A fairly common complaint around support forums is that one or more applications do not appear in Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs list. The Add or Remove Programs feature is a much misunderstood application, hence these queries are rarely resolved satisfactorily in the ensuing forum discussions, and blame for the omission is often misplaced.
While superficially it might seem reasonable to blame the coding of an application which doesn’t have an Add or Remove Programs entry, there are in fact many possible reasons why the Add or Remove Programs list might not be complete, and the program itself is the least likely cause. Yes, the problem can lie with the individual application, but it can also lie with a mis-configuration of Windows itself, or even with an entirely different program which itself may appear to be unaffected.
I don’t propose this article to be an exhaustive treatment of this topic. My aim is simply to alert you to enough of the possibilities to give you the background to search out a solution appropriate to your particular circumstances. Hopefully this information will make that task much easier.
Let’s begin by looking at just how an application gets to appear in the Add or Remove Programs list to start with.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not up to the developer to directly program his application to appear in the Add or Remove Programs list. An application’s appearance in the list is determined by Windows, which is supposed to create an entry for any Windows-compatible program that has an uninstall component. Thus all the developer has to do to qualify his application for inclusion in the Add or Remove Programs list is to provide an UNINSTALL.EXE (by whatever name), or a Windows-accessible uninstall routine within his program.
Windows will then add details of the application to a special “uninstall list” in the Windows Registry. The list is located at this Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Each entry under that key represents an individual program that will appear in the Add or Remove Programs list, and each entry has several values associated with it, the most important of which to this discussion are:
DisplayName: The name that is shown in the Add or Remove Programs list.
UninstallString: The program or routine that is used to uninstall the application.
All that will be made quite clear by simply viewing some of the entries for that Registry Key in Regedit.
USUAL WARNING
Messing with the Windows Registry
can cause severe headaches!
Manual editing of the Registry key may be appropriate under certain circumstances, such as when an application has been uninstalled but still appears in the Add or Remove Programs list. Deleting the appropriate entry under the Registry key will cause that program to disappear from the Add or Remove Programs list.
There is one particularly important point about this Registry key that you must know in order to fully understand the population of the Add or Remove Programs dialog. Here it is:
The list of programs maintained at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall is ONLY automatically updated when a program is installed in Windows or when a program is uninstalled from Windows. Otherwise…
WINDOWS DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY MECHANISM
TO REFRESH OR UPDATE THIS LIST!
So obviously, if an entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall is inappropriately edited or deleted, the Add or Remove Programs dialog will continue to reflect that error until it is manually rectified.
To illustrate just how complex the reasons behind missing entries in Add or Remove Programs can be, let’s look at just one way that Windows intentionally hides certain program name entries from the Add or Remove Programs list.
Use Windows Explorer (WinKey+E) to locate the folder %System Root%\Windows\inf\. On most computers that will be c:\Windows\inf\. Within that folder locate the file SYSOC.INF and open it in Windows Notepad (or any other PLAIN TEXT editor — NOT a word processor).
Here’s what a small section of SYSOC.INF might look like:
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,HIDE,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,HIDE,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7
Those entries containing the word “HIDE” (case is not important) will be hidden from the Add or Remove Programs list. If editing any of these entries, remove only the word “HIDE” but leave the commas in place, as shown in the last line above. A system reboot is necessary before any changes will take effect.
It should be noted that I have also heard reports that changing the “HIDE” status of certain entries in SYSOC.INF will not always see that change reflected in the Add or Remove Programs dialog. I assume that’s because one of the many other reasons that entries may not appear in the list is also having an effect.
Another oddity sometimes encountered with the Add or Remove Programs dialog is that it can have a long gap of white space between one entry and the next. One program known to cause this is certain versions of AutoCAD. The operation of AutoCAD itself appears to be completely unaffected. I’ve also heard reports that the white space may appear after the AutoCAD entry in Add or Remove Programs, or it may appear after some other different and unrelated entry, even though AutoCAD is the cause. The reason for this odd behavior appears to be a negative icon number in a Registry entry related to AutoCAD. For example:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{BIG_HEX_NUMBER_HERE}
Value Name: DisplayIcon
Value Type: REG_SZalue Data: C:\Program Files\AutoCAD LT 2000i\aclt.exe,-1
The solution to the problem is to change the “-1″ at the end of the Value Data line to “1″.
