each time i
open, it says "windows explorer has stopped working".
I have tried the SFC, it's no use. My vista DVD does not have the repair
option either.