I have a three month old Dell Dimension 3000 PC runing Windows Media
Center edition. I have Microsoft anti-spyware and third party
antivirus software running, and the PC is clean. The computer works
perfectly except when I go to the "add/remove programs menu" it only
goes to about the letter "E", then the other programs are not listed.
If I sort by "size" or "frequency of access," I'll only see the first
few programs listed, but not the complete list. As I said, the
computer works perfectly aside from this. I have very few third party
apps installed, and this has happened twice on the same PC despite
complete refresh of the OS. Ideas? |
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
03 Jul 2005 20:50 PDT
kierkegaard...
My first thought is that you may not be giving the page enough
time to completely load. When the page is completely loaded, it
will finish by highlighting the very first program at the top of
the list, which expands/enlarges the listing somewhat. If the
page is not completely loaded, you will see a partial listing
and even be able to scroll partway down, but the list will not
be complete.
On my system, I have a large number of programs being listed
in that window, and it can take 15 seconds or more for the
page to fully load.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
kierkegaard-ga
on
03 Jul 2005 22:45 PDT
Hi there- thanks for the quick reply. I left it running for a full ten
minutes and it remains stuck (this time on the letter "D") - after
that letter there is a very large blank space which I can select, but
there are no further programs listed. I'll leave it on all night just
to see if anything happens...
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Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
03 Jul 2005 23:23 PDT
Sounds like a plan, though I have little hope for that approach.
If it works, though, the one thing that'll assure you that the
page is fully loaded is the automatic selection and highlighting
of the top entry.
I had a similar problem with this page not loading in Windows 2000.
The entries wouldn't load at all, and it just hung on a blank page.
I searched files, the registry, and everywhere else looking for the
origin of this page, and never found it. It seems to be some sort
of .hta page that is generated on the spot. I ended up giving up
and, some weeks later, it started working again, seemingly all on
its own.
sublime1-ga
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Clarification of Question by
kierkegaard-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 09:13 PDT
Thanks. I suppose one possible solution might be to remove the
add/remove programs program itself and then reinstall it! But I have
no idea how to do this... however, if someone does I'd consider that
an "answer" to the question!
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 15:02 PDT
kierkegaard...
I take it the overnight test didn't succeed.
The Add/Remove Programs file is appwiz.cpl and is opened by
Control Panel, through some mysterious process. Its location:
C:\Windows\system32
There may also be a backed-up copy in:
C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386
Or, you might try replacing it with the file from your
installation CD, though, if you've applied Service Packs,
that one may be outdated for your present installation.
Still, it might work anyway, as a last resort.
You can always run a search on your C: drive for the
appwiz.cpl file, and see what other copies you can find,
and compare their size and date with the one in system32.
It's remotely possible that the active copy in system32 got
corrupted, and replacing it with the backup will fix the
problem. Then again, maybe not.
From looking at the program in Notepad, it seems that it
creates an .hta page (a Windows .htm page) based on a
javascript script, so it might be somehow helpful if
javascript is enabled in Internet Explorer.
It might also be necessary that you are signed in under
a username which has Administrative rights. You can
check this by right-clicking the My Computer icon and
looking on the User Profiles tab. You might also try
logging out and signing in as the Administator, rather
than one of the usernames which has administrative
priveleges. And, finally, along the same lines, you
might try creating a new username with administrative
priveleges and sign in under that username. If you can
get the appwiz to work under that username, it may
effectively repair it for all usernames, but this is
just an educated guess.
That should keep you busy for awhile, while I look for
other possibilities.
As always, let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 15:35 PDT
Some further searching verified that appwiz.cpl depends
on IE, and may stop working if IE is uninstalled. Did
you make any recent changes to IE that might have had
an influence on the functioning of appwiz?
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Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 15:51 PDT
There's also some indication that a change in the Windows Theme
might have some effect on appwiz. I'm not familiar with Windows
Media Center edition, but have you made any changes to your
Windows Theme lately?
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 16:04 PDT
Another thread I found indicates that Add/Remove Programs
stopped working on an XP Media installation after AOL was
removed from the system. No solution was given.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 16:26 PDT
Another possible fix I found suggests that you might have a
large white space in the appwiz display window, but if you
scroll down (after it's completely loaded), you will find
that there are other programs listed under the white space:
http://forum.iamnotageek.com/t-570994.html
The fix for this, from Kelly's Korner, isolates the registry
entries for the Add/Remove Programs window, at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
It suggests that the white space is caused by a sub-entry of
that registry folder in which the program has an entry for
Display Icon which contains a negative number for the icon:
"C:\Program Files\Logitech\IM Video Companion\VideoIM.exe",-1
for example. Not all programs will have a Display Icon entry,
so it might not take too long to find the one that does. The
icon number should be a positive number, so just eliminating
the negative sign should work, or, if not, you could just
delete the Display Icon entry for that program. The rest of
the information should still load.
