System Information, msinfo32.exe

[Bob Felton]

Windows XP Pro, SP2. Whenever I select System Information via Start,
Programs, Accessories, System Tools or via run msinfo32.exe or via
double clicking on the file in Program Files, Common Files, Microsoft
Shared, MSInfo System Information does not run. No error messages.
Instead, the Help and Support Center window opens. It used to work
fine. I don't know when it stopped working properly - I just noticed
it not working today. SP2 has been installed for quite a while and I
did do a Windows Update within the last two weeks. Any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

http://help.lockergnome.com/general/Running-Msinfo32-Xp-Opens-Help-Support-ftopict39545.html

C:\WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\OfflineCache\Index.dat is missing. You can try reinstalling Help and Support

Open Windows Explorer and go to C:\Windows\Inf. In the right pane, locate the pchealth.inf file. Right click it and select Install. If your computer came with XP preinstalled, you should be ok. Otherwise, have your XP CD handy.

 

[Bob Felton]

Thanks, Doug. No, not a pre-install. Self-installed from an SP1 CD
then updated to SP2 via an update CD. I did verify that the index.dat
file was missing. I tried your suggestion to install pchealth.inf.
The install asked for an SP2 CD but could not find what it wanted on
my SP2 update CD. I then tried a copy of an OEM SP2 CD for another
machine and it went through the install motions using that. However,
upon completion, System Information still failed to work and the
index.dat file was still missing. I have another SP2 machine, so I
copied the index.dat file from that machine to the problem machine and
now System Information works again. Thanks for your help, Doug.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

You're welcome, Bob If I'd known you had another XP machine available, I'd have suggested copying it.