UNSOLVED
Where Are Start Menu Programs?
Hello All. I'm new here & need help. I've posted all over the web with this problem without much success. Problem started a week ago. Did an update for VirusScan without incident, as usual. I then attempted to open IE6 & got a quick flash of a black window & nothing more. Called Dell & tech had me do a SFC scannow... IE is fine. Now I cannot open certain start menu programs including system tools, Wordpad, some admin. tools & several games. Defrag & diskclean can be opened in help & support & used. Other programs can be opened in other ways as well, just not thru start menu. When I right click properties first thing I see is "This is not a valid shortcut." The icons for these programs are gone & in their place is a white file icon. I have did a assoc.lnk from command prompt & downloaded a shortcut fix & neither worked. I am not receiving error messages. People have suggested a reinstall. This is harsh. There has to be another way to fix this. This computer is only 8 months old. I have not installed any new hardware or software. I have plenty of disk space & no other problems. Any ideas or advice welcomed.
Thanks
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Posted November 12th, 2003 07:00
Thanks Denny, I'll try this & let you know how it goes.324
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Posted November 12th, 2003 08:00
Denny, tried your suggestion & it didn't work. Although something did happen. That quick flash of a black window I described in my first post when I attempted to open IE, well when I clicked on the shortcut for defragmenter the same thing occurred. I tried placing the shortcut in the all users folder as well, with the same results. This black window looks like a command prompt window, although it flashes so quickly I can't be sure. Anyway thanks for your help & I gladly welcome any other you might offer.
You asked about the properties target box... nothing there & all fields are voided as in unable to edit.
Message Edited by felidae on 11-12-2003 04:40 AM
Message Edited by felidae on 11-12-2003 04:42 AM
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Posted November 12th, 2003 13:00
Have you tried using System Restore to revert to a time before the problem occured? (Start / All Programs / Accesories / System Tools / System Restore).
If you're not familiar with this feature, search "Help & Support" for System Restore to find out more. With luck & a following wind, this should put you back to where you were.
Good luck...........
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Posted November 12th, 2003 14:00
Since you installed an Update for Virus Scan before this happened, you should look to McAfee for some clues if Restore doesn't work. Just a quick question--when you ran SFC /scannow did you run it using this command:
SFC /scannow
Note the space after sfc and before the slash. If all else fails, a reinstall of XP can be done right over the old installation and you won't lose any data or settings. This sometimes is the best method of dealing with a problem like this. No use tearing your hair out. Backup your important personal files before you reinstall, just in case.
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Posted November 12th, 2003 17:00
i think that you have a destructive trojan.. it could be something else like a harddrive failure, but reformatting will let you know if it is a hardware problem or a software problem. there are instructions in dell support/solutions/reinstall guide: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,8347537~root=security,1~mode=flat
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Posted November 12th, 2003 18:00
Thanks to all for your ideas. I forgot to mention this, when the Dell tech had me do a sfc scan, he told me to turn off SR. All my restore points are after the problem began. I have up to date virus protection & I even did a scan at Trendmicro. No infection. As for the SFC scan, when tech had me do this, all letters were lower-case. Does this make a difference? My computer came with WinXP already installed. I've heard reinstallation horror stories. Am I over reacting?
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Posted November 12th, 2003 19:00
felidae,
Yes, you are overreacting. Reinstalling XP is very straightforward and much easier than with earlier Microsoft operating systems. If you click the Solutions tab above the forum and make sure that your system is identified in the left pane you can click on a Reinstall Guide link at the top of the page and access full instructions for reinstalling Windows XP and all your drivers.
Before you reinstall you should back up all your perishable data to removable media (probably CD). This includes email messages, address book, any documents you have created, Internet Favorites, and anything else that is not already on CD. You don't need to back up your applications because they will have to be reinstalled from CD after the installation.
There is no difference to Windows whether you enter SFC /SCANNOW or sfc /scannow, so that would not have contributed to the problem.
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Posted November 12th, 2003 21:00
Denny, a reinstall does appear to be my only option at this time, but theres a glitch... one of those programs I can't open is Roxio CD Creator. How else to backup data? I don't mean to complain, but Dell's instructions for reinstall are all over the place. Why not a one stop guide, instead of all those links? I am so confused. I have a Reinstallation CD with a Dell Tools & Dell Resource CD's as well as various other reinstallation cd's, not a Operating System CD. The Reinstallation CD wasn't mentioned in solutions. I may be brain damaged......... I should take a break from all this, but I'm determined to correct this, even if it means my sanity.127
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Posted November 12th, 2003 21:00
felidae,
Go to Help and Support and search on "copy file to CD." Windows XP has a built-in function for copying your files, so you don't need Roxio.
Dell provides directions for a reinstall of XP but I prefer the ones here. The XP CD used is the one you have labeled "Reinstallation CD." The main thing to be certain of is that you have your CD-ROM drive set as the first boot device in BIOS. After that, boot with the XP CD in the drive and follow the steps in the reference I linked to. Delete your existing C:\ partition at Step #5 then create a new one (or more, if you desire) from the unpartitioned space, format with NTFS (Quick Format) and let the installation continue. As far as driver installation goes, the chipset drivers must be installed first after which the order is not important.
The most trying part of the procedure is backing up your data. The isntallation itself will take no more than two hours (including drivers and applications).
Message Edited by Denny Denham on 11-12-2003 03:42 PM
Denny Denham
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18798 Posts
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Posted November 12th, 2003 04:00
Go into Start|All Programs. Find one of the programs that is not responding. Right-click it and select "Properties" from the context menu. See what is listed in the "Target" box. To use one of your examples, Wordpad should have (including the quotation marks) "C:\Program Files\WindowsNT\Accessories\wordpad.exe".
If the only problem is with the shortcut targets they can readily be edited. But apparently you are unable to display a properties screen for some or all of them. You can create new shortcuts to the programs that are balky and drag them into the C:\Documents and Settings\ username\Start Menu\Programs file. Find the program's executable file in Windows Explorer. Right-click and select "Create shortcut." Right-click the new shortcut and select "Cut." Go to the Start Menu\Programs folder, right-click the appropriate subfolder and select "Paste."
Message Edited by Denny Denham on 11-11-2003 10:50 PM
Message Edited by Denny Denham on 11-11-2003 11:13 PM