"Unable to run this command" when trying to bring up any program from Start - Programs menu

[fniles]

On this one Win2000 machine, every now and then when I tried to bring up
anything from the "Start" - "Programs" menu, it said "Unable to run this
command."
For example, I went to "Start" - "Programs" - "Accessories" - "Windows
Explorer" or "MS Access", and it said "Unable to run this command."
Explorer.exe and MSAccess.exe exist, and if I do Start - Run -
c:\dirA\myDb.mdb, myDB.mdb will be opened in Access.

Sometimes I can fix it by doing the following:
1. Start - Run, and enter "c:\winnt\explorer.exe"
2. Once the Windows Explorer is up, I then went to MSAccess.exe and dbl
click it.
3. Sometimes this will fix the problem where now I can go to "Start" -
"Programs" - "MS Access" or "Windows Explorer". But, sometimes I can not fix
it that way, I have a to wait for a while (about 15 minutes), then try dbl
clicking on MSAccess.exe again, then the problem is fixed.

I login to the machine using the administrator account.

How can I fix this problem ? Thanks a lot.

 

[Guest]

I have a very similar problem. When i was getting ready to post i found your
request, as yet unanswered. Here are my symptoms:

2K server SP4
Problem occurs locally or via remote control software
Terminal Service into machine and all works as expected.
Cannot double click icons - nothing happens
Start\Programs\Choose any application produces an explorer dialog with
the error "Unable to run program"
Start\Run\choose any application works fine


Googling produces a lot of noise but little substantive. Some suggestion of
a profile problem, but the problem happens to every users

I suspect something related to shortcuts, but an answer is eluding me.

As the server has a high uptime agreement I would rather figure this out
than blindly reboot it to see if the problem goes away.

Unlike fniles my problem always happens and his fix did not help me even
temporarily.

Any ideas? from the gurus?

 

[da808wiz]

Sounds silly, but...

When I encountered the problem, I went through virus scans, etc, basic routine.

After rebooting, the links worked fine...