No graphic view on the web or Security Center

[Méndez]

About a week ago I noticed that my computer has no graphic view on the web
or the Security Center. It's probably not the graphic/video card (hardware
or
driver*) cause all looks normal on a dual installation. Windows XP Pro has
started to show this stripped-down view on the Security Center, and Web
Pages with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox or any other browser based on
Firefox, but with Opera Browser the view is all normal... the stripped-down
view looks with a white background only, and black or blue text and black
lines separate text panels where normally different color tones would
separate sections of the background.

*I've already reinstalled the integrated graphics/video card and monitor
drivers.

All the browser pluggins are apparently included and they show to be enabled
on test web pages and as I've said, with Opera everything looks just as
normal as it does from a dual installation, so it think this excludes a
hardware problem. And SFC /Scannow doesn't give a hint. Internet
Options\General\Appearance\Colors, is using Windows Color (default) and
Appearance\Accessibility\ is all clear (by default). No setting I change on
Appearance makes any difference.

Installed and working browser pluggins are:
Flash Player
Shockwave Player
Java Virtual Machine
Javascript is enabled
some 20 Activex Controls
Microsoft Directx 9 (don't know if this one is used by browsers or the
Security Center but just in case it is)

Web and Security Center view look like a basic page designs before the
colors, tones and most images are still not added...

A repair installtion would probably solve it, but I would like to avoid
another repair installation if possible cause I have just recently Activated
the last one


I'd appreciate any help

 

[Tim Meddick]

Someone will probably come up with a better answer.

However, I have to ask - have you tried a 'System Restore' to a point
where things were working normally?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

From your headers:

X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.5512
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5512

Start by getting your WinXP SP2 computer fully patched at Windows Update.

 

[Méndez]

That was the first option that came to mind, but I've installed the most
recent versions or NET Framework and Windows Installer and other software
that I would hate to install again... on my slow machine Framework takes
quite a while to install... I would prefer to solve this 'smaller' problem,
if someone can help.

Thanks.


------------------------------------------

 

[Méndez]

It has SP3 installed but not fully updated, anyway, do you think the problem
is security related? I usually do a batch of updates at once and disable AU
for a while to avoid the constant running of AU applications that contribute
to slow down my 850Mhz-PIII-256MB machine.

My new headers
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.5512
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579


It was just one OE update behind yours

 

[Tim Meddick]

....yet you re-installed all the video drivers and mention the
possibility of a "Repair Install" which is an even 'bigger' thing than a
'System Restore' !!

Bear in mind that 'Restore Points', quite often, don't last for ever.
On a lot of XP machines they are deleted, almost at random. So, you may
not always have this option.

I really must say, though, I do not think that it's got anything at all
to do with video drivers.

If you are dead against performing a 'System Restore' (what I
recommend), then installing IE8 may [possibly] cure the problem...

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Méndez]

Point well taken, but reinstalling the video drivers is just a few clicks
and a restart, and the fact is, I'm not sure which restore point would
restore the view, and I would have to try a few or just go a while back to
be sure and lose some settings, improvements and apps in the precess. I
reinstalled the drivers just as a vague attempt but I didn't really think it
would help... but the screen was a little dimm and I already had planed to
reinstall the drivers before this other issue came up... and the reinstall
did sharpen up the display a bit, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

I had updated IE6 to IE8 and had some trouble with it so I removed it and
instead installed IE7 which hasn't let me down yet. In any case IE8
wouldn't have helped because I've found out the problem is my user
profile... I created another user account and everything looks good from
there... so now I have to find the way to repair my usual profile.. As far
as I've found out, restoring a backup of the "ntuser.dat" file (ntuser.bak)
may restore the current_user registry hive settings but I'm at the point of
searching for the way to restore ntuser.bak safely. Would you happen to
know the way by any chance? I don't think it's as simple as switching the
file extensions between "ntuser.dat" and "ntuser.bak" or deleting
"ntuser.dat" from another OS, cause that would be to easy and I've read that
there's not much you can do to recover a corrupted user profile

 

[Alister]

About a week ago I noticed that my computer has no graphic view on the web
or the Security Center. It's probably not the graphic/video card (hardware
or
driver*) cause all looks normal on a dual installation. Windows XP Pro has
started to show this stripped-down view on the Security Center, and Web
Pages with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox or any other browser based on
Firefox, but with Opera Browser the view is all normal... the stripped-down
view looks with a white background only, and black or blue text and black
lines separate text panels where normally different color tones would
separate sections of the background.

*I've already reinstalled the integrated graphics/video card and monitor
drivers.

All the browser pluggins are apparently included and they show to be enabled
on test web pages and as I've said, with Opera everything looks just as
normal as it does from a dual installation, so it think this excludes a
hardware problem. And SFC /Scannow doesn't give a hint. Internet
Options\General\Appearance\Colors, is using Windows Color (default) and
Appearance\Accessibility\ is all clear (by default). No setting I change on
Appearance makes any difference.