I must emphasize that this small “bug” in some versions of AutoCAD in no way affects the operation of the program itself. This example serves to illustrate that even the most expensive, upmarket, highly regarded professional applications can suffer these little quirks without any adverse reflection on the quality of the application itself. Perfection would be nice, but lack of perfection doesn’t necessarily equate to disaster or a substandard product.
Another completely different example of cause and effect…
Entries in the Add or Remove Programs list can also be affected by the Windows installation itself.
The Add or Remove Programs applet relies on the presence and correct formatting of 18 separate Registry keys. All of those keys must have been correctly set by registering the control program APPWIZ.CPL. While such registration should occur during Windows installation, it has been known to go wrong, and Registry entries could also have been affected by other subsequent events. Such events could include Registry mangling by a rogue application or some form of malware attack. If this possibility is the cause of any problem with the Add or Remove Programs list, it may help to try registering APPWIZ.CPL manually. Here’s how:
- Click Start, click Run.
- Type this three-letter command into the “Open” text field: CMD
- Click the OK button.
- At the prompt, type: REGSVR32 APPWIZ.CPL
- Press the Enter key.
All being well APPWIZ.CPL should be re-registered and all 18 relevant Registry keys correctly entered and formatted in the Windows Registry.
Following many such discussions in technical and support forums over a long period of time leads me to the observation that, more often than not, computer users tend to jump in and lay the blame for a missing entry in Add or Remove Programs on the particular application itself, which in fact is probably the least likely reason. I can’t think of any good reason why a responsible developer would risk drawing criticism by trying to intentionally prevent their application from appearing in the Add or Remove Programs list, especially if they provide an uninstall option anyway. It just doesn’t make sense.
There is a lesson here that I’ve alluded to many times in the past:
Be wary of laying blame in relation to complex Windows problems. Not only may you be unjustly denigrating a blameless application, but you also risk trumpeting your own lack of knowledge as well. It’s very easy to make a fool of yourself by going off half-cocked.
Well, hopefully that gives you a useful glimpse into the complexities of the Add or Remove Programs applet, and perhaps some ideas on how to rectify related problems you may encounter.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
just tried the appwiz item from your article but got no result … or rather, I got a note that “REG… is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file”. Then the C:\ prompt appeared and no further action ensued.
Does that mean nothing was supposed to happen or that syntax or whatever was not correct ?
ROD:
What operating system are you running?
That message is telling you that the system can’t find the file REGSVR32.exe. Check to confirm that both REGSVR32.exe and APPWIZ.CPL both exist in the folder c:\Windows\System32.
If both files do exist in c:\Windows\System32 then your system PATH variable may be in error, preventing Windows from finding the files. So long as both files exist, and still at the command prompt, type: CD \Windows\System32 [press Enter], then try executing the “REGSVR32 APPWIZ.CPL” command again.
If the registration is successful a small Windows Information dialog box will pop up with the message: DllRegisterServer in APPWIZ.CPL succeeded.
Hello, Bill.
Thank you loads for taking the time to reply to my “problem”.
I have Windows XP with SP2.
Those files were indeed both in System32 and when I tried the regsvr32.exe and appwiz.cpl, it proceeded immediately to the “succeeded” window. I don’t know why the system can’t find them.
Thanks and have a great day.
Rod Colquhoun
Rod, just to clarify, this is my assumption from what you’ve said:
If you change to the folder “c:\Windows\System 32″ before executing the command, then the command works OK.
If you are in any other folder when you execute the command, it fails with the “REG… is not recognized” message.
Is that the case?
If so the first thing I’d look at would be your PATH statement in system variables. To do that open a command window again and type the single word PATH at the prompt.
Copy the result and paste it into a reply here.
