Help! All icons changed to windows default and un-openable!!

[Guest]

hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the desktop, in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way
through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the desktop, in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double
clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....

 

[Guest]

Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked, they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do 'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi handynas,

Tried fixing the .exe file associations?

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked, they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do 'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

 

[Guest]

hi ramesh how to fix the .exe? btw i suspect the Fat32 is corrupted somehow,
i have to do 'cd progra~1' to go into program files folder. if i do cd
program files, or any other folders with long filenames, windows will not
recognise. hence i believe the LFN mechanism in FAT32 is corrupted what can i
do to circumvent this? i don't have any recovery disk. thanks!!

Hi handynas,

Tried fixing the .exe file associations?

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked, they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do 'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way
through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the desktop, in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double
clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi,

See:

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi ramesh how to fix the .exe? btw i suspect the Fat32 is corrupted somehow,
i have to do 'cd progra~1' to go into program files folder. if i do cd
program files, or any other folders with long filenames, windows will not
recognise. hence i believe the LFN mechanism in FAT32 is corrupted what can
i
do to circumvent this? i don't have any recovery disk. thanks!!

Hi handynas,

Tried fixing the .exe file associations?

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name
of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked,
they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do
'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading
some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way
through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the desktop,
in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double
clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is
the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my
file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this
one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....

 

[Guest]

didn't help at all, sorry i think the issue is with windows not able to
recognise long filename - this happened after i tried copying some large
files into my computer

Hi,

See:

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi ramesh how to fix the .exe? btw i suspect the Fat32 is corrupted somehow,
i have to do 'cd progra~1' to go into program files folder. if i do cd
program files, or any other folders with long filenames, windows will not
recognise. hence i believe the LFN mechanism in FAT32 is corrupted what can
i
do to circumvent this? i don't have any recovery disk. thanks!!

Hi handynas,

Tried fixing the .exe file associations?

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name
of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked,
they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do
'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading
some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way
through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the desktop,
in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double
clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is
the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my
file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this
one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi,

Are you using COMMAND.COM or CMD.EXE. If the former, then this behavior is
normal.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


didn't help at all, sorry i think the issue is with windows not able to
recognise long filename - this happened after i tried copying some large
files into my computer

Hi,

See:

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi ramesh how to fix the .exe? btw i suspect the Fat32 is corrupted
somehow,
i have to do 'cd progra~1' to go into program files folder. if i do cd
program files, or any other folders with long filenames, windows will not
recognise. hence i believe the LFN mechanism in FAT32 is corrupted what
can
i
do to circumvent this? i don't have any recovery disk. thanks!!

Hi handynas,

Tried fixing the .exe file associations?

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to
the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name
of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked,
they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do
'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading
some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way
through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the
desktop,
in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double
clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is
the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my
file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this
one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....

 

[Sarge]

If you guys are still having problems with the File Association
mess..... just reply to this message or contact me at
(e-mail address removed). There is a manual fix that I have created after the
failed attempts with the Microsoft Tech Support and the Symantec,
McAfee and TrendMicro Tech supports personnel. The only issue is I have
not pinpointed the virus that causes this registry corruption. NOTE:
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REFORMAT YOUR DRIVE.
Thanks Sarge

Ramesh, MS-MVP wrote:
Hi,

Are you using COMMAND.COM or CMD.EXE. If the former, then this behavior is
normal.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


didn't help at all, sorry i think the issue is with windows not able to
recognise long filename - this happened after i tried copying some large
files into my computer

Hi,

how to fix the .exe?

See:

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi ramesh how to fix the .exe? btw i suspect the Fat32 is corrupted
somehow,
i have to do 'cd progra~1' to go into program files folder. if i do cd
program files, or any other folders with long filenames, windows will not
recognise. hence i believe the LFN mechanism in FAT32 is corrupted what
can
i
do to circumvent this? i don't have any recovery disk. thanks!!

Hi handynas,

Tried fixing the .exe file associations?

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Ramesh

thanks, i noticed that the reason all the files in my drive changed to
the
default icon was because windows cannot recognise the extended file name
of
'program files' and since most of my programs are installed in this
directory, that is why when my files (e.g. word document) are invoked,
they
cannot recognise the path.

i managed to get into command prompt, the error i got when trying to do
'cd
program files' is 'too many parameters' can you help?

:

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


hi all

would appreciate your advise on this one, recently i tried uploading
some
4gb of files into my window XP via my portable harddisk, but half way
through
it hung, and when i restarted the machine, all my icons on the
desktop,
in
the START turned into windows default icons, and when i tried double
clicking
to open, none of them can be opened.

I tried typing cmd in run but it tells me that 'the file do not have a
program associated with it to perfrom this action'. I suspect this is
the
cause of the issue, that somehow something is corrupted and all my
file's
association with their program were cut off, can anyone help on this
one?

I'll at least wanna download my important files....