Lost printer icon in Control Panel

[Guest]

I recently uninstalled a printer driver. In the process the uninstaller must
have removed the link for the printer control panel applet’s icon. The applet
itself still works fine, it just displays a blank white page icon instead of
the usual printer icon.

I had a look around in the registry, but couldn’t find any links that seemed
to make a difference.

Perhaps someone here can tell me how to bring the printer icon back for that
applet.

All help and advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Chad Harris]

Hi Akita--

Try these:

If SFC doesn't fix this, and you have the DVD, I'd try Startup Repair. Also
have you tried a System Restore point to prior to the printer icon loss?

***SFC as a Remedy***:

SFC or System File Checker is a bit like the spare tire in your car or a
backup battery I suppose. In Vista of course, they have changed it somewhat
and come up with a new name--Redmond stands for name it something different
twice a year and now it's part of WRP or Windows Resource Protection. It
scans protected resources including thousands of files, libraries, critical
folders, and essential registry keys, and it replaces those that are
corrupted with intact ones. It fixes a lot of problems in Windows XP, OE,
Windows Vista, Win Mail, IE6, and on Vista or if it is installed on XP, IE7.
It protects these things from changes by any source including
administrators, by keeping a spare of most of them.


How to Run SFC:

Type "cmd" into the Search box above the Start Button>and when cmd comes up
at the top of the Start menu>right click cmd and click "run as Admin" and
when the cmd prompt comes up at the cmd prompt type "sfc /scannow" no quotes
and let it run. This may fix things quite a bit. It replaces corrupt files
with intact ones, if you're not familiar with it.

***Startup Repair from the Vista DVD***

How to Use The Vista DVD to Repair Vista (Startup Repair is misnamed by the
Win RE team and it can be used to fix many Vista components even when you
***can boot to Vista):

http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

If you elect to run Startup repair from the Vista DVD (it can fix major
components in Vista--I've verified this many many times; it's good for more
than startup problems, and the Win RE team simply screwed up when they named
it not understanding its full functionality):

Startup Repair will look like this when you put in the Vista DVD:

http://www.vistaclues.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/click-repair-your-computer.png

You run the startup repair tool this way (and system restore from here is
also sometimes effective):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

It will automatically take you to this on your screen:

http://www.vistaclues.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/click-repair-your-computer.png

That will allow you to go to the Vista setup that has a Repair link on
thelower left corner>click it and then you'll see a gray backgrounded list
and I want you to click Startup Repair from it and follow the directions.

The gray screen after you click the first link in the above pic will look
like this:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winvista/images/repair/staruprepair/Image17.gif

Click Startup Repair, the link at the top and after it scans>click OK and
let it try to repair Vista. It will tell you if it does, and if it
doesn't, try System Restore from the Recovery Link on the DVD. If these
don't work booting into Safe Mode by tapping the F8 key and using System
Restore from one of the safe modes besides VGA may work. That means you
have the option to try 4 different safe modes to get to system restore, (one
from the Recovery link on the DVD) and sometimes one will work when the
others won't.

You could also try a Repair Install with Vista which is done exactly the
same way as in XP:

***Repair Install Steps*** (can be used for Vista) MVP Doug Knox
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx


Good luck,

CH

 

[Guest]

Hi Chris,

Thanks so much for the detailed suggestions. I was aware of SFC as well as
the startup repair option. Either one may well fix the little issue I have,
but at the same time would most certainly put back to default settings my
various customisations, many of which involved little sojourns into the
registry.

Since my little issue is more or less a cosmetic one (albeit one that does
annoy from time to time), I'm not sure if I want to go the SFC /
startup-repair route just yet, only to find that, yes, the printer control
panel applet icon is back, but at the price of spending a fair few hours
restoring my custom settings and whatnot.

Hence I was wondering if someone here by chance knows either
a) the specific registry entries controlling the icon links for the printer
control panel applet, or
b) which particular system files need to be replaced to get the printer icon
back for the printer control panel applet, or
c) any other direct way of fixing this issue.

Thanks for all help and advice.