If your display does not have a large white space, followed
by other programs, but is rather a situation where the page
simply stops loading, this may not apply.
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Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 16:28 PDT
I meant to add the link for the Kelly's Korner fix:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_a.htm#ws
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Clarification of Question by
kierkegaard-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 22:22 PDT
Wow! Thanks for all your responses... I'm recovering from a July 4th
party but I will revisit this tomorrow and let you know... either way
I consider this an answer but I'm not sure how to tell GOogle that...
|
Clarification of Question by
kierkegaard-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 22:23 PDT
By the way, you are right I removed AOL!! Unfortunately I suppose that
putting AOL back won't help....
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jul 2005 22:30 PDT
Hi again...
It becomes an answer when I post something in the official Answer
space, rather than as a Clarification. Sometimes, when researchers
are troubleshooting vague or tricky computer problems, we prefer
to post possibilities and give you a chance to check them out
rather than posting an official answer which might turn out to
be completely off-base.
Let me now see if there's more to be found specifically about the
AOL problem.
sublime1-ga
|
kierkegaard...
I'll go ahead and post here, since you've indicated satisfaction
with what I've posted up to now, and since you've confirmed that
you uninstalled AOL, which narrows the field of possibilities.
Kelly herself, of Kelly's Korner, responded to a post about this
specific problem on the IamNotaGeek microsoft.public.windowsxp.
help_and_support forum:
"Do you also have Auto-Cad installed as well? If so, see line 226
(right hand side)"
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
"If not, more info:"
"Troubleshooting, Removing and/or Cleaning Add or Remove Programs"
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_a.htm#addremove
"Add or Remove Edits: Lines 188, 208 (right hand side) and 323:"
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
From:
http://forum.iamnotageek.com/archive/index.php/t-560069.html
This dialog on the Experts Exchange Forum suggests that the
problem may stem from a corrupted installation of Microsoft
Internet Explorer. Other posts I've read suggest that the
process of uninstalling AOL may have a negative effect on
the functioning of IE, on which Add/Remove Programs depends,
as I noted earlier. A Microsoft Knowledge Base Article about
IE and Add/Remove Programs can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;265829
You can download and re-install IE6 SP1 from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/ie6sp1/default.mspx
The Experts Exchange Forum page on which this solved the
problem:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win2000/Q_21005038.html
Here's the link about the "white space" I metioned before,
along with the link to the Kelly's Korner solution:
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-122950.php
Do let me know what works, or if nothing does. My bet would
be on the IE re-install, and I'd try that first.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google search outlined below.
Productive searches done, via Google:
"Add/Remove Programs doesn't" AOL
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Add%2FRemove+Programs+doesn%27t%22+AOL |
Request for Answer Clarification by
kierkegaard-ga
on
05 Jul 2005 18:01 PDT
Thanks for all your help... I think we're almost there but it just
gets more complicated... the computer won't let me install IE SP1
because I "have a newer version installed." I found a reference on the
Microsoft knowledge base suggesting changing the registry key
IsInstalled in a particular registry key (I can give it to you if you
want) from 1 to 0, but that didn't work... so I can't figure out how
to reinstall IE!
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
05 Jul 2005 20:02 PDT
Hi kierkegaard...
I've been out and about this afternoon, so I've come back to
the confusion of your last Request for Clarification plus the
rating comment with no timestamp, which seems to indicate that
the RFC about reinstalling IE was posted earlier, followed by
the rating comment which indicates you solved the problem with
the "white space" solution.
Am I right in assuming that you no longer need to reinstall IE,
and that Add/Remove Programs is now working fine?
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
kierkegaard-ga
on
05 Jul 2005 20:49 PDT
Yes you are correct - no need to reinstall IE, the registry fix
solution was all that was needed. Thanks so much for your help. (I did
post another question on another, unrelated topic if you want to take
a crack at it though!!) Nice work.
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Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
05 Jul 2005 21:21 PDT
I'm glad to hear it's all resolved. Thanks very much for the
rating and the tip!
sublime1-ga
|
