Can't access the Control Panel from the start menu

Hi guys, Trying to fix a friend's computer running Vista SP2. When I click on the Control Panel icon in the start menu, I get a message that says: explorer.EXE "Application Not Found" I get the same thing when I click on the Default Programs icon in the start menu, which makes sense, because I believe the Default Programs settings reside within the control panel. The crazy thing is, the control panel DOES indeed work fine other than trying to open it from the start menu! If I go into a folder, say Computer or Documents for example, and click on the control panel on the left pane from there, it opens right up! So it must be something with the particular setup with the start menu and its shortcuts. Any advice? Thanks!

Unless Melware has been messing with the PC, see if this helps you.

"How to Enable or Disable the Control Panel in Vista"
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/121043-c…le-disable.html

Cheers,
Lee

Thanks, but no luck. I tried the method of downloading the registry file and merging it, but I'm still getting the same message when trying to open control panel from the start menu. Again, the control panel does work, so it was probably already "enabled," but it just won't launch from the start menu.

Considering it is a friend's PC, you really have no idea of what has been happening on it that may have caused this problem.

Have you run any Melware apps.to check for any infections?

Also, Do a Chkdsk /r scan from "Run" to check for any corrupt Windows files.that Chkdisk will replace.

Cheers,
Lee

Well I did a full MBAM scan when I first got the laptop and in only found 1 infected file. The log shows: C:\Users\(username)\appdata\local\temp\low\7ogmbef.exe (Trojan.Hiloti) => Wuarantined and deleted succesfully. So the system should be all clean now, at least according to MBAM I couldn't do a chkdsk /r for some reason. When I tried it from Run, nothing happened. I also tried it in safe mode using command prompt, but I got a message saying that I couldn't run it on the drive because the volume is in use by another process (I'm paraphrasing). It asked be if I wanted to check the drive on the next system restart instead. I said 'Y' (yes) but nothing happened when I restarted. I was however able to do a sfc/scannow and it said that there were some problems that it was unable to fix. The CBS.log file is way too big to post or attach but below is a small segment I've copied. It may be of interest to you since it mentions a problem with control.exe (am I correct in assuming that control.exe is the control panel?) POQ 34 ends. 2010-12-05 16:34:32, Info CSI 00000095 [SR] Verify complete 2010-12-05 16:34:32, Info CSI 00000096 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2010-12-05 16:34:32, Info CSI 00000097 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2010-12-05 16:34:33, Info CSI 00000098 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"console.dll" of Microsoft-Windows-console, Version = 6.0.6000.16386, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, file is missing 2010-12-05 16:34:33, Info CSI 00000099 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"control.exe" of Microsoft-Windows-control, Version = 6.0.6000.16386, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, file is missing 2010-12-05 16:34:34, Info CSI 0000009a [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"convert.exe" of Microsoft-Windows-Convert, Version = 6.0.6002.18005, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, file is missing 2010-12-05 16:34:36, Info CSI 0000009b [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"control.exe" of Microsoft-Windows-control, Version = 6.0.6000.16386, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, file is missing 2010-12-05 16:34:36, Info CSI 0000009c [SR] This component was referenced by [ml:38{19},l:36{18}]"Windows Foundation" 2010-12-05 16:34:36, Info CSI 0000009d [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32"\[l:22{11}]"control.exe"; source file in store is also corrupted 2010-12-05 16:34:36, Info CSI 0000009e [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"convert.exe" of Microsoft-Windows-Convert, Version = 6.0.6002.18005, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, file is missing 2010-12-05 16:34:36, Info CSI 0000009f [SR] This component was referenced by [l:160{80}]"Package_25_for_KB948465~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.0.1.18005.948465-113_neutral_GDR" 2010-12-05 16:34:36, Info CSI 000000a0 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32"\[l:22{11}]"convert.exe"; source file in store is also corrupted 2010-12-05 16:34:37, Info CSI 000000a1 Ignoring duplicate ownership for directory [l:58{29}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32\th-TH" in component Microsoft-Windows-comdlg32.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:10{5}]"th-TH", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral 2010-12-05 16:34:38, Info CSI 000000a2 Ignoring duplicate ownership for directory [l:58{29}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32\ja-JP" in component Microsoft-Windows-comdlg32.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:10{5}]"ja-JP", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral 2010-12-05 16:34:38, Info CSI 000000a3 Ignoring duplicate ownership for directory [l:58{29}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32\pt-PT" in component Microsoft-Windows-comdlg32.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:10{5}]"pt-PT", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral 2010-12-05 16:34:39, Info CSI 000000a4 Ignoring duplicate ownership for directory [l:58{29}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32\pl-PL" in component Microsoft-Windows-comdlg32.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:10{5}]"pl-PL", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral 2010-12-05 16:34:39, Info CSI 000000a5 Ignoring duplicate ownership for directory [l:68{34}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32\sr-Latn-CS" in component Microsoft-Windows-comdlg32.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:20{10}]"sr-Latn-CS", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral 2010-12-05 16:34:40, Info CSI 000000a6 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"console.dll" of Microsoft-Windows-console, Version = 6.0.6000.16386, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, file is missing 2010-12-05 16:34:40, Info CSI 000000a7 [SR] This component was referenced by [ml:38{19},l:36{18}]"Windows Foundation" 2010-12-05 16:34:40, Info CSI 000000a8 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32"\[l:22{11}]"console.dll"; source file in store is also corrupted 2010-12-05 16:34:40, Info CSI 000000a9 Ignoring duplicate ownership for directory [l:58{29}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32\nb-NO" in component Microsoft-Windows-comdlg32.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:10{5}]"nb-NO", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral I saw similar problems mentioning control.exe elsewhere in the CBS log, but again, it's way too large of a file to attach.

You have a serious problem on your hands there but don't dispair, all is not lost


The 1st. thing you need to do is back-up to removable storage all personal data on the PC. Don't forget serial numbers, passwords and the em account.

The 2nd. thing you need to do is to try a System Restore from a date before the problem started happening (you might get lucky). I'd do the back-up first though if I was you considering that it is someone else's PC.

If the Restore did not work, things get a little tricky without a repair install back to factory state, because there are some important Window files that have been damaged that sfc /scannow could not repair, which is often the case after a Melware infection and it's removal.

The next step is to determine exactly what those files are. Like I said, it's a bit tricky, but if you follow all the steps in the link from this point onward you should be fine

To determine which files could not be repaired by the System File Checker tool, follow these steps:

and after those steps, there follows instructions on how to replace them.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

See how you go.

Cheers,
Lee

Hi seanakaforty,

While Malwarebytes is a wonderful tool that is highly recommended for all users, it does not detect all types of malware.
For other detections the user would require a suitable Anti-Virus, online anti-virus scanning, and other advanced detection tools.

From what you've posted so far we know three things:

1. Some of the basic Windows functions are not working properly
2. At least one element of Malware was present on the machine (and by truism, when one is detected… suspect others)
3. We cannot at this time, verify that all elements of Malware have been removed

Therefore, please head on over to the Virus, Spyware & Malware Removal Forum for advanced assistance from one of our Specialists.

Read here: http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showtopic=106388

Post here: http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showforum=27

If you are still having difficulty with the Window system and functions after having confirmed with expert assistance that Malware is not functioning on this machine, please feel free to post back here for additional assistance from Lee and/or various of our Techs.

Best Regards