Start menu and All Programs: questions

This started out in the Acer Driver thread yesterday (which I resloved OK), but some other weird things are happening, so I started a new thread. Here's the deal: clean install of XP Pro SP2. I used some 'home made' recovery CD's (which started the driver problem and were not made by me) and now that I'm up and running, the Start menu isn't right and the All Programs list only has seven total things listed:
Set Program Access and Defaults
Windows Catalog
Windows Updates
-------------------------------------
Accessories
Start Up
Remote Assistance
Windows Movie Maker
That is the entire All Programs list! At the top left of the start menu, usually we have the blue 'e' for internet explorer. I have a globe; when clicked on it goes to Internet Properties (it doesn't go online). When I right click on it, I get only 2 choices (not the standard 3): Internet Properties and Remove From This List. In the earlier thread, Mr. Matacumbie offered this suggestion:
click Start > Run. Type 'regsvr32 /i shell32.dll', which I did, and it didn't chnage anything. SO, I'm back! Any help, ideas, links, or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! THANX!

hopperdave2000

The only way I could get online (easily) was to type the desired web site into the Run box, and then I created I desktop icon for that web site (Yahoo) for easy internet access.

 

Now you have it running have you tried going to the Windows tab in add remove programs and ticking a few more boxes in the components list?

Studio T

 

Make sure you are logged in as Admin, try the command again and restart the computer.

That has to fix it.

Steve

 

Studiot- I'm in the middle of Windows Update right now; I'll look into it when that finishes. You mean go to Add/Remove and using the Add Windows components button on the left side, right?

 

I am/was logged in as admin, there's only one 'user'. And I did reboot right afterwards. But I'll doube check the login status and try it again as soon as the updates are done.

hopperdave2000

 

OK. I have something else on it saved.....have to look for it. But that should work for you.

Steve

 

Here it is, http://windowsxp.mvps.org/AllPrograms.htm

Steve

 

Yes the normal way you add components to Windows, there may be only a few checked.
Don't forget the start menu is customisable as well.

try the simple things first.

Studio T

 

OK- the updates completed w/o incident. I went to Add/Remove and everything that I wanted was already checked, just not listed in the start menu. So I clicked next, inserted the CD when prompted... now I at least have the blue Internet Explorer 'e' and the 3 right-click options, and I can use it to go online, so that's a start anyway. I also now have the Games listed, and under Accessories>Entertainment, it added Sound Recorder and Sound Volume. But that's about it: no other changes. So I went back to Windows updates, and installed WMP10 (WMP11 wasn't even offered which I found strange), and it installed w/o any problems, but where the heck did it go? It's not listed in the start menu, not in All Programs, not in Entertainment. Not a huge deal 'cuz it should autorun when I insert a DVD or audio CD, but where the hell is it? Anyway, thanx for the help guys! I'm gettin' there, slowly but surely!

hopperdave2000

 

Who was the manufacturer of the custom Cd so I can avoid them?


Studio T

 

Hahaha!!! That's funny! It's an Acer laptop and I guess at some point it provided the user with an option to create some 'recovery' CD's. So the laptop's owner did this (and may or may not have done it correctly). Re-installing from these CD's was a nightmare of it's own; crashes and/or lock ups at 12%, 27%, 32%, etc... I finally picked thru the CD's on a different PC and merged some of those files with some XP Pro files onto seperate CD's and managed to get the job done. But none of the drivers were there and had to be downloaded from Acer. I'll never buy an Acer! Their web site was so slow, and half the time I had to go to Acer-Europe (i'm in the western US) to get the drivers 'cuz Acer-USA wouldn't open.... :banghead I'm gonna call it a day with this POS (piece of :crap)...
Thanx for all your help guys!

hopperdave2000