Urgent: Control Panel (Program Not Responding)

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G

Guest

My Control Panel is GONE! When I try to access my Control Panel
(Start.....Control Panel) the message in the status bar says "Searching", but
nothing is displayed. Then, as it is searching, and I try to access a menu
command such as "Help" the program says "Not Reponding". I have also tried to
access the control panel indirectly, but receive the same message. I receive
the same error message regardless if I have zero or 5 programs running.

The error message I received when I "End Task" is always the same:

szAppName: explorer.exe szAppVer:6.0.2900.2180 szModName: hungapp
szModVer: 0.0.0.0 offset:00000000

The "technical information" associated with the message is:

The following files will be included in this error report:
c:\DOCUME~1\OWNER\LOCALS~1|TEMP\WER($e5.dir00\explorer.exe.mdmp
c:\DOCUME~1\OWNER\LOCALS~1|TEMP\WER($e5.dir00\appcompat.txt

Can someone please tell what's wrong and what I can to do to get back the
Control Panel functionality?

Thanks one and all!
 
First, be sure your antivirus software has the latest definitions and run a
virus scan.

Second, download, install and run Ad Aware:
www.lavasoftusa.com

If this is a relatively recent issue, you might try using System Restore to
take you back to a time when this worked properly. Start\All
Programs\Accessories\System Tools\System Restore. If that doesn't resolve
it, try the information below.

The following assumes you have an actual XP CD as opposed to a restore CD or
restore partition supplied by your PC manufacturer.

Go to Start, type sfc /scannow in the run box and press enter. Note, there
is a space between sfc and the forward slash. You will be asked for your XP
CD. Be aware, upon inserting the CD the XP setup screen may appear, this is
not a part of sfc /scannow, rather it is being invoked by autorun. Simply
minimize the screen and allow sfc to continue.

If the above fails to resolve the issue, try a repair install as follows:

Be sure you are well backed up in case there is a problem from which you are
unable to recover. NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data
files intact, if something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be
forced to start over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your
data backed up, you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, boot with the XP
CD in the drive. If it isn't or you are not sure, you need to enter the
system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter setup press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

Boot from the CD. If your system is set to be able to boot from the CD, it
should detect the disk and give a brief message, during the boot up, if you
wish to boot from the CD press any key.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.
 
Mike.....Thank you! I don't know "when" or "why" it happened. All other
programs work fine. I don't have an XP Disk as the software came bundled with
the PC. I will try your system restore idea after I run a virus scan and
adware scan.
 
You're welcome. Also, you might try running sfc /scannow as specified and
see what happens. If it asks for the CD, look for an I386 subfolder of
Windows, it may have the setup files and you might be able to direct sfc
/scannow to that location.
 
Mike,
Las night when I sat down to execute your instructions, I discovered I did
not do a good job of defining my issue.....(call it a New Years brain fart!).
I CAN get into the Control Panel screen, I just can't access the Appearance &
Themes Category....THIS is the category that throws the program into a Not
Responding mode when I click on it. All other categories work well.

Does this change your directions for a "fix".....sorry about the screwup!

Thanks,
Rich
 
Not really but here are some additional things you can do before resorting
to a repair install mentioned in my original post:

Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event Viewer, look for
errors corresponding to the crash, double click the error, the information
contained within may give a clue as to the
source of the problem.

Check for the latest drivers for your hardware, especially your graphics
card and soundcard and all peripherals connected to your system. No not use
Windows Update for this, go to the device manufacturer's web sites and if
you install updated drivers, ignore the message about drivers being unsigned
by Microsoft.
 
Hi Mike.....I got in contact w/ HP Support. After 3 hrs, we finally found the
issue. Of course this came after running a virus scan and spyware removal,
which I said I had already done. Oh, and of course we deleted all cookies,
temp files, etc. The last 2 steps finally resolved the issue. Here is a copy
of the text:

Kumarasamy L: (01/04/2005 09:43:10 PM) Okay fine, could you please follow
the steps
1. Click Start, then Run and type sfc /scannow (Note: There is a space
between sfc and scannow) in the Open: field, and then click OK.
2.Restart the Computer.


Kumarasamy L: (01/04/2005 10:22:33 PM) Now please perform the below given
instructions which involves editing registry. Use the following steps to
create a backup of the windows registry. This backup can be used to restore
Windows back to the way it was if something goes wrong while editing the
registry.
1. Click Start, Run, and type the following into the Open field: regedit
2. Click OK. The Registry Editor window appears.
3. Select My Computer in the left window, click File, and then Export.
4. Type a name for the backup file into the File Name field. A good name is
one that includes a date in a number, hyphen, number format (for example,
regbackup_02-25).
5. Click Save to save the backup file to the default folder, usually My
Documents.

The backup can take some time before it completes. Wait until the Registry
Editor window displays the registry information before attempting to
continue.
1. Click Start
2. Run -> type REGEDIT
3. Click the plus(+) sign beside "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE"
4. Click the plus(+) sign beside SOFTWARE
5. Click the plus(+) sign beside Microsoft
6. Click the plus(+) sign beside Windows
7. Click the plus(+) sign beside CurrentVersion
8. Click the plus(+) sign beside Explorer
9. Select Browser Helper Objects
10. Delete Browser Helper Objects key using the delete key on the keyboard
11. Close the registry
12. Restart the system

Kumarasamy L: (01/04/2005 10:44:47 PM) Browser helper objects are Component
Object Model (COM) components that Explorer loads whenever it starts. These
objects run in the same memory context as the browser and they can perform
any action on the available windows and modules. So any corrupt objects will
cause the Explorer window to not functions correctly.After deleting the
Browser helper objects they will be created freshly.

PROBLEM WAS RESOLVED
 
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