All Software Non-working Inc. Win Utilities

[Sophie1010]

Hello,

I hope someone has a clue here, because I'm out of options...

Here's the symptoms:

1. All my SOFTWARE ONLY icons on my destop have reverted to the default windows )feneric for unidentified) icon. The names for these icons are now all .lnk (links)

2. Same for all software in the start menu, including Windows applications. So, I can't access anything, I can't even go into "help and support"

3. My files on the other hand are perfectly fine. Their extensions are fine and they all open correctly. That means the software itself is still there and in working condition.

4. However, none of the software affected will open from the start menu or the desktop. When I try, I get a dialog box that says it doesn't recognize the file and doesn't know what to open it with.


I tried a few things - too many to mention - needless to say it was all to no avail... HEEEEEEEEELLLLPPP!!!!!

Thank you...

Sophie.

[Sophie1010]

I don't work with computers but as usual, since I'm highly motivated to NOT be without my laptop even for a mn, motivation is the mother of all solutions...

In case anyone's interested, here's the solution:

It seemed to me that no link wanting to open meant that the EXTENTIONS .lnk were corrupt. Similarly, no program opening also meant that .exe was corrupt too (1 problem on 2 levels since they happened at once). With that in mind, I went online and looked for extention repair patches or watever they're called. Found them at dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm I picked the 2 I needed and downloaded them. Since I can't open anyting, I imported them FROM the registry editor and it fixed it after I rebooted. Now all is fine and well again... :)

Thanks for trying and good luck to al..

Sophie.