[Saxon]

If MSPAINT stops working for some reason this hack deletes the Registry key and Windows rebuilds it on a reboot. MSPAINT then works in 90% of cases. This has to be applied for each user on a computer if there is more than one. No need to be logged on as Administrator for this hack.
Select and copy the text between the dotted lines. Paste into Notepad and save to the Desktop as FixPaint.txt. Right click on this file and Rename as FixPaint.reg, Double click on the file to add to the Registry.

------------------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint]

-------------------------------------------------

Sometimes this Registry key is missing completely and is not rebuilt. In this case select and copy the Registry keys after the dotted line below all at once and save into Notepad and follow intructions as given above: -

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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\C olors]
"NumberOfColors"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\G eneral-Bar0]
"BarID"=dword:0000e801

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\G eneral-Bar1]
"BarID"=dword:0000e81e
"Bars"=dword:00000003
"Bar#0"=dword:00000000
"Bar#1"=dword:0000e818
"Bar#2"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\G eneral-Bar2]
"BarID"=dword:0000e81c
"Bars"=dword:00000003
"Bar#0"=dword:00000000
"Bar#1"=dword:0000e817
"Bar#2"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\G eneral-Bar3]
"BarID"=dword:0000e817
"XPos"=dword:fffffffe
"YPos"=dword:fffffffe
"Docking"=dword:00000001
"MRUDockID"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockLeftPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockTopPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockRightPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockBottomPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUFloatStyle"=dword:00001000
"MRUFloatXPos"=dword:80000000
"MRUFloatYPos"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\G eneral-Bar4]
"BarID"=dword:0000e818
"XPos"=dword:fffffffe
"YPos"=dword:fffffffe
"Docking"=dword:00000001
"MRUDockID"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockLeftPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockTopPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockRightPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUDockBottomPos"=dword:00000000
"MRUFloatStyle"=dword:00002000
"MRUFloatXPos"=dword:80000000
"MRUFloatYPos"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\G eneral-Summary]
"Bars"=dword:00000005
"ScreenCX"=dword:00000320
"ScreenCY"=dword:00000258

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\S ettings]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\T ext]
"ShowTextTool"=dword:00000001
"PointSize"=dword:00000000
"PositionX"=dword:00000000
"PositionY"=dword:00000000
"Bold"=dword:00000000
"Underline"=dword:00000000
"Italic"=dword:00000000
"VerticalEdit"=dword:ffffffff
"TextPen"=dword:00000000
"TypeFaceName"=""
"CharSet"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\V iew]
"WindowPlacement"=hex:2c,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,83,ff,ff,00,83 ,ff,\
ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,da,02,00,00,20,02,00,00
"ShowThumbnail"=dword:00000000
"BMPWidth"=dword:000000b3
"BMPHeight"=dword:000000af
"ThumbXPos"=dword:00000000
"ThumbYPos"=dword:00000000
"ThumbWidth"=dword:00000000
"ThumbHeight"=dword:00000000
"UnitSetting"=dword:00000000
"NoStretching"=dword:00000000
"SnapToGrid"=dword:00000000
"GridExtent"=dword:00000001

[brendandonhu]

Originally Posted by Saxon

Select and copy the text between the dotted lines. Paste into Notepad and save to the Desktop as FixPaint.txt. Right click on this file and Rename as FixPaint.reg

If you save it as "FixPaint.reg" WITH the quotes or select Save As Type->All Files, you won't need to rename it