Missing Windows components in XP

Question

Hi,

I recently bought a Dell 5150 notebook that came with Widows XP Home Edition. This is my first experience with XP - my desktop still uses 98 - so I'm something of a novice with it.

Anyway, after playing around with it for a couple weeks I've noticed something odd...several of the Windows components that are supposed to be there seem to be missing. WordPad, Sound Recorder, Volume Control, HyperTerminal, and the Pinball game are all missing. And by that I don't mean I can't find them, I mean they aren't there! For example, when I type "wordpad" at the Run line, I get an error message that says "Windows cannot find WordPad". And when I click the box in the Control Panel audio and sounds module that says "Place volume icon on the taskbar" I get an error message that says "The volume control program has not been installed". Same for the other accessory-type programs I mentioned above...they aren't installed.

Here's the weird thing: when I go to Add/Remove Programs, and then Add/Remove Windows Components, in the list that opens up of Windows components to add or remove, none of the missing programs are listed as a choice! I even inserted the XP reinstallation CD, and ran the Add/Remove Windows Components from there, but again, none of these components is listed as a choice.

I did a search in this forum, and found a couple messages from other people who apparently have missing components in their XP installation, particularly WordPad, but I haven't found any solutions. Has anybody figured out what's going on, and how to fix the problem?

Thanks,

Allen

Denny Denham · Answer

allenwal,

For the sound volume problem, see this. For the other missing items see if System File Checker will restore them. Go to Start|Run, type sfc /scannow (space after "sfc") adn click OK. You will be prompted to insert your XP Reinstallation CD.

allenwal · Answer

Denny,

Thanks, the tip for restoring the sound volume icon worked, but running the system file checker didn't help restore the other missing accessories. I noticed on your web site that there was a little tweak called "inf.reg", which restores Windows' ability to launch the install routine for a program by right-clicking on the inf file and clicking Install. This intrigues me, because one thing I noticed about XP is that you can't do that (at least not on my install). When you right-click on an inf file and click Install, nothing happens. On my desktop computer (running ME) doing that launches the install routine for the associated program.

So tell me, does "inf.reg" work with XP? It doesn't have the XP icon next to it, so I'm not sure. I'd like to try it out (but not if it isn't for XP), because all of the compressed files for the missing programs are on my hard disk in the i386 subfolder. If I can get the install routine to run by clicking on the inf files, maybe I can install the missing programs that way.

Thanks again,

Allen

gryjhnhpe · Answer

allenwal wrote: ....Here's the weird thing: when I go to Add/Remove Programs, and then Add/Remove Windows Components, in the list that opens up of Windows components to add or remove, none of the missing programs are listed as a choice! I even inserted the XP reinstallation CD, and ran the Add/Remove Windows Components from there, but again, none of these components is listed as a choice.

Not sure why the Add/Remove Windows Components when run from XP CD shows the same as installed.
Perhaps it also used the installed Program to check what hasn't been installed.

Anyway you could just do a Windows Repair from boot of XP CD.
1st set BIOS to boot from CD-ROM as 1st choice , by pressing "F2" (sometimes the "Del") key at startup to enter Setup.
Re-start Computer & start Install by pressing the "Enter" key then select the next R option when it is displayed.
Don't select the 1st R for Recovery Console.
Windows Repair leaves the installed Programs & Data intact but you will have to download the Windows Updates again including SP1a if the XP CD label doesn't show it contains it.
Remember to Enable a Firewall like the XP Firewall before going on-line to protect from the Blaster Worm / Sasser viruses etc.

Denny Denham · Answer

allenwal,

Since SFC didn't do the trick, you can do it by brute force. Use the expand command. Go to Start|Run, type cmd and click OK. At the command prompt enter the following (substitute the letter of your CD-ROM drive for X) and press after each one:

For Sound Recorder enter

expand x:\i386\sndrec32.ex_ C:\%SytemRoot%\System32\sndrec32.exe

For wordpad, change sndrec32.ex_ to wordpad.ex_ and change the target to C:\Program Files\WindowsNT\Accessories\wordpad.exe

For Hyperterminal change the filename to hypertrm.ex_ and the target to c:\Program Files\Windows NT\hypertrm.exe

For Pinball change the filename to PINBALL.EX_ and change the target to C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Pinball\PINBALL.EXE

(Note that there is a space after "expand" and after the "ex_" in each case.)

After each entry you should see a report of successful completion of the installation. After the programs are installed, you can create shortcuts to them and drag the shortcuts to the appropriate locations in All Programs to make it easier to access them.

Message Edited by Denny Denham on 05-14-2004 08:04 PM

allenwal · Answer

For those who are curious, I found the solution to this problem in another forum. Basically, it involves removing the "HIDE" references from the c:\windows\inf\sysoc.inf file (why those HIDE references are even there is another question). Once that's done, all the "missing" programs in the ADD/REMOVE WINDOWS COMPONENTS module will reappear.

All the details can be found in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

KB223182 - Adding Optional Components to Add/Remove Programs Tool
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=223182

Thanks to all those who took the time to help me out.

Allen

Windows General

Missing Windows components in XP

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