start/Run, start/Search, and start/Help and Support not working

[Guest]

I recently discovered that the "Run", "Search", and "Help and Support"
buttons on my "start" menu are broken. When I click on the "start" button
and then the "Run" (or "Search" or "Help and Support") button, nothing
happens. All the other buttons on my "start" menu work.

Also, if I go to the desktop, hold the command key (the one with the Windows
logo) and press the "r" key, then the "Run" window pops up (so I know that
"Run" does work).

I'm running Windows XP Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 2

Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks,
Debbie

 

[Guest]

Try creating a new user account,open xp in new,if all runs ok,then the old
account is corrupted,delete it & run a new one...

 

[Guest]

Oh, dear, the new account works fine. Is there really no good way to fix my
current account?

Thanks,
Debbie

 

[Elmo]

I recently discovered that the "Run", "Search", and "Help and Support"
buttons on my "start" menu are broken. When I click on the "start" button
and then the "Run" (or "Search" or "Help and Support") button, nothing
happens. All the other buttons on my "start" menu work.

Also, if I go to the desktop, hold the command key (the one with the Windows
logo) and press the "r" key, then the "Run" window pops up (so I know that
"Run" does work).

I'm running Windows XP Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 2

Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks,
Debbie

- Try some of these Kelly fixes:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Line 289. Start Menu - Enable

Line 117. Restore Taskbar and Start Menu

- Look here.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q292504

- Also try a System Restore.

 

[Guest]

I have a problem with search results, and I can’t get rid of it. I click to
start it, the window comes up, I set up my search, and then I click on the
search button. The button “stays down†blocked, the hour glass starts working
and nothing else changes, once I left it for about an hour. After that time
it was still blocked just the same and with the hour glass working.

I read the posts in this section, and. I found them very instructive.
Following what I red, I created a new user account, just as Andrew E. said
and Debbie in Plano did. Unfortunately it didn’t work out; it did exactly the
sane as if I had done nothing. I tried again twice creating and deleting
other independent user accounts. Nothing to do, always the same.

I tried the suggestions on Kelly’s fixes suggested by Elmo. Nothing.

Then, I tried a hot fix, an update setup directly from the disk. I lost the
Via video driver on the way, but I replaced. Nothing changed. I have spent
hours trying all this without ant success.

Can any kind person help me, please?

 

[Elmo]

I have a problem with search results, and I can’t get rid of it. I click to
start it, the window comes up, I set up my search, and then I click on the
search button. The button “stays down†blocked, the hour glass starts working
and nothing else changes, once I left it for about an hour. After that time
it was still blocked just the same and with the hour glass working.

I read the posts in this section, and, I found them very instructive.
Following what I red, I created a new user account, just as Andrew E. said
and Debbie in Plano did. Unfortunately it didn’t work out; it did exactly the
sane as if I had done nothing. I tried again twice creating and deleting
other independent user accounts. Nothing to do, always the same.

I tried the suggestions on Kelly’s fixes suggested by Elmo. Nothing.

Then, I tried a hot fix, an update setup directly from the disk. I lostthe
Via video driver on the way, but I replaced. Nothing changed. I have spent
hours trying all this without any success.

Can any kind person help me, please?

Yours is a different problem than that mentioned in this thread. You
should go to http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm , click "S" and
scroll down to the Search section.

But this may be the most helpful section:

Search - Doesn't Work

Open Explorer and go to the Windows\Inf folder. Locate the srchasst.inf
file. Right click it and select Install. You'll need your XP CD or the
files from the I386 folder. (This fix will require you to have your Win
XP CD).

The Windows\Inf folder is a hidden folder. You can adjust your Explorer
Folder Options (View tab) to Show hidden files and folders. You can also
click Start, Run and enter %SystemRoot%\Inf to open directly to the Inf
folder.

 

[Guest]

Yours is a different problem than that mentioned in this thread. You
should go to http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm , click "S" and
scroll down to the Search section.

But this may be the most helpful section:

Search - Doesn't Work

Open Explorer and go to the Windows\Inf folder. Locate the srchasst.inf
file. Right click it and select Install. You'll need your XP CD or the
files from the I386 folder. (This fix will require you to have your Win
XP CD).

The Windows\Inf folder is a hidden folder. You can adjust your Explorer
Folder Options (View tab) to Show hidden files and folders. You can also
click Start, Run and enter %SystemRoot%\Inf to open directly to the Inf
folder.

Thank you. My post was already long, so I didn't mention that in fact I had
already tried your suggestion while navigating through Kelly's site. I can't
do without the search engine, it's too important. I f I can't fix it within a
couple of days I'll have to reinstall the OS. I am used to permanent problems
with Windows since the 98. This time I'm really fed up and will leave Windows
for good. It never worked properly, there is always something wrong. Thanks,
anyway.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the tips. The Run, Search, and Help now work from the Start
Menu, although I'm a little confused as to why. My software days are way
behind me, and I probably would have been safer to move everything over to a
new account, but I have this one just the way I like it, so I took my chances
....

I looked around Kelly's fixes, the Microsoft fixes, and my registry and
found the key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartMenu\StartMenuRun\Policy\NoRun]

I tried adding the dword NoRun to it as well as NoSMHelp to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPanel\ShowHelp\Policy\NoSMHelp NoSMHelp]

After reboot, the Start/Run and, oddly, the Start/Search initially worked
but then they both quit working after the Search. So, I thought it might be
good to totally disable them and then go from there. I removed my above
additions and then added:

"NoRun"=dword:00000001
"NoFind"=dword:00000001
"NoSMHelp"=dword:00000001

to
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]

I probably should have put them under Explorer\StartMenu, but I just wanted
to see what would happen. I expected them to all be gone from the menu, but
they were all there and all working. Shouldn't NoRun=1 mean NoRun is
enabled which would mean Run is disabled? Then again, perhaps I shouldn't
meddle any further. ;-)

Thanks again (to Andrew too, whose advice I may wish I had followed),
Debbie