XP Pro System Information Tool not fully working

My System Information Tool is not fully working, display will be blank in some categories and display in others. Will not display anything in Hardware categories, will display everything in Components, it will not display Signed Drivers in Software Environment but will display other categories. Any have fix or idea what would cause this? :confused

 

Hi tds777, I am also using XP Pro, but I am not sure what you are clicking on...:confused Are you going into "Help & Support"?
what is your OS? Are you using XP or Vista, and what is the SP? (Sp1,2 or 3?)

 

OS/ XP Pro SP3, I've accessed it through; START> Accessories> System Tools> System Information, RUN>msinfo32, "Help & Support"> Use tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems>Advanced System Information. View detailed system information (Msinfo32.exe).

Seems like its lost its path to some of the information. I started using a program called Windows System Information v9.75 by HeidiR © 2008, it will do everything that Msinfo32.exe displays plus more and it displays all information. I worry when programs don't work, that something worse is on the way.
Msinfo32.exe does load up but only displays about 2/3 of the categories( just a blank category box where it ought to display information, all the column category's at the top show but box is blank).

 

Good Morning tds777. I also have XP PRO SP3. When you bring up "System Information" You should see on the left hand side, a list.. On that list, there are "+" signs.. You have to click the "+" to expand and access the rest of your components... Yes, they are there, you just have to click the "+" on any category to see the information. Example:

System Information
+Hardware Resources
+components
+Software Environment

Now, to see anything under "System Information", you have to click the "+" to expand that field... All your components are filed under those "+" marks... Let me know, I have the same system.. On System Information, it gives the basics... The more detailed info is in the "+".... I Hope this helps...

 

TeeCee,
I've attached some screenshots so you can see what I mean by blank screen

 

I can see now what you are talking about.. Thanks for the screen shots... I think you are going to have to talk to Microsoft on this one.. May be something simple as it is hidden, and you may just need a tweak to find it.. Mine is showing all the info, and the only thing I have found, is to contact Microsoft for a hotfix, Microsoft Article ID: 813907 obviously, it has been a problem in some systems.... Here is the link, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/813907 Looks like there have been others. Do keep us posted...

 

Tried the MS Hotfix no change I'm LooKing for a answer.

 

I will enlist the help of some others here, as I haven't got a clue now.. I do wonder, tho, if you have some type of malware preventing it from showing.... Will see what I can find out... What antivirus are you using? It for sure sounds like you have some issues...

 

TeeCee,
I have Bit Defender Internet Security 2008, install and running all the time, along with Malwarebytes full version and Ad Aware Anniversary Edition they are all updated and I have ran scans on my system they come back clean.

I’m using MS Office Enterprise Edition and it may have caused this problem, through a MS update in July, for some reason I started to get DCOM Event Error 10024 in Event Viewer, The machine wide group policy Access Limits security descriptor is invalid. The security descriptor is defined as an invalid Security Descriptor Definitions Language (SDDL) string. The requested action was therefore not performed. Please contact your administrator to get the security descriptor corrected in the Group Policy settings. I finally found out that, From a newsgroup post: "The problem was in the "DCOM: Machine Access Restrictions" and "DCOM: Machine Launch Restrictions". These had been modified and not even the Admins could change them back through gpedit.msc. It caused all sorts of problems. I tried all the solutions from the web to no result. After a lot of research I found the registry settings that alter this. They are:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\windows NT\dcom\machineaccessrestriction
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\windows NT\dcom\machinelaunchrestriction

These 2 keys should not be there by default so on a PC they can be deleted.
After I deleted the 2 key DCOM errors went away.

My msinfo got messed up at this time also. And in my Registry I found this

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSInfo
ab Default REG_SZ (value not set)
ab Path REG_SZ C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSInfo\MSInfo32.exe
I wonder if permissions is causing the problem?

 

Also ini my Registry under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSInfo
MS Office Enterprise Edition has set up 9 application keys

 

Hi tds777, that may very well be the culprit... I will see if I can find someone to help you with the "HKEY" keys, because I have gone thru mine many times, and I don't even see that, but I don't have

program that you have... Hang on, I'll see if anyone is around that can help with this...

