Member Avatar for mcbeal

Hello ther :) I am new to all of this so forgive me if my problem seems stupid!

I booted up my PC today and realised that my QUICK LAUNCH had disappeared. While I can reset it from the taskbar if I reboot then it disappears again. Also my CONTROL PANEL will not open from the start menu. I can access it through start>run>control but that is a pain!

This is happening on all user accounts on my pc. Any ideas on how I can get Control Panel to reopen and the quick launch to stay???

Any help appreciated as I said I am fairly new to all this.

Thanks:lol:

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Dani AI

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— since already suggested a system restore and that didn't fix it, here are focused steps that address the two most common root causes for the symptoms you described: policy/registry entries that prevent Explorer from saving Start/taskbar settings, and a corrupted Explorer “streams” area that stores toolbar/start menu state.

  1. Check for policy entries that block saving settings or hide Control Panel
  • Open the Registry Editor and look under these keys:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
  • Look for DWORDs such as NoSaveSettings, NoSetTaskbar, or NoControlPanel. If any are present and set to 1, export the key first (File → Export) and then delete or set the value to 0. Reboot after changes. (Backup the registry before editing.)
  1. Reset Explorer’s stored toolbar/start state (safe step if the toolbar won’t persist)
  • While logged on, close Explorer (log off or end explorer.exe) and delete the Streams/Taskbar entries under:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams
  • Log back in so Explorer recreates fresh defaults. Back up those keys before deleting.
  1. Confirm the Quick Launch folder and permissions
  • Make sure the folder exists for the user:
    %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
  • If missing, create it, then add it as a toolbar (right‑click the taskbar → Toolbars → New toolbar...). Check NTFS permissions so the user can write to that folder.
  1. Isolate third‑party causes and corruption
  • Boot to Safe Mode or perform a Clean Boot (msconfig) to see if the problem disappears. If it does, disable startup items one at a time. Use Autoruns/ShellExView to find non‑Microsoft shell extensions if needed.
  1. Repair and scan
  • Run sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt (Windows XP will ask for the setup CD). Also run a full antivirus + anti‑malware scan.

If those steps don’t restore normal behavior, the next reasonable move is to create a brand‑new user profile (to prove whether the hive is corrupt) and migrate data. Always export registry keys and back up important files before making changes.

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Member Avatar for Member #46692

try a system restore.

Member Avatar for mcbeal

try a system restore.

I have tried that and the Quick Launch still won't show after reboot. The Control Panel will only open fron the start menu if I have the XP start menu. As soon as I switch to classic start menu the link stops working.

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