[Help & Support] Frequently Asked Problems (FAQ) with Solutions

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Before posting about your problem, we advise you to go through following FAQ list:

This topic contains solutions for some common and frequently asked computer problems. Just follow the instructions and it’ll help you in troubleshooting your PC problem.

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Table of Contents

Q. 1. In my Windows Task Manager, Registry Editor or Tools -> Folder Options have been disabled. I’m getting warning message that “It has been disabled by Administrator”. How can I enable it again?

Task_Manager_Disabled_2.jpg

Solution: Please visit following articles:

How to Fix “Task Manager has been Disabled by Your Administrator”?

How to Enable Tools -> Folder Options and Registry Editor in Windows

If any other Windows component like RUN, Desktop Properties, System Properties, etc has been disabled, then you can check following link:

Ultimate List of All Kinds of User Restrictions for Windows

Q. 2. Whenever I double-click on any drive or folder in My Computer, a Search window opens.

Solution: Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now go to following keys one by one:

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HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell

In right-side pane, delete the “Default” key. If it doesn’t work then delete the key “find” under both above mentioned keys.

Q. 3. Whenever I double-click on any drive in My Computer, “Open with” dialog box opens OR I get following error message:

Cannot find copy.exe. Make sure you have typed the name correctly and then try again.

Solution: Enable “Show hidden files” option in “Tools -> Folder Options” and then search for “Autorun.inf” file in all drives and if you get them in root of any drive (e.g. in C:, D:, etc), delete them.

Q. 4. Whenever I double-click on any folder in My Computer, it opens in a new window even I have selected the option “Always open folders in same window” in “Tools -> Folder Options”.

Solution: Download following zip file, extract it and then run .REG file:

Download Link

Q. 5. Whenever I open a folder, another folder with the same name is created under it.

Solution: Your system is infected by a variant of Indonesian virus called Brontok/Rontokbro. It creates a sub-folder in a folder with same name. Please follow the instructions given in following topic:

[Virus Removal] Is Your Computer Infected with Virus, Spyware, Adware or Trojan?

Q. 6. Whenever I start my computer, My Documents or My Computer window opens automatically at Windows startup.

Solution: Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon

In right-side pane, change value of “Userinit” to:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,

NOTE: If you have installed Windows in any other drive, then replace C: with correct drive label in above text string.

Now go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Advanced

In right-side pane, change value of “PersistBrowsers” to 0

Now log off Windows and it should solve the problem.

Q. 7. When I start my computer, I get NTLDR Missing error message:

NTLDR is missing

OR

Boot: Couldn’t find NTLDR

Solution: Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into “Recovery Console” by pressing “R“. Now Log into Windows installation and enter Administrator password. Now run following commands at Command Prompt:

copy X:\i386\ntldr C:\
copy X:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\

Here “X” is your CD drive letter, change it according to your system.

Q. 8. When I start my computer, I get hal.dll error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.

Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Solution: Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into “Recovery Console” by pressing “R“. Now Log into Windows installation and enter Administrator password. Now run following commands at Command Prompt:

Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini
Del C:\Boot.ini
BootCfg /Rebuild
Fixboot

Q. 9. When I start my computer, I get “System” file error message:

“Windows\System32\config\system” file missing or corrupt.

Solution: Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into “Recovery Console” by pressing “R“. Now Log into Windows installation and enter Administrator password. Now run following commands at Command Prompt:

copy C:\Windows\Repair\system C:\Windows\System32\Config\

If it doesn’t work, then again boot into “Recovery Console” and run following commands:

fixmbr
bootcfg /scan
bootcfg /rebuild
fixboot

Q. 10. I have Windows 2000, XP or Server 2003 installed in my system and yesterday I installed Windows 98 over it, after that I’m not able to boot into Windows 2000, XP or Server 2003. I’m not getting option to select the OS at startup.

