Missing buttons from Add or Remove Programs applet in Control Panel

Hi all, I need help with a problem. In Control Panel, whenever I open Add or Remove Programs, the button(s) for Change and/or Remove the program are missing. Hovering the mouse in the space where they should be and clicking in that area does nothing. Clicking the Show Updates box has no effect . I have not added any unusual programs recently and don't really know when exactly the problem first occurred. I have checked for viruses and malware with Zonealarm Security Suite, Webroot Spy Sweeper and Windows Defender but nothing beyond the usual tracker cookies has turned up. I have not made any manual changes to the registry. Thanks in advance for your help. System specs: Windows XP home SP2 Pentium 4 CPU 3.0 GHz 2.50 GB Ram

Hello Rdaneel,

Although you may have not made a change to the registry, something may have been changed. To resolve the issue, download the Restore Change or Remove Programs from line 337 (second column) from the following page:
Troubleshooting Windows XP, Tweaks and Fixes for Windows XP

Save the file to your desktop, double-click it, and click Yes at the prompt to confirm merging the data to the registry.

A note on the linked page: It's from Kelly's Korner, Kelly is a Microsoft MVP and has a wide assortment of Windows scripts to help resolve an even greater assortment of windows problems.

Let me know how it goes,

Ax

Hey Ax238, Thanks for the response. I tried your suggestion but there was no change in the applet.

Try running the Windows File Protection System File Checker:
Go to Start | Run, type sfc /scannow (notice the space in front of "/"), and press Enter

This will open a progress panel for Windows Protected Files Manager and show the progress as your Operating System files are scanned for "missing or corrupted" files.

If SFC does identify missing or corrupted Operating System files, it may ask you to insert your Windows XP installation CD so a fresh copy of the correct file can be copied and pasted into the system files. If you do not have your Windows XP installation CD, or if errors in the process occur, please post back with specifics or questions.

SFC scan and replacements take about 8-12 minutes depending upon the size of your file tree and the speed of your CPU/RAM. If SFC opens and then closes within a few seconds or under one minute, it did not complete and must be repeated.

Sometimes, a second scan run of SFC is necessary, even if SFC completes the first time, in order to replace all missing or corrupted files. If SFC completes, you can safely run it a second time for good measure.

Regards,

Ax

I also have recenlty discovered the same exact problem with my add/remove buttons and have not made any changes to my registry. I tried the suggested fixes to no avail, any further assistance would be much appreciated.

Ax238, I tried to run the sfc but it wants me to insert an XP SP2 CD (it actually asks for the Pro version but I have Windows XP Home). Unfortunately, this pc only came with the nearly useless restoration CD. I tried that but it didn't work. If I can borrow an original XP Home CD will that work?

You can try that, I've known it to work if nothing else is available. I have been under the assumption that it is affecting all entries, otherwise please let me know if only some entries are missing buttons.

Also, maybe check out the following fix:
missing add/remove programs option

Please post back if you need help with it.

Regards,

Ax

Hi Ax238, The sfc option kept asking for a Windows CD eventhough I borrowed one. Strangely, if I clicked cancel to loading the cd, then click yes to skipping the file, it would go back to requesting that the Windows CD be loaded. This would continue for several cycles until I gave up in frustration. I'm going to try your other link and will let you know how that goes. I am confused about Step 2 with editting the registry, however. What needs to be done in the registry?

Please read through the following article for assistance with the SFC issue:
scannow sfc - LEARN how to use SFC.EXE (system file checker) in this article!

As for the link I gave you and what needs to be done in the registry, it tells you step-by-step what needs to be done.

Regards,

Ax

Try this registry fix:
Click Start, Run and type REGEDIT. This starts the Registry Editor. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SOFTWARE
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Uninstall
\"Program Name"

"Program Name" can be any of the ones listed, like Adobe Flash Player or AVG

In the right-pane, do the following:

Double-click NoRemove (REG_DWORD) and set it to 0
Double-click NoModify (REG_DWORD) and set it to 0

If NoRemove is set to 1, the Remove button will be unavailable
If NoModify is set to 1, the Change button will be unavailable

Above from http://www.winxptutor.com/arpbuttons.htm

Link posted by Alex here: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1188126620?s

Note: Before making the above change, export the key so you can restore it if necessary or better yet, install ERUNT and create a full registry backup then recovery, if needed, is easy.

Hi Ax238, Sorry for the delayed response; non-pc life gets in the way some times. Anyway, I went into Regedit and did not like what I found there. Only 5 actual programs are listed out of 22 references. In Add or Remove Programs there are 75 programs! Where are they? This problem is becoming more annoying with each step. BTW, of those 75 programs, 17 show a combination of the Change, Remove or Change/Remove buttons. Of those 17, only 4 are listed in the Uninstall folder. Could the uninstall programs be in some other folder? I checked the Windows NT folder but it does not contain an Uninstall folder.

That is very odd indeed. I'm not sure they would be in a different folder, as these entries don't normally move around in the registry. We could take a look to see what we have:

• Download REGFind from the Windows 2000 Resource Kit Tools listing
• Unzip the file to C:\Windows\system32 or similar
• Go to Start | Run, type cmd and press Enter
• Copy the following command (by highlighting and clicking Ctrl-C):

  regfind -p HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall -n DisplayName > "%userprofile%\Desktop\Uninstall Keys.txt"

• Click the [external image: Posted Image] image button in the upper left portion of the command prompt window title bar and choose Edit | Paste
• You'll now see a file called "Uninstall Keys" on your desktop, attach this file to your next post in the thread (please do attach it as a file, rather than copying and pasting the data)

Otherwise, you may want to try doing a system restore to a point prior to when you started experiencing this issue:

• Go toStart | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools and click System Restore
• Follow the instructions in the wizard
• Choose a restore point prior to when you first noticed the problem
• Your system will be restarted and an attempt will be made to restore the computer to this point

Please post the outcome of the system restore, as well as your system's status.

Regards,

Ax

Hi Ax, I experienced exactly the same problem as Rdaneel. I tried your last suggestion, the System Restore, and it did the trick! My husband removed Nokia PC suite a few days ago, I didn't know that this was when the problem started, but when I restored the system to the day before he removed the Nokia PC suite, everything went back to normal. Thanks Ax! Very helpful indeed!!! Regards, Ve

Hello Ve and welcome to WTT, That's great, I'm glad to hear it! Thanks for signing up to post, it is very much appreciated. This is the reason we keep these forums open, so it can be a benefit to all who experience the same issues. Regards, Ax

If you look in the registry and see a lot of entries not being shown by Add or Remove, then one or more of the entries has a value for "DisplayIcon" with a invalid or negative number.

This is generally due to the DisplayIcon having a negative number. Open Regedit. From there you can either remove the negative number or remove the last application listed:
Start/Run/Regedi
Navigate to:: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{}
Check the value of DisplayIcon for every entry.
Simply right click and choose Modify on the value DisplayIcon and remove the negative number.
Be sure to check all entries.

If you have AutoCad installed, this too can cause the issue:
Autocad Fix:: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits…ddremovefix.zip
AutoCad Land Desktop Fix:: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits…ddremovefix.zip