[kwengerd]

I think it is something I messed up a couple weeks ago in the registry. I tried restoring it to an old set point but that didn't help. My desktop, start and quick launch icons only work if I right click and choose open. Also in the right click menu, there is no longer an OPEN WITH command line. Any ideas on fixing this?

[Lance1]

Originally Posted by kwengerd

I think it is something I messed up a couple weeks ago in the registry. I tried restoring it to an old set point but that didn't help. My desktop, start and quick launch icons only work if I right click and choose open. Also in the right click menu, there is no longer an OPEN WITH command line. Any ideas on fixing this?

Did you backup the registry prior to making any changes? What changes if any did you make? Have you tried tapping F8 on bootup and selecting Last Known Good?

[flavallee]

Can you be more specific about this comment?

"I think it is something I messed up a couple weeks ago in the registry."

What exactly did you do?

You should check your installed programs and make sure they're all still working or working properly.

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[kwengerd]

Welllll, I was trying to eliminate some sort of malware type thing. I can't remember what it was even called. I think I deleted only what they said to delete but when I saved and rebooted, I ended up with the problem that I have now. I figured that I deleted too much or the wrong thing. I did not do a registry backup and a system restore did not work. Maybe I need to try a system restore from farther back?

[flavallee]

Originally Posted by kwengerd

I was trying to eliminate some sort of malware type thing. I can't remember what it was even called. I think I deleted only what they said to delete but when I saved and rebooted, I ended up with the problem that I have now. I figured that I deleted too much or the wrong thing.

You're still being vague and we still don't know what you really did.

What program(s) did you use to deal with the malware issue?

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[kwengerd]

I forgot your last comment... the installed programs do not all work. When I click on Adobe Acrobat, Access or Word (and others), it says "The windows installer service could not be installed. This can occur if you are running windows in safe mode... ". Excel and most other programs work. Office previews do not work in Outlook.

I'm afraid I'll have to reload everything but was trying to avoid that.

[flavallee]

We still don't know what you did and what you used, but it appears that you used some registry "cleaner/fixer" program(s) that damaged Windows and some of your programs and is wreaking havoc.

A clean reinstall of Windows and getting a fresh start is probably your best option.

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[Python1914]

I wonder if the guy that had the problems with his short cuts did what I did. I tried to download and old DOS game and was told to download 7zip-installer_1650 a utility installation. I never could get the game to work. When I used Add/Remove programs to uninstall I ended up with none of my short cuts working unless I right click and then click open. I finally got a system restore to work by rebooting in safemode but that didn't help either. I noticed that certain commands like msconfig in start menu don't work either. Since this is a really old computer I just live with it and use my newer computer. It would be nice to know what happened though.