[TheOutcaste]

Originally Posted by k9roo

When I typed FixHistory.
It says 'FixHistory' is not recognized as an internal or external command operable program or batch file.

Was the prompt in the windows showing:
C:\Users\<username>\Desktop
where <Usename> is your user name?
For example on my system, it would show like in the attached screenshot
And you did save the file on your desktop, not into a folder on your desktop?

If you type DIR fix*.* it should be listed, and should have a .cmd extension.

For the 2nd registry file, if IE was open, that could cause the error, or possibly My Computer.
Try rebooting to Safe Mode and merge from there.

Jerry

[k9roo]

I'm beginning to think it is hopeless. It does not show C:\Users\<username>\Desktop when I am under Administrator instead it shows C:\Windows\system32>. When I type in the DIR fix*.* under Administrator it does not show the file.

When I go straight to Command Prompt (Not Administrator) it does show C:\Users\<username> but not Desktop. When I type it under Command Prompt (not Administrator) it says File Not Found.

[TheOutcaste]

In the Admin prompt you have to type this to change the current folder:
CD "%userprofile%\desktop"

From a regular command prompt, if you type Dir fix*.*, is the FixHistory.cmd file listed?

[k9roo]

No not listed in administrator or the regular command prompt.

[TheOutcaste]

Then where did you save the file? It should be visible on your desktop, or you won't be able to run it without specifying the path to where ever you saved it.

[k9roo]

I saved it to the desktop.

I want to mention that I did notice on the first FixHistory option you had me to try when you said to save it as All Files (*.*) that I did not have an option to add the (*.*). I could only select All Files and it would not let me type it in.

I just tried all the options again and I do not have an option to save as All Files (*.*). My only options are Text Documents (*.txt) or All Files without the (*.*). Could this be the reason its not working?

[k9roo]

Another thing I noticed that may be nothing but I thought I would mention it is that i looked under the Internet options, Browser history settings to get the Current Location. It is C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Temp\Temporay Internet Files\. I can get all the way to Temp but then there is no Temporary Internet Files option. Could this mean anything?

In the Temp there is a file named Low that has a Temporary Internet File and a History(33) file however both are empty.

[TheOutcaste]

Originally Posted by k9roo

When I go straight to Command Prompt (Not Administrator) it does show C:\Users\<username> but not Desktop.

Sorry, I misread this as C:\Users\<username>\Desktop.
So you'd have to first type CD Desktop to change that, then run the Dir command.
From an Admin prompt, you would type CD "%username%\Desktop"

Originally Posted by k9roo

I just tried all the options again and I do not have an option to save as All Files (*.*). My only options are Text Documents (*.txt) or All Files without the (*.*). Could this be the reason its not working?

No, XP shows the (*.*) part, but Vista doesn't. I keep forgetting that and type it out of habit.
Have your tried running the file again from the Admin Command Prompt, after first making sure the prompt displays C:\Users\<username>\Desktop?
Does it still give the same "not recognized" error?

Originally Posted by k9roo

Another thing I noticed that may be nothing but I thought I would mention it is that i looked under the Internet options, Browser history settings to get the Current Location. It is C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Temp\Temporay Internet Files\. I can get all the way to Temp but then there is no Temporary Internet Files option. Could this mean anything?

The normal path is this:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\
But can easily be moved with the Move Folder button.
Is your system set to display both Hidden and System files?
AppData is hidden, but not set as a System folder.
Temporary Internet files is both hidden and system.
In Control Panel | Folder Options | View, you have to uncheck the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) box

If you didn't move it yourself, I'm wondering if at some time you had software installed to disable the saving of History and Temporary Internet Files, or automatically delete them by moving it to the temp folder.

Originally Posted by k9roo

In the Temp there is a file named Low that has a Temporary Internet File and a History(33) file however both are empty.

Windows Explorer won't display the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder, and displays the History folder in a special format, rather than showing the actual files.

The real Temporary Internet Files folder is actually a subfolder named Content.IE5. In fact, there are several sub folders under Temporary Internet Files:
AntiPhishing
Content.IE5
Low
Virtualized
Virtualized\C
Virtualized\C\ProgramData
These are all SuperHidden folders which Windows Explorer will not display
Same with History, which normally is here
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History
which contains these folders:
History.IE5
Low
MSHist<startdate><enddate>
Low\History.IE5
Low\MSHist<startdate><enddate>
I'm more curious about why you were getting Access Denied errors when you double click the file, as it should run just fine even from a Standard User account. Unless security has been tightened, like for a school or company system, this could be a sign of a malware infection of some h=kind. They tend to deny access to things to make it harder to get rid of them.
So see if you can get that to run in an Admin prompt.

Jerry

[k9roo]

I did each step over and when I did the first option for the one I was to save as FixHistory.cmd to my desktop. This is the access denied message I got. It opens in a regular command prompt (not administrator) and says.
Could Not Find C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\desktop.ini
Access Denied.

I was finally able to get the DIR fix*.* to take and I can see the information that you had in the screen shot. I was going to include a screenshot but was not able to figure how to do it. I even tried sending it as an attachment but it did nothing. Anyway, this is what it says.

05/28/2009 10:32 AM 541 FixHistory.cmd
1 File(s) 541 bytes
0 Dir(s) 198,025,605,120 bytes free

However, its still not working. My folders are not hidden as I had already unchecked the hide folders option.

Same with History, which normally is here
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History

I looked for this and I do not have a History file. I can only get this far.
Same with History, which normally is here
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows
There is no History file there.

I really do appreciate all your help on this.

[vistashen]

Try installing IE 8 to check if it is a problem with the internet explorer.
download IE 8 for windows vista
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

[TheOutcaste]

Originally Posted by k9roo

Could Not Find C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\desktop.ini
Access Denied.

