cmd.exe Minimize, Maximize, Close, and scroll buttons corrupted

[Guest]

The buttons on CMD.EXE windows are corrupted (they're okay on Explorer
windows).
These buttons have a thin outline of a folder, and open folder, a box, and a
sandbox for the lower scroll button.

How do I fix this?

I've tried reinstalling fonts from the Windows CD. I've tried resizing the
fonts for Display Properties. Neither technique has worked.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

System File Checker (sfc.exe) replaces screwed up system files.

Load your XP CD in your CD drive.

Start | Run | Type or paste: sfc /scannow | Click OK

If you have XP Home and it asks for your XP Pro CD, see this KB article...

You may be prompted to insert a Windows XP Professional CD when you run the
System File Checker tool in Windows XP Home Edition
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;897128

Explains a whole bunch about sfc.exe.
scannow sfc (sfc.exe)
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
(Sfc.exe)
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310747

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't make any difference.
Do I need to run sfc in safe mode?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

If SFC.EXE did anything it will be in the Event Viewer.

Open the Event Viewer...
Start | Run | Type: eventvwr | Click OK |
Click System | Look at any Windows File Protection
entries

See if cmd.exe was replaced. If it was not...

Try running the cmd.exe from the %SystemRoot%\system32\dllcache folder and
see if that makes any difference.

Paste the following line into Start | Run and click OK...

%SystemRoot%\system32\dllcache\cmd.exe

Did that make any difference to how cmd.exe looks?

If it did...

Open C:\WINDOWS\system32, size it so that you can see your desktop, and drag
cmd.exe to the Desktop.

If you open the Event Viewer, under System, you should see an Event Source:
Windows File Protection, Event ID: 64002 for cmd.exe.

If this doesn't help, we can try expanding CMD.EX_ from the \I386 folder on
your XP CD.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

1. CMD.EXE was not replaced by SFC.EXE.
2. The copy of CMD.EXE in dllcache looks the same.
3. I expanded cmd.ex_ from the XP CD, and it looks the same.
4. I used cygwin's "sum" program to compute the checksum on all three of
these files, and the checksums are identical.

Here's another odd thing...when I open a cascading menu, like Start->Programs,
the icon at the right side of the Programs entry in the Start menu doesn't
have the correct icon. Instead, it's a picture of a mouse. Do you have any
idea where those icons come from? If it's a font, then perhaps that font is
corrupted, or wherever that font is specified, perhaps the wrong font has
been specified.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Wesley Vogel]

The icon is supposed to be in C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll

36 Start menu folder

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

The icon is supposed to be in C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll

36 Start menu folder

1. What did you mean by "36 Start menu folder"?
2. Shell32.dll is where you say it should be, and has the same checksum as
the one in dllcache.
3. The expanded shell32.dll from the XP CD has a different checksum.
4. How do I replace the C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll with the new,
expanded one from the CD? The one in system32 is in use.

Thanks

 

[Wesley Vogel]

1. What did you mean by "36 Start menu folder"?

That icon is icon #36, the icon for the Start menu folder.

To see icon #36 from %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll...
If you right click any folder that can be customized...
Properties | Customize tab | Change Icon button |

Change Icon for whatevername Folder defaults to...
%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
If you count top to bottom and left to right, #36 is the icon called Start
menu folder.

That is the icon that is supposed to be there for the Programs folder(s).

WTF does checksum have to do with anything? The desktop.ini file is
probably screwed up.

The desktop.ini file is probably missing or messed up for...
%allusersprofile%\Start Menu\Programs
or
%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs

%allusersprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\desktop.ini looks like this...

-------------------below line-------------------
[.ShellClassInfo]
[email protected],-21782
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
IconIndex=36

-------------------above line --------------

Notice the IconFile= and the IconIndex=. Ring a bell?

%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\desktop.ini looks like this...

-------------------below line-------------------
[.ShellClassInfo]
[email protected],-21782
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
IconIndex=36
[LocalizedFileNames]
Windows Media Player.lnk=@C:\WINDOWS\inf\unregmp2.exe,-4
Remote Assistance.lnk=@%systemroot%\system32\rcbdyctl.dll,-152
Internet [email protected],-11001
Outlook [email protected],-11004

-------------------above line --------------

Notice the IconFile= and the IconIndex=. Ring a bell?

Ignore any hyperlinks, Outlook Express just does that.

If correcting the Desktop.ini files does not help, you might delete your
IconCache.db file.

Usually found here >>>

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data
or
C:\Documents and Settings\Username Here\Local Settings\Application Data

It will be recreated after you reboot.

If neither of those worked, you may want to get TweakUI and use it to repair
your icons.

Use TweakUI to Repair | Rebuild icons
[[Rebuilds all Explorer icons and removes unused Explorer icons from memory.
Rebuild icons when you find that Explorer is displaying the wrong icon for a
program or shortcut. Note that repairing icons may cause icons to lose any
custom positions.]]

TweakUI Guide
http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

Download Tweak UI here:
Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Tweak UI
TweakUI.exe

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the explanation abou the icons.

TweakUI/Repair Icons didn't change anything.

The copy of shell32.dll on the XP CD is different from the one in
C:\WINDOWS\system32. I tried using FileRenameOperations in
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\, but the expanded
shell32.dll from the CD won't copy to the system32 directory after a reboot.
I also tried PendingFileRenameOperations, but that didn't work either. I
couldn't figure out how to update an in-use file. But, that may be moot,
given the following...

Now that I've gotten into this deeply, I see that I'm talking about the
wrong thing. I meant the arrow icons/characters at the right side of the
start menu. The right arrow/triangle that indicates a submenu has a picture
of a mouse instead of the triangle.

Rather than try to guess what the right word is for those
icons/characters/pictographs, I have pictures of the Start menu at
http://www.geocities.com/cadmanz42/startmenu.jpg, and a picture of the right
side of the cmd window at http://www.geocities.com/cadmanz42/cmd.jpg
Please take a look at these to see what I'm talking about.

BTW...
You also asked about "checksum". It's very useful to run a checksum against
a file to see if it's different from another copy of the file that's the same
size. "sum" is useful for detecting corrupted files.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

The version of shell32.dll on your CD is going to be different if the CD has
a different Service Pack or no SP and you have SP2. And maybe some other
Critical Updates.

I have 5 different versions of shell32.dll on my machine and I do not even
have SP2. 4 of those versions are in uninstall hotfix folders (Critical
Updates).

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition RTM has shell32.dll version
6.0.2600.0
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 has shell32.dll version 6.0.2800.1556
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 has shell32.dll version 6.0.2900.2763

I now see what you mean. That looks like a Classic Start Menu, but the
colors are wrong. The command window is also the wrong colors.

The only idea I have is: What 3rd party theme/customization program did you
install?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I now see what you mean. That looks like a Classic Start Menu, but the
colors are wrong. The command window is also the wrong colors.

The command window is the "wrong" color because I changed the colors to be
more readable. (Right-click command window, Properties, Colors.)

The only idea I have is: What 3rd party theme/customization program did you
install?

None. At least, not intentionally. That's why I'm trying to figure out
where the fonts/icons, etc are assigned.