To copy text from a command window click on the little [C:\] icon at the left-hand end of the title bar, then Edit -> Mark. Now drag the mouse pointer over the text you want a copy, and press Enter. The text you covered will now be on the Windows clipboard.
Bill,
changed to c:\Windows\System32 before executing. I ran it through Total Commander (“Run DOS”), which I’ve found to be pretty good at keeping out of the way of operations. Came back “succeeded”.
Then put it to c:\Windows and tried “regsvr…” -”succeeded”.
Then to c:\Windows\winSxS and tried “regsvr…” – “succeeded”.
One more: c:\omniformat with “regsvr…” and succeeded again.
Now, is it just picking up something left lying around file-wise, or did it actually “succeed” ?
Rod
PATH=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Co
mmon Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Roxio Shared\9.
0\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\
Ulead Systems\MPEG
I’ve tried to unload Roxio because it wasn’t working properly, but I guess I didn’t get rid of it …
Rod, unless I’m reading you wrong, you don’t have a problem.
Seems the command works fine no matter which folder you execute it from. That’s as to be expected, since C:\WINDOWS\system32 is on the PATH.
Maybe the first time you did it you misspelled REGSVR32.EXE or APPWIZ.CPL.
If you wish to remove references to Roxio you can edit the PATH variable as follows:
– Right-click on My Computer
– Properties
– Advanced tab
– Environment Variables button
– Select the PATH variable in the bottom window
– click the edit button
– Edit the Path in the pop-up window
Note that each folder name element in the path must be terminated by a semi-colon.
Bill,
Thanks 1 000 000 for taking the time to follow through on my “non-problem”. It is great to know there is someone out there who will do that.
Have a super day.
Rod
Thanks, I’ve frequently wondered why some software won’t show up in the Add or Remove list. Is it a similar question to ask why programs which run at start up don’t always show up in the “Startup” list when you go to Start->Programs->Startup? Is an application’s appearance in that list also determined by Windows?
Back to the topic at hand… I’d like to hear your advice on what the best approach is to remove programs when they don’t show up in the Add or Remove list, and a proper uninstaller is not available. There must be removal methods which are better than others.
I admit that I’ve resorted to deleting a program’s folder from C:\Program Files and then doing a search of the hard drive to try and locate any residual files and shortcuts related to the program to remove those… but I most likely don’t get everything this way because I can’t know all possible file names associated with the program. (Usually this occurs when trying to rid a system of some malware that shouldn’t be there in the first place, and usually it’s on one of my friend’s computers, and they “have no idea how it got there” when I ask where they downloaded it from.)
I don’t feel confident enough to go edit the registry manually, because I’m not always sure who to trust when I google for such instructions, as I realize messing with the registry can have bad consequences if done wrong. Maybe I should buy a book on the subject, but it’s not something I’ve gotten around to learning. Anyway, any advice on program removal without an uninstaller?
Hi April:
> Is it a similar question to ask why programs which run at
> start up don’t always show up in the “Startup” list…
The “Startup list” that you refer to is comprised of any program executables that are placed in the following folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
But there are also other ways that Windows can be instructed to run programs at or around boot/login. This is somewhat removed from the topic of this article so I won’t go into any detail. However if you want to seek further information yourself you can use Google to research the following registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
Or try the search term: Windows registry run keys
Also look up the WIN.INI file.
> I’d like to hear your advice on what the best approach is to
> remove programs when they don’t show up in the Add or Remove
> list, and a proper uninstaller is not available.
While you can cut straight to a third-party uninstaller, my preference is to first try reinstalling the program over the top of the existing installation, but…
REBOOT THE COMPUTER FIRST AND THEN CLOSE ANY APPLICATIONS THAT RUN AUTOMATICALLY, BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THE INSTALLATION.
A lot of installation problems are caused by not rebooting the computer first before the install.
If you still don’t end up with a removal mechanism for the application you can resort to a third-party uninstaller. RevoUninstaller (http://www.revouninstaller.com/) seems to have built quite a good reputation. If you use it, would you please come back here and let me know how it went.