Installed and working browser pluggins are:
Flash Player
Shockwave Player
Java Virtual Machine
Javascript is enabled
some 20 Activex Controls
Microsoft Directx 9 (don't know if this one is used by browsers or the
Security Center but just in case it is)

Web and Security Center view look like a basic page designs before the
colors, tones and most images are still not added...

A repair installtion would probably solve it, but I would like to avoid
another repair installation if possible cause I have just recently Activated
the last one


I'd appreciate any help

What you are describing sounds like anything with html content is not
loading the stylesheets or images correctly.

This can be caused if your Internet Explorer cache is full.

Try deleting your Temporary Internet Files.

Also check the file version and date of hhctrl.ocx in you
Windows\system32 folder - it should be version 5.2.3790.4110 released on
03 Aug 2004

Try booting into safe Mode with Networking and try to browse a few
sites. Do the problems still occur? If not then I would suggest it may
be a malware infection.

Alister

 

[Méndez]

What you are describing sounds like anything with html content is not
loading the stylesheets or images correctly.

This can be caused if your Internet Explorer cache is full.

Try deleting your Temporary Internet Files.

Also check the file version and date of hhctrl.ocx in you Windows\system32
folder - it should be version 5.2.3790.4110 released on 03 Aug 2004

Try booting into safe Mode with Networking and try to browse a few sites.
Do the problems still occur? If not then I would suggest it may be a
malware infection.

Alister

My hhctrl.ocx file is from 4/14/2008 and version 5.2.3790.4110... Activex
Control, size 533kb. Version number corresponds but not the release date,
you think it may be a problem?... false version or not, how would I
restore-reinstall a new version? One question; If this file were the
problem, wouldn't it affect any user account?... fact is, only my everyday
user account is affected, not the administrator or a new account.


As far as the IE cache goes, I clear it regularly, and have cleared it
frequently in the last few days, again today and no improvement


Browsing in Safe Mode w/networking made no difference. Did a few scans with;
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, HijackThis, Smitfraudfix... Did a restart after
every scan. HijackThis detected HP and Akamai activex controls so I removed
them to be sure but no results. I had also done full scans with NOD32,
Malwarebytes and A-Squared Free after the problem started... so I assume the
possibility of malware infection is out of the picture


I checked file types and HTML was missconfigured, I restored it to default
(HTML Document) and did a restart, but it made no difference.


I am considering moving my files to a new account and discard this user
profile, unless you have more ideas to try


Thanks for your help

 

[Tim Meddick]

I'm not sure where exactly you are getting your 'ntuser.bak' file from?

As you say, normaly it is not possible to delete, change in any way or
even copy the 'ntuser.dat' file in your profile's folder. So, I ask
again, what process did you use to obtain your 'ntuser.bak' file??

If you saved this file using a third-part app (such as ERUNT) then their
help file (or readme.txt) will be able to explain how to replace your
bakup.

If it is something you have saved yourself (somehow) from an erlier
time, then you can replace the file, but you will have to do it either
with another copy of Windows NT on another partition, or with the
'Recovery Console'.

With another copy of Windows the process is self explanitory.

To start 'Recovery Console' either install it as a 'Start up' menu
option by typing the following (where D: is the CD-ROM drive letter) :

D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons

Or, you can start the RC directly from your Win XP cd-rom by booting
from it then choosing the option :

To repair a Windows XP installation using
Recovery Console, press R.


But, before you start the 'Recovery Console' you will have to first
enable the 'set' command :


reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Setup\RecoveryConsole" /v SetCommand /t REG_DWORD /d 1
/f


(The above command should be all on one line but may not appear so due
to line-wrap. Please ensure that the command begins with 'reg' and ends
with '/f')

Either run the above command in the "Run" box or from a 'Command Prompt'
or edit the registry setting directly.

*Note - Please exercise care when editing the registry, always create a
backup and / or create a 'System Restore' point first.

When in the RC you will need to use the 'set' command to change the
variable "AllowAllPaths" be able to navigate to your profile's folder.
Type the command :

set AllowAllPaths = TRUE

....at the RC prompt.

You can then navigate to your profile's folder using the 'CD' command as
you would in a 'Command Prompt' window in XP e.g. :

cd "C:\Documents and Settings\Mendez"

....then change the name of your existing 'ntuser.dat' file (for a
possible 'undo') to 'ntuser.sav', thus :

ren ntuser.dat ntuser.sav

....finally, change the name of your 'ntuser.bak' file to 'ntuser.dat',
thus :

ren ntuser.bak ntuser.dat

....type EXIT and press [enter] to reboot.


(Apart from these two options, there is also the PE Build live cd-rom
option that you could use to manipulate files on an NTFS partition)


Hope that this answers your question....

