Right click My Computer - Manage --> Error, Cannot find file '(null)' ...

[John7]

Hi,


For no apparent reason something is broken.
When Right Clicking 'My Computer' then 'Manage'
I get an error box:

---Desktop-----------------
| Cannot find the file '(null)' (or one of its components).
| Make sure the path and filename are correct and that
| all required libraries are available.

Computer Management does not load.
Allthough it still works fine from Control Panel
I'd like to get this fixed.

Any suggestions?

TIA,
John

 

[Guest]

John,

The shortcut path in Control Panel could be changed, can you run
compmgmt.msc from a command box? If this doesn't work, the msc has been
moved, and should be moved back to the system32 dir.
I'll hope this will help.

Bikkelbink.

 

[John7]

Bikkelbink, thx for your reply.

Point is, Control Panel --> Computer Management still works fine.
But desktop 'My Computer', right click 'Manage' no longer invokes
Computer Mangement but reports the error below.
Something is broken in the menu (or registery or dll?).
I don't know what to check / fix.

John

 

[Mark V]

Bikkelbink, thx for your reply.

Point is, Control Panel --> Computer Management still works fine.
But desktop 'My Computer', right click 'Manage' no longer invokes
Computer Mangement but reports the error below.
Something is broken in the menu (or registery or dll?).
I don't know what to check / fix.

John

A shot in the dark...
Look at
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell
\Manage\command\

For W2K, SP4 the expand string data is
%windir%\system32\mmc.exe /s %windir%\system32\compmgmt.msc

 

[John7]

A shot in the dark...
Look at
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell
\Manage\command\

For W2K, SP4 the expand string data is
%windir%\system32\mmc.exe /s %windir%\system32\compmgmt.msc

String in registry appears to be as above, so not the cause (thx anyway).
Found something odd in environment variables (run - cmd - set).
On other Win2K system %windir% translates into C:\Winnt while
my machine environment variable %windir% translates into %SystemRoot%
instead of being resolved into C:\Winnt.
After copy & paste & change %windir% --> %SystemRoot% on command
line Computer Management ran fine.

So, question:
Why is %windir% not resolved into C:\Winnt
or
how can I enforced this ?

John7
%windir% translates into %SystemRoot

 

[Mark V]

String in registry appears to be as above, so not the cause (thx
anyway). Found something odd in environment variables (run - cmd -
set). On other Win2K system %windir% translates into C:\Winnt
while my machine environment variable %windir% translates into
%SystemRoot% instead of being resolved into C:\Winnt.
After copy & paste & change %windir% --> %SystemRoot% on command
line Computer Management ran fine.

But you change will disappear when you close that CMD session.

So, question:
Why is %windir% not resolved into C:\Winnt
or
how can I enforced this ?

NTx systems.
"windir" is normally resolved from the %systemroot% variable set by
the system. Using SET does SYSTEMROOT display correcly (as it seems
it is)?

Look at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
\Environment\
for the "windir" valuename and see if it is of datatype
REG_EXPAND_SZ. It should be. If the type is REG_SZ then this could
be the problem.

I would also look at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment\
and ensure there is no "windir" specified there.

The GUI for all of this is System Properties, Advanced, Environment
Variables, "User" and "System" variables, but you will need to check
that first registry location using regedit/regedt32 to determine if
this is in fact a string Type issue.

 

[John7]

Hello Mark,


Is was indeed a string type issue (REG_SZ instead of REG_EXPAND_SZ).
I cannot image how this happened, I was not editing the registery but OK.

Thank you so much
I learned a great deal from this.
Great you shared your knowledge !

I have a totally different question...
Many programs will run only correctly in an administator account
under Win2K and WinXP. This is unsafe. I'm searching for solutions
for months now but have no clue where to look.
I managed to resolve folder and file access rights but many times
this does not solve the problems.
Is there a tool to track down why certain programs will not work
in User or Restricted User accounts or is there 90% a common cause?


TIA,
John

 

[Mark V]

Hello Mark,


Is was indeed a string type issue (REG_SZ instead of
REG_EXPAND_SZ). I cannot image how this happened, I was not
editing the registery but OK.

Thank you so much
I learned a great deal from this.
Great you shared your knowledge !

Happy I was able to help. If you hadn't found that %windir%... good
work.

I have a totally different question...
Many programs will run only correctly in an administator account
under Win2K and WinXP. This is unsafe. I'm searching for solutions
for months now but have no clue where to look.
I managed to resolve folder and file access rights but many times
this does not solve the problems.
Is there a tool to track down why certain programs will not work
in User or Restricted User accounts or is there 90% a common
cause?

Without specifics it is difficult to say. Some applications are
simply not written well (for Windows) <G>. That might mean it was
not designed for use by accounts that did not install it. It might
be a permissions issue in that it requires write access in HKLM or
that it requires system services or access not permitted to non-
admin. accounts. In some cases if the application is installed by
the user that needs it (with temporary membership in the
Administrators group for installation) it will function correctly
thereafter for that one account. There could be other reasons why.
My best suggestion is to check with the publisher of the software in
question.

As to tools. Although possibly intimidating at first the 3rd-party
tools that might be useful that I would try are REGMON and FILEMON
from www.sysinternals.com.

But turning on file auditing and/or registry auditing may give you
some clues in the Event Logs.

It's really too general a question as it stands. You should try the
people that wrote it first. Then a group focused on the particular
application I suggest.


[ snipped prior ]

 

[John7]

Hello Mark,


Is was indeed a string type issue (REG_SZ instead of
REG_EXPAND_SZ). I cannot image how this happened, I was not
editing the registery but OK.

Thank you so much
I learned a great deal from this.
Great you shared your knowledge !

Happy I was able to help. If you hadn't found that %windir%... good
work.

I have a totally different question...
Many programs will run only correctly in an administator account
under Win2K and WinXP. This is unsafe. I'm searching for solutions
for months now but have no clue where to look.
I managed to resolve folder and file access rights but many times
this does not solve the problems.
Is there a tool to track down why certain programs will not work
in User or Restricted User accounts or is there 90% a common
cause?

Without specifics it is difficult to say. Some applications are
simply not written well (for Windows) <G>. That might mean it was
not designed for use by accounts that did not install it. It might
be a permissions issue in that it requires write access in HKLM or
that it requires system services or access not permitted to non-
admin. accounts. In some cases if the application is installed by
the user that needs it (with temporary membership in the
Administrators group for installation) it will function correctly
thereafter for that one account. There could be other reasons why.
My best suggestion is to check with the publisher of the software in
question.

As to tools. Although possibly intimidating at first the 3rd-party
tools that might be useful that I would try are REGMON and FILEMON
from www.sysinternals.com.

But turning on file auditing and/or registry auditing may give you
some clues in the Event Logs.

It's really too general a question as it stands. You should try the
people that wrote it first. Then a group focused on the particular
application I suggest.


[ snipped prior ]

Mark,

Thx for the hints. I d/l the Sysinternals tools you mentioned plus Process
Explorer.
Sheesh, why didn't I think of Registry and File auditing @#$%&
Contacting program authors is nearly impossible (esp. for older games or
when third parties are involved). So, this means, good old digging ...

John7