Help and support and Msconfig won't open, Search disabled
Ok, well my problem is that my Help and Support center won't open and also Msconfig. When I try and open Help and Support, nothing happens and when I try and open Msconfig, I get an error message saying that "Windows cannot find 'msconfig'. Make sure you typed in the name correctly..." Another problem I'm having is that my Search is disabled. I noticed this when I tried to search for my Msconfig and Help and Support files, but the Search feature doesn't open. Anyone know what can be the cause of this or if there is a fix? Thanks in advance.
Ok, well my problem is that my Help and Support center won't open and also Msconfig. When I try and open Help and Support, nothing happens and when I try and open Msconfig, I get an error message saying that "Windows cannot find 'msconfig'. Make sure you typed in the name correctly..." Another problem I'm having is that my Search is disabled. I noticed this when I tried to search for my Msconfig and Help and Support files, but the Search feature doesn't open. Anyone know what can be the cause of this or if there is a fix? Thanks in advance.
Hm, this site #70 should restore search to the start menu. And re-enable it.
As for MSCONFIG, first lets make sure it on your system
go to
OK, here's the update. I got my Search feature up and running, and it is confirmed that msconfig is on my system, but I'm still not able to open it through RUN. And about the Help and Support, when you say press F1, when am I supposed to do that? Right when my PC starts up, when I click Help and Support, or just at anytime? And from the link you gave me, I checked out the tweak for Help and Support and applied it, so now when I try and open Help and Support, I get the same type of error message as I was getting with msconfig. So, what should I do now? Thanks for the speedy reply.
OK, here's the update. I got my Search feature up and running, and it is confirmed that msconfig is on my system, but I'm still not able to open it through RUN. And about the Help and Support, when you say press F1, when am I supposed to do that? Right when my PC starts up, when I click Help and Support, or just at anytime? And from the link you gave me, I checked out the tweak for Help and Support and applied it, so now when I try and open Help and Support, I get the same type of error message as I was getting with msconfig. So, what should I do now? Thanks for the speedy reply.
Hi,
Press the F1 key on your keyboard any time when your system is booted. It is a shortcut to Help and support. As for msconfig. do this
*****Note this involves the regitry advance at your own risk. if you dont know wahtyour doing the STOP now
*****
Go to "Start">Run>type regedit
then browse as follows.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
App Paths
under app paths make sure you see MSCONFIG.EXE . There in alphabetical order so it will be in the M's. If you see a folder that says that. Look to the right. you should see an icon with 'ab' on it and it should be called default. Make sure its value is.
X:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\MSConfig.exe
where X is your root drive.
If its there then i am not sure why MSCONFIG does not run.
If its not there then that is why it doesnt run i think. If its not there i have attached a file*. download and run it. When it asks to import to registry. say yes. it should say imported succesfully. you should now be able to run msconfig. By going to start run msconfig.
*
************** NOTE: THE FILE CHANGES THE REGISTRY IT ADDS THE MISSING ENTRY TO FIX YOUR PROBLEM (or it should fix it) AS ALWAYS USE FILE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
**************
Ok now that thats done :) you will find the file in the attachment.
THANKS! I got Msconfig running so 2 out of 3 problems fixed. My Help and Support is simply not opening when I press F1, however when I went to My Computer and pressed F1, I got the same Help and Support error message. So, is there a fix for this too? Thanks for all your help so far!
Clcik start>run. Type 'services.msc'. In the Local Services window, scroll to "Help and Support". Double clcik this. Under startup, make sure "Automatic" is selected. Then, click the "start" button below under "Service Status". See if this helps.
Clcik start>run. Type 'services.msc'. In the Local Services window, scroll to "Help and Support". Double clcik this. Under startup, make sure "Automatic" is selected. Then, click the "start" button below under "Service Status". See if this helps.
ok my under Help and Support, automatic is selected and it is already started but i'm still getting the error message.
Or go here and look under "StartMenu\Help and support won't work" That should be able to help you (try the script). Let me know if it fixes it :).
-T
ok, on that website, most of the fixes it has me to do requires the XP cd which I simply don't have and cannot get a hold of. But there is one fix that I have no way of figuring out simply because im a newbie (lol). I was wondering if anyone can walk me through this:
"This script repairs Windows Help and Support Repairs Windows® XP Help and Support after running Easy Cleaner or similar registry cleaners."
ok, on that website, most of the fixes it has me to do requires the XP cd which I simply don't have and cannot get a hold of. But there is one fix that I have no way of figuring out simply because im a newbie (lol). I was wondering if anyone can walk me through this:
"This script repairs Windows Help and Support
Repairs Windows® XP Help and Support after running Easy Cleaner or similar registry cleaners."
anyone know the steps of how to do this?
thanks for all the help and responses
I have attahced the scriupt...all you have to do is double click on it. Its in the attachment.
I ran the script but I'm still getting the error that Windows cannot find helpctr.exe. What folder is helpctr.exe supposed to be in? Is there a way for me to download a copy of helpctr.exe and then point my PC to that location? Thanks for all the help you've given me.
Aso run a search on your comp for it. See if that finds it.
i've already been to that website and it deosn't help my situation because it's based on the problem that you can still open Help and Support from a desktop shortcut, yet i can't
and my helpctr.exe is in the right folder but it juss simply will not open. i have no idea why. maybe a virus took it over. i read somewhere that someone had helpctr.exe and it was 500kb but mine is 750 kb. so is that normal?
Go in explorer go to help and click help and support center, see if that opens it. If not lemme know, because then we know your start menu shortcut is messed up. I will work on a script to fix it. Btw did it open when you tried F1
oh and when you say it wont open, it wont open even when you click it right there? If not then yea im sure you have a virus.