 

Open a cmd window and try this - (copy and paste)

msinfo32 /categories +all -loadedmodule

If that rectifies the problem then open the properties of the System Information link in Start menu and substitute it for the existing msinfo32.exe. You may need to add a closing " if the existing command starts with one.

 

Editing the above - you can't c&p into a command window - sorry - so be sure to get the syntax exact.

 

Thank You Earthling,
Tried it , said unrecognized command, I'll be gone for a few days. Maybe some one will think of something else to try. I'm sure it has some to do with MS Office Enterprise Edition, I had to do something with it about a week ago, update or repair, I can't remember and msinfo32 worked until restart. Thanks, to all for help, maybe somebody will think of something else while I'm away.

 

OK, that's because in XP the folder msinfo.exe resides in is not in the default path. Sorry about that - I'd tested it in Vista. In the command window navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Msinfo
and try it again.

 

Do not fully understand, tried it from, RUN>cmd, Then after command window opened, I put, C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Msinfo>Enter.
Came back with unrecognizable Command, entry or Batch entry. Then I tried
RUN>cmd, Then after command window opened, I put, C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Msinfo\msinfo32 /categories +all -loadedmodule>Enter, came back with thesame answer.

 

It's the old DOS syntax that's getting in your way -

cd \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Msinfo <Enter>

The prompt will change and you are now in the Msinfo folder. Now -

msinfo32 /categories +all -loadedmodule <Enter>

It's a whole lot of typing, let's hope it sorts it

 

It worked that time, but Msinfo32 still coming up with blank screens like in screenshots below

 

It was just a shot in the dark. I wonder if this other System Info program you have installed is implicated. Did you install it before or after this problem became evident?

 

I thought the same thing, but haven't uninstalled either yet cause they work. I actually have 2, one did install in my programs menu, "EVEREST Home Edition"
the other just resides in a folder, "System Info v9.75",Author: HeidiR from autoit.net., you just unzip and copy the .exe and .chm file to any folder and run. No additional installation is required. Maybe one other other could be affecting Msinfo32. I can't remember if it was working or not, but it seems strange that they will gather System Info that Msinfo32 will not.

 

Uninstalled "EVEREST Home Edition" System Information , no change, Msinfo32 still not fully working.

"System Info v9.75" not a installed program all I can do with it is delete it.

 

I can get Msinfo32 to work using a strange method; I’m still trying to resolve this problem. I was checking out the shortcut in my Programs Menu and System Information (Msinfo32) right click/Properties pointed to C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\msinfo.DLL. So I opened Msinfo32 from shortcut in Programs menu and opened Msinfo32.exe at C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache, with them both running at the same time it will work. I’ve got some screen shots, anybody have a idea how this would make it work or a fix to get back to normal?

 

Still trying to get help with this, anyone have a idea? TeeCee are you still around? :confused

 

Hi tds777, yes, I am still here, but I have no idea what is going on in your situation.. i don't mess with DLL's, so hopefully someone who does know about them will come along and explain a little further....

Yes, I am also confused.:confused You can open them both, and it works fine? I have no idea, and have been searching for a solution for you, but so far, I am coming up blank....

Like I said, hang in there, someone will be along that DOES know about this stuff, and help you with it.. I am sure it will be some small thing that neither of us have even thought of.... Hopefully, soon

 

Thanks

 

Finally found out what is blocking Msinfo and kept it from functioning fully. BitDefender's Real-Time virus scanner, I can disable and Msinfo will work perfect, Bitdefender's solution is to upgrade to Bitdefender 2010. But reading their forums it is nothing but more buggy problems, I'll live BD 2008 and disable it to use Msinfo.rolleyesrolleyesrolleyes

 

couldn't view your pics very well, so here's my WAG (Wild A** Guess). you're not talking about .nfo files, are you? i'm under XP Home and IT wants to go looking on the web for something to open them. i have an .nfo viewer/editor (GetDiz; also can use NFOPad, just google either one) or right click and open with notepad.

if that's NOT what you're talking about (i didn't read all the messages in detail), just ignore this.

 

Hello there! Can you tweak Bitdefender to bypass your Msinfo? I don't use
Bitdefender myself, but seems you should be able to tweak it to not scan your Msinfo... I am glad you found it tho.. That one had me going bug-eyed for a while LOL Congrats on finding the culprit.