Msinfo32.exe opens Help and Support Center instead of System Information

A

Adair MacLean

When I open "Msinfo32.exe" it opens "Help and Support Center"
instead of "System Information". What could be causing this and how do I
correct this?
 
S

Sharon F

When I open "Msinfo32.exe" it opens "Help and Support Center"
instead of "System Information". What could be causing this and how do I
correct this?
Click to expand...

How are you opening msinfo32? Are you logged on with a limited or
adminstrator account? What happens if you go directly to the msinfo32.exe
file and double click on it?

From Help and Support's first page: Clicking on "Use tools..." under "Pick
a task," then clicking on Advanced System Information> View information,
*should* bring up the same screen as typing msinfo32.
 
A

Adair MacLean

I am logged on as computer administrator.
I found the file "msinfo32" in these directories:
"c:\windows\system 32\dllcache"
"c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\msinfo" Is this where it
should be?
They appear to be the same file in each directory, they both have the same
date, name, etc.
When I double click on either of them, they open "Help and Support Center"
instead of "System Information"
When I go from Help and Support's first page to "Use Tools", to "Advanced
System Information", to "View detailed
system information (Msinfo32.exe)". This still opens "Help and Support
Center" in a new window.
What file is supposed to open "Help and Support Center"? And where it is
located?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Adair
 
S

Sharon F

I am logged on as computer administrator.
I found the file "msinfo32" in these directories:
"c:\windows\system 32\dllcache"
"c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\msinfo" Is this where it
should be?
They appear to be the same file in each directory, they both have the same
date, name, etc.
When I double click on either of them, they open "Help and Support Center"
instead of "System Information"
When I go from Help and Support's first page to "Use Tools", to "Advanced
System Information", to "View detailed
system information (Msinfo32.exe)". This still opens "Help and Support
Center" in a new window.
What file is supposed to open "Help and Support Center"? And where it is
located?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Adair
Click to expand...

Yes, those are the right files. The one in the dllcache folder is a backup
for the other one - the working copy in ..\Common Files\..

If you have a WinXP CD handy, you could "reinstall" msinfo32 using its INF
file in Windows\INF. Right click on msinfo32.inf and select install.

This process may prompt for a source - if it does, direct it to the i386
folder on the WinXP CD. If your XP was preinstalled, you may have a copy of
the i386 folder with XP setup files on your hard drive, often (but not
always) designated as C:\i386.

If this does not restore msinfo32's normal functions, then your Help and
Support setup may be slightly dinged too. We'll worry about that later if
it is necessary.

Until you get msinfo32 sorted, you can use
Start> Run> winmsd
That should bring up the same information screen that is normally expected
from msinfo32.
 
A

Adair MacLean

Hi Sharon F.
I tried "reinstalling" msinfo32 useing my WinXP CD, but this didn't correct
the problem.
(Msinfo32.exe still opens "Help and Support Center")
Start>Run>winmsd opens "Help and Support Center" too.
Any suggestions on what I should try next?
Thankyou,
Adair
 
S

Sharon F

Hi Sharon F.
I tried "reinstalling" msinfo32 useing my WinXP CD, but this didn't correct
the problem.
(Msinfo32.exe still opens "Help and Support Center")
Start>Run>winmsd opens "Help and Support Center" too.
Any suggestions on what I should try next?
Click to expand...

Try MVP Kelly Theriot's solutions for fixing Help and Support:

"Why doesn't help and support work?"
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/top10faqs.htm

I'm going to spend some time later looking at registry entries for
msinfo32. Something is definitely not right when you directly invoke one
program (double clicking on the exe) and get another one on your screen.
Sounds like a registry key for msinfo32 is pointing back to pc health.
Since everything is working right on my system, I may not find anything
conclusive but will try anyhow.

Mmm, actually, browsing over more of Kelly's site, I see that she has a
rather large section devoted to MSINFO32 problems. You may want to take a
look at what she has there and double check the findings against your
system (scroll down the page to msinfo32, it's about halfway down):

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_m.htm
 
A

Adair MacLean

I went to Kelly Theriot's web site and reinstalled "helpctr.exe" but this
didn't help.
I also tried everything under "Msinfo32 problems" at her site but nothig
fixed my problem.
I also tried everything under "Why doesn't help and support work" and once
again nothig here fixed my problem.
I checked the following registry entries in my registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSInfo
Path value = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\MSInfo\msinfo32.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App
Paths\msinfo32.exe

Default value = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\MSInfo\MSInfo32.exe
Path value = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSInfo

....and they were all correct.
I am really spumped as to what to do next.
Any thoughts?
Thankyou,
Adair
 
S

Sharon F

I went to Kelly Theriot's web site and reinstalled "helpctr.exe" but this
didn't help.
I also tried everything under "Msinfo32 problems" at her site but nothig
fixed my problem.
I also tried everything under "Why doesn't help and support work" and once
again nothig here fixed my problem.
I checked the following registry entries in my registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSInfo
Path value = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\MSInfo\msinfo32.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App
Paths\msinfo32.exe

Default value = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\MSInfo\MSInfo32.exe
Path value = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSInfo

...and they were all correct.
I am really spumped as to what to do next.
Any thoughts?
Thankyou,
Adair
Click to expand...

Kelly is pretty thorough in her coverage of Msinfo32 problems. I can't
think of anything to add to it. I did notice that she refers to Doug Knox's
script for fixing Help and Support and includes "and system information" in
the description. Here's a link to that fix:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/fixwinxphelp.htm

Older versions of Toni Arts registry cleaner will damage Help and Support.
Doug's script re-establishes the base registry entries that are present in
a default XP setup. You say you have the ones that Kelly mentions but
perhaps the script will add one that she has not listed.
 
A

Adair MacLean

I tried running that script, but it didn't help.
Thanks for all your help Sharon F
Adair
 
S

Sharon F

I tried running that script, but it didn't help.
Thanks for all your help Sharon F
Adair
Click to expand...

You're welcome, Adair. Short of a repair install, I don't know what else to
suggest. Not sure that I would go through all of that myself unless there
were more broken pieces within the setup.
 
A

Adair MacLean

I found this solution:
http://forum.tweakxp.com/forum/forum_posts_view.asp?TID=6822
,and had similar results with "System Information" opening up inside "Help
and Support".
But "System Information" seems to be working ok, its displaying all the
information correctly, and all the tools are working too.
I think I caused the proble when I deleted an index.dat file, like on of the
posters suggested.
 
S

Sharon F

I found this solution:
http://forum.tweakxp.com/forum/forum_posts_view.asp?TID=6822
,and had similar results with "System Information" opening up inside "Help
and Support".
But "System Information" seems to be working ok, its displaying all the
information correctly, and all the tools are working too.
I think I caused the proble when I deleted an index.dat file, like on of the
posters suggested.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Other than the discussion of why System Information might have
disappeared, all of the suggestions in that thread were covered here or are
listed at Kelly's site. :) It's not unusual to read (and try) the same or
very similar suggestions from different sources, and then have something
finally click so that they start to work. I'm very glad that you now have
this fixed and thank you for following up here with your results.
 

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