Vista - Cannot Open Contol Pantel or "Properties" of "Computer"

USMC2Hard4U

Supreme [H]ardness
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Apr 4, 2003
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Well, about an hour into my Vista Expirance... maybe after my 4th or 5th reboot... I couldnt open Control Panel. No error or anything.. just you see a small window where control pantel should be, then closes in less than 1 second. If you try to right click on My Computer, then go to properties (to see like computer info) it dosent do anything at all....

?

So I format.... everything is Good to go.. and at a totally different time, before I even load any drivers... same deal. No Control Panel or anything.

I tried pressing F8 and trying Disable Driver signature enforcement and it worked for 1 reboot... now again, no control panel... ?

WTF?

Thanks
 
Set the overclock in your sig back to default before installing?
A Mobo BIOS update available?
Innecessary peripherals disconnected whilst installing?


Just thoughts. It sounds like a hardware related glitch of some sort or other.
 
Its just weird because everything works fine for a while, then at random points, I cant access any of the Vista System properties ie. Control Panel.

I always install on a non overclocked system, always use official drivers for my hardware unless none are available. ie. The Forceware drivers for my Graphics card are not WHQL certified.

Im just at a loss.
 
Using the default display driver doesn't help? More I think about it the more it seems like it must be display driver related, to be honest. Nothing else does this?


I had a similar experience with Outlook a day or two back. The thing went black and ended up locking up and requiring me to shut it down. I ahd a few updates and installation which were awaiting a restart, though, and I suspect that had something to do with it. Haven't seen the behaviour since.


For the record, Vista installed fine on my own (dual-core S939) rig, with the overclock still in place. This 'used to be an X2 4200' hasn't been clocked back since the day I dropped it in the system :D
 
There's gotta be some combination of conditions triggering it, or there'd be more reports of it floating about.

You got any software installed which might be triggering it? Any settings tweaked? Does a system restore correct it like it has for one fella there?

Bugger of a glitch, for sure. Bloody unusable system that is! Damn.
 
I have installed no software, other than drivers

And after all the drivers were installed, the control panel and system properties worked just fine... But after about 2 or 3 reboots, it just stopped working.
 
I have the same problem. Using Ultimate with P5B - Deluxe and E6600 @ 3.6G. When I drop back to 2.4G, I have'nt had the problem yet.
 
That error code is new for VISTA and means STATUS_HEAP_CORRUPTION. Its most likely due to shell extensions. Installing old apps that create context menus or control panel applets or thumbnail imaging etc. Its not going to be easy to trace that one down I don't think. Most software vendors are a lot leaner than they were ten years ago. Meaning that it will take them much longer to come out with Vista versions. Not much money in writing apps anymore.
 
That error code is new for VISTA and means STATUS_HEAP_CORRUPTION. Its most likely due to shell extensions. Installing old apps that create context menus or control panel applets or thumbnail imaging etc. Its not going to be easy to trace that one down I don't think. Most software vendors are a lot leaner than they were ten years ago. Meaning that it will take them much longer to come out with Vista versions. Not much money in writing apps anymore.

Do you believe overclocking or hardware combination has any being on the problem?
 
No I dont think overclocking has anything to do with it, this looks like a plain and simple Vista Bug. It should report a more meaningfull error message. Explorer shutting down because it got some shell code to run and couldn't seems a bit harsh. Id look over the list of apps you have installed that have shell extensions and then figure out which one causes the issue. That might be tough since all apps seem to have shell add ins these days. If your right click menus are ok and its a control panel only type issue that may narrow it down. Do any of your apps create control panel specific extensions?
 
I will tell you how I fixed this.... And I dont know why it matters. I installed Windows Ultimate vice buisness... and no problems lol
 
I will tell you how I fixed this.... And I dont know why it matters. I installed Windows Ultimate vice buisness... and no problems lol

I am using Ultimate 32-bit OEM. Are you saying that you switched from Business to Ultimate?

The only way I can overcome the problem is to drop back to 2.4G.

All services are as shipped. Using all MS-provided drivers. Only application loaded is Office 2003; no third-party utilities. I've been trying different combinations from day one, about 2 weeks ago.
 
I encountered this when I disabled the Software Licensing service; once i restarted it, I could access the Control Panel again.
 
Interesting. Its possible it is a drawing related bug. If you get the error beyong 2.4G but not at 2.4G, the OS could be trying to do something before it was ready if you know what I mean. But then this bug should show up if you use a faster CPU. I dont have this issue in Vista but then all I have installed is Office. And Office has a lot of shell extensions. Im at 3.2G on a QX6700.
 
Interesting. Its possible it is a drawing related bug. If you get the error beyong 2.4G but not at 2.4G, the OS could be trying to do something before it was ready if you know what I mean. But then this bug should show up if you use a faster CPU. I dont have this issue in Vista but then all I have installed is Office. And Office has a lot of shell extensions. Im at 3.2G on a QX6700.

I took the advice of an individual on MS TechNet site who suggested uninstalling/reinstalling the video driver. Was using MS-provided video driver for my Radeon X1300XT. Uninstalled the MS driver and loaded ATI Driver Version 8.333.0.0 dated 1/8/07. Rebooted, set resolution and it appears to be working. In the past access was intermittent so if I can make it thru a few days without loosing access to the control panel I'd say it's resolved for me. As of late, today, I was consistantly locked out of the control panel at 3.6G so to gain access with a planned change like this is promising.
 
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