> I admit that I’ve resorted to deleting a program’s folder from
> C:\Program Files and then doing a search of the hard drive to
> try and locate any residual files and shortcuts related to the
> program to remove those… but I most likely don’t get everything
> this way because I can’t know all possible file names associated
> with the program.
Unless you have an expert knowledge of Windows architecture this manual approach can cause more problems than it solves.
Thanks Bill,
That was interesting. I’ve often wondered why some programs did not show up and now I know.
Thanks for the reply.
I guess when it’s something that I didn’t want there in the first place, my first thought isn’t to go reinstall it, but yeah that does make sense to try it and see if an uninstaller is available. I’ll keep Revo Uninstaller in mind next time this happens and the original uninstaller isn’t available or just isn’t working. I never know what software to trust with deleting files on my computer.
Uniblue problem.
Regarding “Uninstall”, when I try to uninstall “Uniblue” I get the message “Set up resource decomposition failure.”
Everything I’ve tried has failed.
Dave, have you tried contacting Uniblue support?
Despite having installed Uniblue RegistryBooster many times on many different machines, I have never encountered an installation or removal problem.
That cryptic error message is not likely to mean much to anyone except the developers.
Thanks for the information! I had trouble uninstalling uniblue registry scanner trial version. So I followed your advice and reinstalled it. (as someone else said, that is not the intuitive thing to try!) Then I was able to access it from the add/remove software utility in XP and successfully uninstalled it. The only thing it didn’t remove was the taskbar icon for uniblue. So I ran msconfig and unchecked its box in the startup file.
when I rebooted, it was gone. Thanks for the help.
You’re very welcome Rbe.
When you say the “taskbar icon” I assume you mean the shortcut icon in the QuickStart box. It’s a little surprising just how many uninstall routines for various applications don’t remove their icon from QuickStart.
But if you right-click on any icon in the QuickStart box, one of the many options offered is Delete. You can also drag icons onto and out of the QuickStart box, and drag to reposition them within the box if you have a preferred order. I like my most used short cuts on the top row.
Well, the task bar I am referring to is that thing that has the Windows “start” icon on the left and other things like the “speaker” icon so you can adjust your sound level, or a shield for McAffee if you are running virus scan console, or Zone Alarm firewall. It shows programs that are currently
running even if the window is minimized.
Sorry I wasn’t specific about that.
I am running XP in the “classical windows” style because I’m an old geezer and didn’t like the “new” look when it came out!
Oh, I forgot to mention…. I tried to right click on the icon to delete. That was my first attempt. But only an error message came up since the program was already deleted! :-/
Rbe:
If you have “Show Quick Launch” enabled in the Taskbar settings, then the Quick Launch or QuickStart box is immediately adjacent to the Windows Start Button. Icons in there are simply short cuts and can be moved/dragged/deleted as I described previously.
On the extreme right of the taskbar is the System Tray. The icons in the System Tray indicate running programs or services. In most cases right clicking one of those will present a menu of options specific to that particular application. You can only remove an icon from the System Tray by stopping the related program/service. You cannot delete/drag/move anything in the System Tray.
Of course to be on the safe side you should close a program or stop a service before uninstalling.
During the Uniblue installation, there was probably an option with a check box to launch on boot that I didn’t notice and did not un-check. So the icon was in the start-up system tray (launch on boot), and I did not notice that until after I uninstalled the program, rebooted my computer and saw the remaining icon. I thought the program was terminated before I tried the reinstallation/uninstall procedure. However, I did not launch task manager and look at what processes were running and make sure that there was not something running in the background. I would recommend doing that to others who want to uninstall the program.
Rbe:
Yes, there is an option during installation to start RegistryBooster with Windows. However you are not stuck with the choice you make then, as you can enable or disable that option at any time under the RegistryBooster Settings tab.