Solution: Windows 98 has overwritten the boot loader. Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into “Recovery Console” by pressing “R“. Now Log into Windows installation and enter Administrator password. Now give following commands at Command Prompt:

fixmbr
bootcfg /scan
bootcfg /rebuild
fixboot

Q. 11. When I start my system, I’m getting 2 entries for Windows XP in the boot loader. How can I remove the duplicate entry?

OR

How can I change the default OS in Windows boot loader?

OR

How can I change the OS entry labels in Windows boot loader?

OR

How can I change the boot loader time? Its set to 30 seconds and I want to change it.

Solution: There are several way. You can follow any of following:

A. Type “sysdm.cpl” in RUN dialog box and press <Enter>. Now go to “Advanced” tab and click on “Settings” button in “Startup & Recovery” section. Now click on “Edit” button and then you can edit the boot loader time, labels, etc.

B. Type “msconfig” in RUN dialog box and go to “Boot.ini” tab and then you can change the desired thing. If you want to remove the corrupt/non-working entries, then click on “Check all boot paths” button.

C. Enable “Show hidden files/folders” and disable “Hide protected system files” options in “Tools -> Folder Options“. Now open C: drive and remove the READ-ONLY attribute of “BOOT.INI” file from its Properties. Now open this file and then you can make your desired changes.

For detailed information, you can visit following tutorial:

How to Add “Safe Mode” Option to Windows Boot Loader?

Q. 12. Whenever I start my computer, ScanDisk starts automatically even I proper shut down the PC.

Solution: Please do as following:

A. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

In right-side pane, change the value of BootExecute to:

autocheck autochk *

B. If the above trick doesn’t help then give following commands in Command Prompt:

chkntfs /x drive_letter

for example, if ScanDisk runs automatically for C: and D: drives, then give following commands one by one:

chkntfs /x C:
chkntfs /x D:

Q. 13. When I start my computer, I get following error message:

CMOS checksum error, defaults loaded.

Solution: Open your computer cabinet and look for a small coin-sized battery attached in motherboard. Replace it with a new one.

For detailed information, check out point 1 in following tutorial:

How to Reset / Remove / Bypass Forgotten BIOS or CMOS Password?

Q. 14. In Yahoo! Messenger, whenever I send a message or I receive a message, I can’t see the content in chat window. The chat window is blank.

Solution: Please download Windows Script using following links:

If you are using Windows Vista or later, it already comes with Windows Script preinstalled. You just need to execute following command in RUN or Command Prompt:

regsvr32 vbscript.dll

Q. 15. I reinstalled my Windows and now “Stand By” option is grayed out (disabled) in shutdown dialog box and I can’t use it.

Solution: Install VGA driver or your graphics card driver using your motherboard CD and the option will be enabled. If you don’t have the motherboard CD, you can go to the manufacturer website and download the required drivers.

Q. 16. My Windows Login Screen has changed to “Classic Logon Box”. I want the new Welcome Screen back.

Solution: Please visit following article:

Enable / Disable Welcome Screen, Log Off and Shut Down Dialog Box in Windows XP

Q. 17. A strange process “ctfmon.exe” always runs in background and if I click on “End Process” button, it restarts automatically.

Solution: Please visit following article:

How to Remove Suspicious CTFMON.EXE Process Running in Background in Windows?

Q. 18. I just noticed that all my Mozilla Firefox web browser Bookmarks have gone. The bookmarks list is empty. How can I get them back?

Solution: Type “%appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles” in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now click on “xxxx.default” folder (where xxxx will be random numbers and characters). Now open “bookmarkbackups” folder and you’ll get your bookmarks there. Now you can import them in Mozilla Firefox again.

Also check following tutorial:

Best Method to Backup Mozilla Firefox Bookmarks Without Using Any Extension

Q. 19. My Windows is showing some wrong icons of files. How can I reset the corrupted icons and restore default icons?

Solution: You can use any of following methods:

Method A:

Download TweakUI from here and then click on “Repair Icons” in “Repair” section.