This indicates the History folder is there. If it didn't exist, the PushD command should fail with this error:
The system cannot find the path specified.
The Could Not Find error means the desktop.ini file doesn't exist in the History folder, which is what we are trying to create. I would expect it to say just:
File not found - desktop.ini rather than display the full path.
The Access Denied error could mean you don't have write access to the folder, so the batch file can't create the new file. Was that listed multiple times?

I moved my Temporary Internet Files folder to match the path you have, and the folder was moved, but the History folder did not move.

Originally Posted by k9roo

I looked for this and I do not have a History file. I can only get this far.
Same with History, which normally is here
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows
There is no History file there.

Did you check this setting in Control Panel:

Originally Posted by TheOutcaste

In Control Panel | Folder Options | View, you have to uncheck the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) box

I tried deleting the History folder but Windows immediately re-created it, so it should be there.

After getting Dir fix*.* to work, did you run the file by typing FixHistory?
Let's try this. Open the FixHistory command in Notepad by right clicking the file, then click Edit.
Put two colons in front of the first line, so it looks like this:
::@Echo Off
Save the file. This will let us see each line as it executes, to pin down just when errors occur.
Double click the file, then copy and paste the Command Prompt Window into a reply. Be sure to edit out your username if you don't want that posted.

You can copy the text in a Command Prompt by right clicking in the window, click Select All, then press Enter.
Click in the reply box (or a notepad window) press CTRL+V to paste the contents of the Command Prompt window.
Then, follow the steps to run it from an Elevated Command Prompt, and copy and paste that window as well.

As for screen shots, this should help: How to Post a Screenshot

Jerry

[k9roo]

Then, follow the steps to run it from an Elevated Command Prompt, and copy and paste that window as well.

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

Here is what I got when I added the :: to Echo. I have removed my name and used MyName where it would have been.


C:\Users\MyName\Desktop>Echo Recreating Desktop.ini file, please wait.
Recreating Desktop.ini file, please wait.
C:\Users\MyName\Desktop>Set _FN=desktop.ini
C:\Users\MyName\Desktop>PushD C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Hi
story
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Attrib -s -h desktop.ini
Access denied - C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\desktop.
ini
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>If Exist desktop.ini del
desktop.ini
Could Not Find C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\desktop.i
ni
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Echo 1>>desktop.ini
Access is denied.
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Echo [.ShellClassInfo] 1
>>desktop.ini
Access is denied.
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Echo ConfirmFileOp=0 1>>
desktop.ini
Access is denied.
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Echo DefaultToFS=0 1>>de
sktop.ini
Access is denied.
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Echo CLSID={FF393560-C2A
7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000} 1>>desktop.ini
Access is denied.
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Echo UICLSID={7BD29E00-7
6C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933} 1>>desktop.ini
Access is denied.

[TheOutcaste]

Originally Posted by k9roo

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

Originally Posted by TheOutcaste

Click Start, type cmd, press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER
(The Command Prompt window Title bar should start with Administrator:)
Type the following commands, press enter after each one
(It's not case sensitive, but there must be a space between CD and the ")
CD "%userprofile%\desktop"
FixHistory

I don't think this will do it though. It looks like the permissions have been changed so that you don't have access to the History folder.

I've attached a zip file with a shortcut that will open an Administrator Command Prompt and automatically change the current directory to the desktop of the current user, so that will make it easier for you.
Download the zip file to your desktop, double click to open. Then drag the shortcut to your desktop. You can then close and delete the zip file.
Here's what's happening:

C:\Users\MyName\Desktop>PushD C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History
C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>Attrib -s -h desktop.ini
Access denied - C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\desktop.ini 

This shows that the History folder is there, as the PushD command was successful, as shown by the prompt. If you still don't see it when looking in My Computer, then you need to double check the settings in Control Panel | Folder Options | View tab.
You must have Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) unchecked, and Show hidden files and folders selected as in screen shot 1 below.

The desktop.ini file this batch file is trying to recreate is also set as both hidden and system. The Command Prompt has some limits with files set with these attributes, so the attrib command is removing those settings.
The Access Denied error indicates that your user account does not have permission to change those settings.

C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History>If Exist desktop.ini del desktop.ini
Could Not Find C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\desktop.ini 

And this shows one of the limits with hidden+system files. The If Exist part can see the file, and executes the delete command, but Delete can't see the file, so that's the cause of the Could Not Find error.

The rest of the Access Denied errors are because you don't have permission to access the desktop.ini file.
If you don't have permission to access the History folder, there's no way to save history. Getting only the Search History item (Screen shot 2) instead of the Full History menu (screen shot 3) can be due to not having permission for the desktop.ini file, or because it's corrupt.

So we first need to reset the permissions. Copy and paste the following into Notepad. Save it on your desktop as FixPerm.cmd (Be sure Save As Type: is set to All Files)
Double click on the Admin Command Prompt shortcut. When the Command Prompt opens, verify that the title bar starts with Administrator, and that the prompt shows C:\Users\MyName\Desktop>.
Type FixPerm and press enter.
This will reset the permissions for the History folder and its contents, then will run the FixHistory.cmd file to recreate the desktop.ini file, just in case it's corrupted.

This should get your History to working again.

PushD %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows
icacls History /Reset /C /T
PopD
Call "%Userprofile%\Desktop\FixHistory.cmd"

HTH

Jerry

[k9roo]

Bless You!!!
It worked! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Oh my goodness I cannot thank you enough!
I honestly had got to the point that I thought it was hopeless and bless your heart you didn't give up on me and now it works!