It’s a good idea to get into the habit of staying aware of what’s showing in the System Tray, and you certainly should check it before any install/uninstall. It shouldn’t be necessary to use The Windows Task Manager, as the Task Bar and System Tray should tell you all you need to know. However, if you do use Task Manager, stick to the Applications tab. Don’t mess with entries on the Processes tab unless you really know what you’re doing.
Even when installing software, the Safety First rule is:
Reboot — Install — Reboot.
After the pre-install reboot any applications that started automatically should be closed. Likewise check the System Tray for any services that don’t really need to be running, and terminate them (right-click the icon to see options) before doing the install. The final post-installation reboot is a step that is often missed. You will never do any harm by ALWAYS rebooting after an installation, whether the installation routine tells you to not.
Just came to this article out of my own interest after reading your comments, in http://www.pcmech.com/article/uniblue-registry-booster-review/ . After reading this article I actually learned something and wanted to thank you for it! I use Uniblue registry booster, and driver scanner, myself and they are both truly amazing programs.
Hi Keith, and thanks for the kind words.
It’s always gratifying to hear that an article is appreciated and that the contents have been useful to someone.
Hi Bill,
You have this information in one of your messages: “The Add or Remove Programs applet relies on the presence and correct formatting of 18 separate Registry keys. All of those keys must have been correctly set by registering the control program APPWIZ.CPL.”
I wonder if those 18 separate Registry keys are always the same for Windows XP, and which are those Registry keys or how did they look like? After I registered the control program APPWIZ.CPL, I only counted 14 instead of 18. Why?
Hi Edwin.
Somewhere on their vast website Microsoft provides the following list of registry keys that are used by the “Add or Remove Programs” applet, and which are set by registering APPWIZ.CPL. I seem to recall that MS says they provide the full list as a check to confirm the registration of APPWIZ.CPL was successful. I believe all of these keys apply to Windows XP.
I have this list in my notes but I didn’t record the source URL. However if you need to confirm I’m sure some judicious Googling will lead you there eventually. The list probably won’t format very well on this blog page, but if you copy and paste it into Notepad it should be readable.
If, by comparison, you can determine what is missing from your installation you may be able to do some further research from there.
* [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{352EC2B7-8B9A-11D1-B8AE-006008059382}]
@=”%DESC_ShellAppMgr%”
* [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{352EC2B7-8B9A-11D1-B8AE-006008059382}\InProcServer32]
@=”SystemRoot%\System32\appwiz.cpl” (REG_EXPAND_SZ)
“ThreadingModel”=”Apartment”
* [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0B124F8C-91F0-11D1-B8B5-006008059382}]
@=”Installed Apps Enumerator”
* [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0B124F8F-91F0-11D1-B8B5-006008059382}\InProcServer32]
@=”SystemRoot%\System32\appwiz.cpl” (REG_EXPAND_SZ)
“ThreadingModel”=”Apartment”
* [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CFCCC7A0-A282-11D1-9082-006008059382}]
@=”Darwin App Publisher”
* [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CFCCC7A0-A282-11D1-9082-006008059382}\InProcServer32]
@=”SystemRoot%\System32\appwiz.cpl” (REG_EXPAND_SZ)
“ThreadingModel”=”Apartment”
* [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved]
“{352EC2B7-8B9A-11D1-B8AE-006008059382}”=”Shell Application Manager”
* [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved]
“{0B124F8F-91F0-11D1-B8B5-006008059382}”=”Installed Apps Enumerator”
* [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\App Management\Publishers\Darwin App Publisher]
@=”{CFCCC7A0-A282-11D1-9082-006008059382}”
* [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved]
“{CFCCC7A0-A282-11D1-9082-006008059382}”=”Darwin App Publisher”
* [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\InProcCPLs]
“appwiz.cpl”=”"
The following seven Registry entries are used once ARP is running:
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppInstallPath
Reads INF file. Code reads INF file name. INF section used is “AppInstallList”
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\Terminal Server\EnableAdminRemote
Set to 1 while ARP is running. Tells TS that ARP is running.
Set to 0 when ARP exits.
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\Publishers Enumerates app publishers
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Wx86\cmdline
Reads to determine if wx86 is enabled.