Method B:

Open My Computer and go to:

C:\Documents and Settings\User_Name\Local Settings\Application Data

Replace C: with your system drive and “user_Name” with your username.

There will be a HIDDEN file “iconcache.db“, delete it and restart your system.

PS: In newer Windows versions, the file iconcache.db will be present in %userprofile%\AppData\local folder.

Method C:

You can also try to increase icon cache size using following method:

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

2. In right-side pane, look for Max Cached Icons string. By default, its value is set to 500.

3. Double-click on the string and change its value to 2048

Actually the value of this String is set into KB. You can set its value anywhere between 100 to 8192 which means 100KB to 8MB.

4. Restart your computer and it should fix the problem.

Q. 20. I’m using Windows XP and my Desktop icons are showing an ugly background rectangle behind their text labels. How can I make the text transparent again?

Solution: Type “sysdm.cpl” in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now go to “Advanced” tab, click on “Setting” button in “Performance” section and enable the option “Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop“.

Q. 21. I’m using Windows XP and suddenly the Common tasks stopped showing in left-side pane of Windows Explorer.

Solution: Open “Tools -> Folder Options” and enable the option “Show Common Tasks in folders“.

Q. 22. Whenever I right-click on Start button and select “Open” option, a “Copy To” or “Move To” dialog box opens.

Solution: The solution given in following tutorial will fix this problem:

[Solution] “Play All” Option Opens “Copy Items” and “Move Items” Dialog Box

Q. 23. I can’t see Hidden files and folders in my computer. Even if I enable the option “Show hidden files and folders” in “Tools -> Folder Options”, it automatically gets disabled.

Solution: Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden

Under this key, you’ll see 2 more keys “NOHIDDEN” and “SHOWALL“. Make sure that the values of “CheckedValue” and “DefaultValue” in right-side pane are “2” and “2” for “NOHIDDEN” and “1” and “2” for “SHOWALL” respectively. If its not so, then change them and you’ll be able to enable/disable these options in “Folder Options”.

You can also toggle Hide and unhide settings using registry by going to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Advanced

In right-side pane, change value of “Hidden” to:

1 – To show hidden files
2 – To not show hidden files

Q. 24. I accidentally deleted “mspaint.exe”, “notepad.exe” or any other system file, how can I get it back?

Solution: You can use any of following methods:

A. Go to “C:\Windows\System32\DLLCache” folder and look for the file, if its there, copy it to “C:\Windows\System32” folder.

B. Insert your Windows Setup CD and go to “I386” folder. Now you can extract desired DLL, EXE or any other file using built-in expand command or 7-Zip as mentioned in following tutorials:

How to Include Your Edited System Files in Windows Setup ISO?

How to Extract / Copy System Files from Windows Setup?

Now you can copy the file to “C:\Windows\System32” folder.

C. You can also use built-in SFC command to restore all default system files. Just run following command in Command Prompt:

sfc /SCANNOW

It’ll automatically restore all missing or corrupted system files. You can check out method 4 here for details.

Q. 25. Whenever I set “Thumbnails” view in Windows Explorer, the files are not shown as thumbnails.

Solution: Please visit following article:

[FIX] Windows Explorer Doesn’t Show Thumbnail Previews in Windows Vista and 7

Windows XP users can also try following commands in RUN dialog box:

regsvr32 shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 thumbvw.dll
regsvr32 shimgvw.dll

Restart your computer and your problem will be solved.

Q. 26. Whenever I open Windows Search in Windows XP, the Search companion window opens blank.

Solution 1: Open RUN dialog box and provide following commands one by one:

regsvr32 /i %windir%\srchasst\srchui.dll
regsvr32 %windir%\system32\jscript.dll

Restart your computer and your problem will be solved.

Solution 2: Type %systemroot%\inf command in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It’ll open a new window. Look for a file “Srchasst.inf“. Right-click on it and select “Install” option.