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

Point well taken, but reinstalling the video drivers is just a few
clicks and a restart, and the fact is, I'm not sure which restore
point would restore the view, and I would have to try a few or just go
a while back to be sure and lose some settings, improvements and apps
in the precess. I reinstalled the drivers just as a vague attempt but
I didn't really think it would help... but the screen was a little
dimm and I already had planed to reinstall the drivers before this
other issue came up... and the reinstall did sharpen up the display a
bit, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

I had updated IE6 to IE8 and had some trouble with it so I removed it
and instead installed IE7 which hasn't let me down yet. In any case
IE8 wouldn't have helped because I've found out the problem is my user
profile... I created another user account and everything looks good
from there... so now I have to find the way to repair my usual
profile.. As far as I've found out, restoring a backup of the
"ntuser.dat" file (ntuser.bak) may restore the current_user registry
hive settings but I'm at the point of searching for the way to restore
ntuser.bak safely. Would you happen to know the way by any chance? I
don't think it's as simple as switching the file extensions between
"ntuser.dat" and "ntuser.bak" or deleting "ntuser.dat" from another
OS, cause that would be to easy and I've read that there's not much
you can do to recover a corrupted user profile


-----------------------------------------------

...yet you re-installed all the video drivers and mention the
possibility of a "Repair Install" which is an even 'bigger' thing
than a 'System Restore' !!

Bear in mind that 'Restore Points', quite often, don't last for ever.
On a lot of XP machines they are deleted, almost at random. So, you
may not always have this option.

I really must say, though, I do not think that it's got anything at
all to do with video drivers.

If you are dead against performing a 'System Restore' (what I
recommend), then installing IE8 may [possibly] cure the problem...

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Méndez]

I'm not sure where exactly you are getting your 'ntuser.bak' file from?

The 'ntuser.bak' file is right there in my profile folder and is at plain
eyesight, not a hidden file (and so is 'Ntuser.dat'). It's probably not
from a previous installation cause it's dated June 11/09 and I did the last
repair installation on June 3rd though it was not a completed but it worked.

Fact is, I had done a repair-installation to install SP3 included on the CD
on April 19th, a day went by and it gave no Activation period so I didn't
give it much thought, I shut the system down and used the other system for
some 40 days without booting the repaired system, and when I did, it was
disabled without the possibility of activation so I started another
repair-installation and about half the way of copying files from the CD it
would restart on several attempts. And since the OS was installed on the E:\
drive and I had letter D:\ available, I tried changing the OS letter to D:\
on the Registry from a UBCD PE before I tried another repair installation,
after that attempted another reinstallation and it also failed, I then used
the PE CD and restored the registry to April 19th with the Registry Restore
Wizard application included in the CD, and that helped me logon normally to
the "half repaired" system with a renewed 31 day count for Activation.

This was on June 3rd and the 'ntuser.dat' file is from June 11th, so I
suppose it may be safe to use it? I could change/switch the ntuser file
extensions from the other installation, but my doubts are; if switching the
file extensions can solve the problem, can that restore the web view? Is
there any risk of losing access to the user account?

I am also considering using the Control Panel\System Tool to copy my profile
to a new account, (obviously minus the ntuser.dat file).


Thanks for the extensive information.

 

[Tim Meddick]

April is quite some time ago and if you have installed allot of software
since then - it may cause you some problems.

But, so long as you are absolutely sure that you haven't changed you're
user password for this account since then, it's probably safe enough to
replace it.

Again, because of the age of this .bak file, you may well find that
having sorted out one 'glitch', others appear. This can be caused due
to discrepancies between an installed application's registry settings
conflicting with it's present configuration.

Have you tried creating a new user account?

This was the answer another user found that sorted out a similar problem
(can't quite fully remember what it was but, it was some part of Windows
not displaying properly and on creating a new user account the problem
was no longer).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Méndez]

I may have confused the explanation, but the ntuser.bak file is dated from
June 11th... April 19th was the first complete repair-installation to update
the System with SP3... and I haven't done major changes to my profile since
June 11th, so it may be relatively safe to restore ntuser.bak but I will try
to copy my profile to a new user account, I already have three other
accounts I created a while back that I don't use, and had forgotten the
passwords, so I created a new user, and now I've found the passwords, so I
have a few options to try out.

My intentions are to backup files and profile settings, then copy my profile
to another account, and after that, restore the ntuser.bak file and if the
profile corrupts further there will be no real or unsurmountable harm done.
And yes from other user accounts the problem is not present, so I will
probably move my profile to another account and later delete the present
account if the problem is not corrected.


Thanks for your support.

 

[Méndez]

Solved!. I restored the ntuser backup from another account, I renamed the
current "ntuser.dat" file to "ntuser.old", then changed the backup
("ntuser.bak")
extension to "ntuser.dat" and that was all I had to do.


Just thought you'd like to know

 

[Tim Meddick]

Glad you got it sorted!

And, it's good that you follow up on your query, letting others know how
you got on.

So many people don't bother, quite infuriating...

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.