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NewShortcutHandlers
Enumerated to obtain list of “new-link” handlers. It looks like these handlers may add a link for a given item – for instance, to the Start menu, desktop, or other items.
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Shutdown\ForceReboot
Read to determine if a restart is required after running setup.
Presence of value means must-reboot == true.
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MS-DOSOptions82}”
< ------------ [ End of List ] ------------ >
Hi Bill, thank you for the good information. I was not expecting your answer so quickly. I really appreciate your time and kindness of sharing some of your knowledge and experience to help me out with my computer problem. You are really a special kind of person, which I admire and congratulate, for the great help that you are giving to so many people, including me. God bless you!
I am writing to you from Florida, United States.
Thank you very much for the kind words Edwin. I’m pleased you were able to extract the information you needed.
Always happy to be of help where possible.
Hi Bill,
When I compared the list of Registry files For Windows XP in the
Microsoft Website, with the ones I have in the Registry Editor.
I find out that four of the entries that are used once ARP is Running,
are not in my Registry list.
Windows: * “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\AppInstallPath”
Registry: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion”
Windows:
* “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft
\Windows\Installer\Terminal Server\EnableAdminRemote”
Registry: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer”
Windows:
* “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet
\Control\Wx86\cmdline”
Registry: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet
\Control”
Windows: * “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\MS-DOSOptions”
Registry: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion”
How can I solve that situation? Thank you!
OK Nigel, I’ll try to get you started, but fair warning in advance: we could be nibbling at the edges of a rather complex sequence of steps. If you have to go beyond the following I suggest you seek professional assistance. It would take far too long to safely step you through all the possibilities without being hands-on.
WARNING: Read all of this message before taking any action. There are risks involved. In fact there are always risks involved with editing the Windows Registry, so tread carefully.
I’m just taking Microsoft’s Word for it that all 18 Registry entries should be present in all XP computers. But, assuming that to be so…
You could try un-registering and then reregistering APPWIZ.CPL. From the command prompt the command lines are:
UNREGISTER: regsvr32 /u appwiz.cpl
REGISTER: regsvr32 appwiz.cpl
There is always the possibility of course that one or more system files have become corrupted, preventing 100% correct operation of some aspect of your PC. This is often the situation that exists when people complain about some software installation or process “ruining” their PC. The real cause is often that their system wasn’t 100% healthy to start with, and the process they’re blaming for their woes was merely the catalyst that exposed a previously concealed problem.
A tip to make file replacement easier in such circumstances is to copy the i386 folder from your Windows XP CD to your hard drive, and just leave it there permanently. In the event that some software installation or recovery procedure asks you to insert your XP CD, you can refer it to the i386 folder instead.
The next step is to edit the Registry in order to tell Windows where the i386 folder can now be found. You will need to use the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
The entry on the right-hand side of the registry editor that you will need to change is: SourcePath
At the moment it probably points to your CD drive. All you need do is change it to the drive letter where you placed the i386 folder. For example: C:\
Note that’s just the drive letter as I’ve written it — not C:\i386.
After restarting your PC, Windows will know to look in C:\i386 for any system files it needs, instead of asking you for the XP CD.
Having done that, you can now ask Windows to check all the system files on your computer, and replace any that are found to be suspect. We do this with the System File Checker (SFC) executable. The command line to run such a check is:
sfc /scannow
You can execute that command directly from the Start Menu’s Run box.
Now I must emphasize that things may or may not go quite smoothly. There are all sorts of side issues that can crop up and a competent professional will take each in his stride. You may or may not be able to do that, particularly if you don’t have another Internet-connected PC next to you for research purposes as questions/problems arise.
Best of luck!
PS Don’t forget to reboot BEFORE running any process or installation, and again AFTER the process or installation has completed.
Hi Bill,
I am going to study the information provided with calm, in order to evaluate the risks involved and to understand each step of the process.
Thank, for your help and well explained instructions and steps.
I will let you know, latter…
Take good care of yourself.
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