Q. 27. Whenever I try to install updates using Windows Update or try to update MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) or Windows Defender programs, I get following error message:

Windows Update cannot search for updates.
Error number: 0x80248015

Solution: Most of the times this problem occurs when the system date and time is not correct. So make sure the date/time and time zone is set correctly in your Windows.

Q. 28. I have forgotten my Administrator account password in Windows. How can I reset, recover or change the password?

Solution: Please check following article:

How to Reset / Recover / Change Forgotten Administrator Password in Windows?

Q. 29. I don’t know the BIOS or CMOS password of my computer system. How to reset, remove or bypass BIOS or CMOS password?

Solution: Please check following article:

How to Reset / Remove / Bypass Forgotten BIOS or CMOS Password?

Q. 30. In my computer suddenly all EXE files started opening with Notepad or any other program. Or when I try to open an EXE file, an “Open with” dialog box is shown to choose the program. How to fix this problem?

Solution: Please check following article:

[Solution] EXE Files Always Open with Notepad or Other Applications

Q. 31. Whenever I copy a new file in a folder, Windows automatically changes folder view type. It doesn’t remember my customized view type for any folder. How to fix this annoying folder view type problem in Windows?

Solution: Please check following article:

How to Fix Annoying Folder View Type Change Problem in Windows

Q. 32. Fonts in window titlebar and other areas look bold and italic. Or the fonts on screen are blurry and very hard to read. How to fix bold, italic or blurry font problem in Windows?

Solution: Please check following articles:

[Fix] Bold and Italic Font Problem in Windows

[Fix] Bold, Blurry or Hard to Read Font Problem in Windows 8.1

Q. 33. My optical drives such as CD/DVD drive are not showing in My Computer window. How to show them?

Solution: Please check following article:

[FIX] Optical Drives (CD/DVD) Icon Not Showing in My Computer Window

Q. 34. The hibernate option in my Windows Vista is no longer available. How can I get it back?

Solution: Please check following article:

How to Re-enable Missing Hibernate Option in Windows Vista?

Q. 35. In my Windows whenever I open Task Manager, it doesn’t show window borders, titlebar and caption buttons. How to reset it to default settings?

Solution: Please check following article:

[Fix] No Border in Task Manager Window, How to Get Menubar and Titlebar Back?

If your problem was not listed above, check out our exclusive “Troubleshooting” section which should definitely contain a working solution for your problem.

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Hi VG, My Second office desktop PC is an i5 gen 11 motherboard with16MB RAM running Windows 11 Pro with all updates installed. It has a NVIDIA GeForce GTX1050 graphics display using the native resolution for the LENOVO 28 inch monitor. The issue I have is that the lock screen image is displaying in low resolution at windows startup. I have tried all fixes I could outlined in google searches, however the resolution is still low for the lock screen image. Do you have a possible solution please.

  2. ^^ Did you try to change lock screen image? Try to set it as a Picture instead of slideshow or spotlight.

  3. Thank you for responding VG. Yes, all images I have chosen from the default images available, display in low resolution set as a picture or slideshow. My default setting is Picture as I do not use the Slideshow feature. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the graphics driver as well.

  4. ^^ When you sign in and lock the PC using WIN+L key, does the lock screen background image still display in low resolution?

  5. When I use WIN+L. the lock screen displays the image perfectly in the correct resolution. It then reverts back to low resolution for the sign in screen.

  6. Hi again VG, further to your above question and my subsequent answer, I have just resolved the issue myself. I checked to see if the transparency effect toggle switch in [Settings]-[Personalization]-[Color] was on or off. It was actually off. However I turned the transparency toggle on and the off again and it resolved the issue. Thank you for your valued assistance, your last response gave me an insight to the problem. Ivan

  7. I believe I have inadvertently removed the security tab on a file folder residing on an external drive. I get an error message when I try to open the folder. Windows says I dont have the correct permissions to access the file now. My initial research led me to install the NoSecurityTab in the register. Subsequent research has led me to believe the Take ownership download might work for this issue. Could you please advise if my issue could be resolved by this download?

