Add/remove panel (XP SP1)

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Just did a clean install of XP SP1. Have most everything reloaded and setup. BUT seems to be a problem with the add/remove control panel. It displays the first 13 entries. Then there is a huge amount of blank space. Then another 13 entries. Then more huge blank space. Then all the remaining apps. Anyone ever see or hear about anything like this?

I hate to have to do a refresh only 3 days into this OS. Everything else seems to be working but I am still finishing setup and exploring….

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I have experi

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FYI: SP1 is integrated into the base XP CD now, so I didn’t apply that seperately.

I’ll leave this alone for now. It’s just an annoyance. Maybe some other update will fix it.

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Here’s a recent quote from the MS XP newsgroup
“I’m not sure if this applies to you…
but the fix for blank spaces in the A/R Programs tool was:

Start – Run – (type) CMD
At the prompt, type REGSVR32 APPWIZ.CPL
press enter…reboot…”

hth,
Joe

--Joe

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I hope he sees your post, Joe, and that it help clear up the problem – I’d like to keep up with it in case anyone brings it up later.

It’s interesting to me about this REGSVR32 application. Back in May 2002 I too learned about it from a WinXP newsgroup. The one I picked up and posted here was regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll to stop Windows Explorer from showing Zip files like “folders.” I think I’m gonna go searching around to see if I can find what else that program controls or modifies.

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Al, before you spend much time doing that, read on….REGSVR32 is an executable that registers DLLs, OCXs, and other system libraries within Windows. The actions it can perform are as varied as the pieces of code that it will process, because it’s more or less just a catalyst. The DLL or OCX (etc) is doing all the work for you with this command.

In your example, un-registering (uninstalling) the zipfldr.dll file removes it from memory and active use. You can obtain a list of valid switches for REGSVR32 – and they’re limited, BTW – by typing REGSVR32 /? at a Start – Run prompt.

As it relates to the original post, it’s forcing re-registration of the APPWIZ.CPL file, which is the Control Panel. It’s not much different than removing and reinstalling a stick of memory or having an oil change done on your car.

HTH,

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Ahhh, OK I’ll settle for that. Thanx, Mark!

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I recall this in the passed and seem to think its a known issue
Also its self fix in time, odd i agree

Jack

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>Here’s a recent quote from the MS XP newsgroup
“I’m not sure if this applies to you…
but the fix for blank spaces in the A/R Programs tool was:

Start – Run – (type) CMD
At the prompt, type REGSVR32 APPWIZ.CPL
press enter…reboot…”<

Thanks, but it didn't work. Didn't change anything…

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Try this KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=240348%5B/url%5D. Even thought it does not say it applies to XP I pretty sure it does.

Joe

--Joe

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Checked this. No names longer than 44 characters (and that’s MS Net Framework).

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My add/remove control panel applet display has made a magical recovery. All the spaces are gone and it looks normal. Unsure what I did to make this happen as I always making changes to the system and can’t keep track of them all…

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> as I always making changes to the system and can’t keep track of them all…

If you want to have a more reliable and satisfying computing experience then we need to help you fix this. As a first step how about you create a text file called “Changes.Txt” on your desktop. Then you double click this and add the date and a comment each time you make a change. This will take very little effort and may save you major pain one day.

StuartR

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Ha! That still won’t help because I often install or change many things between reboots. It just isn’t time practible to single-thread changes and then wait 1 week or so in between them to see if you come across anything that has broken. And in a case like this, you often don’t know when something isn’t working until you go to use the app. With a log file all you know that is that one of these “x” changes caused the problem between the last time you accessed the app (when was that?) and now. If you have a big enough restore file, I guess you could restore back to some point and start recoving from there….

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