  8. Will you please recommend a software program for backing up windows 10 to an external SSD?

  9. ^^ Why not use the built-in Backup functionality?

    support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/backup-and-restore-in-windows-352091d2-bb9d-3ea3-ed18-52ef2b88cbef#WindowsVersion=Windows_10

  10. Is it possible to edit the Facebook shortcut bar on my Desktop PC. The Marketplace icon has been replaced by the gaming icon. I am unable to change it back or find a way to edit the shortcut bar. This applies to the Desktop version of Facebook only.

  11. The very top bar that has the search box, the Home, Friends, Watch, Groups and next is the Gaming Icon which originally the Marketplace icon. I would like to remove the Gaming icon and replace it with the original Marketplace icon. On the far right is the Menu , Messenger, Notifications and Account icons.

  12. Hi,
    I would like to remove MS Office ads in Windows 11 22H2 Settings.

    flic.kr/ps/42RTN4

  13. Thank you VG!

    It worked for one ad. The only solution for “Microsoft 365 View benefits” on Settings main page is to buy Windows 11 Pro for Workstations as much as I found so far.
    Pretty expensive way to get rid of one ad 🙂

  14. Sir, I used to run Outlook 2016. As you can see my emails go to gmail.com. Last year gmail decided to end this facility with MS. In spite of following every instruction ever published I am unable to reconstruct this facility. I find gmail a useless platform for emails compared to Outlook which was far from top class but it worked. Have you or one of your skilled contributors can answer to this problem. I am not skilled but even at 80 years old I can follow good written instructions. Instructions from the US have very poor logic and seem to be written by children mostly .Help would be greatly appreciated.
    Many Thanks for your time Paul

  15. Explorer patcher the latest version is not compatible with windows 11 22h2. In other words it is compatible with windows 11 22h2 but not with the Moment 4 update that just came out on the 26th of this month. It Crashes windows explorer after you restart you’re faced with a black screen But you have use of your mouse and keyboard and you can hit control alt delete and get into task manager but windows explorer is not there so you can’t get back into windows. The only way around this is to hit the sign out option of windows where it brings you to the section where you type in your windows password. and then press and hold the shift key and restart the computer into the blue troubleshooting page and from there is a section to uninstall most recent update. and when you do that it uninstalls the moment 4 update and lets you back into windows. Has anyone else had this problem? Do you guys have a fix for it? Maybe I just didn’t have the latest version of Explorer patcher. Is it compatible with Moment 4?

    Thank you!!

  16. ^^ When a new Windows 11 version or major update releases, ExplorerPatcher developer needs to update the program to make it compatible with new Windows version. Since Moment 4 update comes with redesigned Windows Explorer based on WinUI 3, ExplorerPatcher stopped working for it.

    The developer has released a preview version of ExplorerPatcher which is compatible with Moment 4 update. You can download it from official download page:

    github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/releases

    In coming days, the same version will be released to all users.

  17. Does anybody know how to permanently delete Bitdefender VPN. Which always come back after a restart. Regards T W Jones

  18. I use LastPass Password Manager in Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit. Every time I launch LastPass, I have to manually enter my username and password to open the vault. Is it possible to set up two hot keys, one for the username and the other for the password, so I don’t have to manually type my credentials into those fields? Thank you! Jeff Meyers

  19. Hai,
    I am using Dell Laptop with windows 11 os. It’s been a few days now that when I play media on my laptop through the speaker and head phone, I can’t hear the audio. But when the volume is full, the warning sound is heard. Can you tell me why this problem and what is its solution

  20. ^^ Did you try to play the media file using any other media player program? It might be possible that the volume is muted in the app and that’s why you can’t hear any sound from the media file.

  21. Yes, i used different media player like vlc, kmp, foobar, etc. but no use. I checked with full volume unmuted.

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