Weird SendTo problem (XP-Pro SP2)

[WinGuy]

Never seen this problem before! Per KB310270, if I add a shortcut (say, a
shortcut to Notepad that is know to actually work!) to the SendTo folder for
the active user account, it does NOT show up as a selection if I then
right-click a file and select SendTo !!! Only Compressed, Desktop, Mail, My
Documents and 3.5 Floppy A drive icons show in any SendTo folder, regardless
of additional content in the SendTo folder for the account! Very, very
weird, and it's happening with all accounts (including default user, etc). I
checked file permissions, they are ok both for the SendTo folders and the
shortcuts. Anyone got a clue to share on how to fix this strangeness?

 

[WinGuy]

I see that this is actually an old problem. For example, this link:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group..._doneTitle=Back+to+Search&&d#917dd79643131b45

But I've not found a solution for it, yet ...

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

WinGuy,

Open Regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserShell Folders

What's the value assigned to "SendTo" in the right-pane?

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Never seen this problem before! Per KB310270, if I add a shortcut (say, a
shortcut to Notepad that is know to actually work!) to the SendTo folder for
the active user account, it does NOT show up as a selection if I then
right-click a file and select SendTo !!! Only Compressed, Desktop, Mail, My
Documents and 3.5 Floppy A drive icons show in any SendTo folder, regardless
of additional content in the SendTo folder for the account! Very, very
weird, and it's happening with all accounts (including default user, etc). I
checked file permissions, they are ok both for the SendTo folders and the
shortcuts. Anyone got a clue to share on how to fix this strangeness?

 

[WinGuy]

WinGuy,
Open Regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders

What's the value assigned to "SendTo" in the right-pane?

Hi, Ramesh!

When logged on as administrator in XP-Pro, it reads:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\SendTo
else replace "Administrator" with the account name.

Unfortunately, that appears to be correct. It knows where the SendTo folder
is at for each account. But each user account will not display in the Send
To menu what is in the SendTo folder, when doing a right-click of any file
and selecting the Send To option, *except* for the following SendTo folder
content (and this is true for each and all accounts):
Compressed (zipped) folder
Desktop (create shortcut)
Mail Recipient
My Documents
3.5 Floppy (A
Those 5 are all zero-byte size shortcuts. Right-clicking any other shortcut,
such as Notepad in Start | Programs | Accessories and copying it and then
pasting it into the appropriate SendTo folder does indeed cause the shortcut
to show it up in the SendTo folder, and works if double-clicked from within
that SendTo folder (just click Start then Run and enter "SendTo" without the
quotes and click OK to open the current user SendTo folder), but the
shortcut then refuses to show up in the Send To menu for any user account
except for those above listed 5 shortcuts. This just has to be registry
problem. Somewhere there's a list of drop handlers (DropHandler) where
something is either corrupted or is entirely missing.

I *think* some key similar to
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\[something]\shellex\DropHandler" is supposed to point
to some registered class that will be found to be corrupted or missing.
Since I don't get a dll error (no errors at all reported, not even in Event
Manager where policy is set to report all failures) I don't think any dll is
actually getting called, which is what makes me suspect the registry itself
is corrupt. I think maybe the iteration process for the Send To menu hits
the corruption and then just terminates, refusing to process into the Send
To menu display any other type of drop handlers that might be listed beyond
the above 5 that do list but which seemingly precede the bad registry entry.
But this is just a theory, and I really am lost and don't fully understand
how things get iterated into the Send To menu display. And I find many
DropHandler entries in the registry, none of which appear to have obviously
corrupt key values although I've not tried to trace down all the associated
classes (I hope I can narrow the search down a bit before trying that, as
that kind of investigation would be very time consuming!)

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Great idea, and I guess you're correct!

Click Start/Run and type:

regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

Good Luck, and keep me posted.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

WinGuy,
Open Regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders

What's the value assigned to "SendTo" in the right-pane?

Hi, Ramesh!

When logged on as administrator in XP-Pro, it reads:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\SendTo
else replace "Administrator" with the account name.

Unfortunately, that appears to be correct. It knows where the SendTo folder
is at for each account. But each user account will not display in the Send
To menu what is in the SendTo folder, when doing a right-click of any file
and selecting the Send To option, *except* for the following SendTo folder
content (and this is true for each and all accounts):
Compressed (zipped) folder
Desktop (create shortcut)
Mail Recipient
My Documents
3.5 Floppy (A
Those 5 are all zero-byte size shortcuts. Right-clicking any other shortcut,
such as Notepad in Start | Programs | Accessories and copying it and then
pasting it into the appropriate SendTo folder does indeed cause the shortcut
to show it up in the SendTo folder, and works if double-clicked from within
that SendTo folder (just click Start then Run and enter "SendTo" without the
quotes and click OK to open the current user SendTo folder), but the
shortcut then refuses to show up in the Send To menu for any user account
except for those above listed 5 shortcuts. This just has to be registry
problem. Somewhere there's a list of drop handlers (DropHandler) where
something is either corrupted or is entirely missing.

I *think* some key similar to
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\[something]\shellex\DropHandler" is supposed to point
to some registered class that will be found to be corrupted or missing.
Since I don't get a dll error (no errors at all reported, not even in Event
Manager where policy is set to report all failures) I don't think any dll is
actually getting called, which is what makes me suspect the registry itself
is corrupt. I think maybe the iteration process for the Send To menu hits
the corruption and then just terminates, refusing to process into the Send
To menu display any other type of drop handlers that might be listed beyond
the above 5 that do list but which seemingly precede the bad registry entry.
But this is just a theory, and I really am lost and don't fully understand
how things get iterated into the Send To menu display. And I find many
DropHandler entries in the registry, none of which appear to have obviously
corrupt key values although I've not tried to trace down all the associated
classes (I hope I can narrow the search down a bit before trying that, as
that kind of investigation would be very time consuming!)

 

[WinGuy]

Great idea, and I guess you're correct!

Click Start/Run and type:

regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

Good Luck, and keep me posted.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

It registered fine. I rebooted then, but found the problem still exists.
Well, I'll just have to begin the onerous task of finding all the registry
DropHandler entries and verifying that what they refer to is as it should
be. Luckily, I've another XP-Pro that is working correct to compare against.
Darn, I had other plans for this weekend but I really have to solve this by
Monday morning.

And thanks, Ramesh, for the help and advice. Happy Holidays to you and
yours.

I will post the solution to this thread if I find it by the deadline time.

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

WinGuy,

There are atleast three causes for this problem:

1. Incorrect "Send To" pointer in the registry (does not apply here)
2. exe DropTarget handler missing (registering shell32.dll fixes it)
3. .lnk DropTarget handler missing

For case 3:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\DropHandler
Set (default) to {00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

This should fix the problem.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Great idea, and I guess you're correct!

Click Start/Run and type:

regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

Good Luck, and keep me posted.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

It registered fine. I rebooted then, but found the problem still exists.
Well, I'll just have to begin the onerous task of finding all the registry
DropHandler entries and verifying that what they refer to is as it should
be. Luckily, I've another XP-Pro that is working correct to compare against.
Darn, I had other plans for this weekend but I really have to solve this by
Monday morning.

And thanks, Ramesh, for the help and advice. Happy Holidays to you and
yours.

I will post the solution to this thread if I find it by the deadline time.

 

[WinGuy]

WinGuy,

There are atleast three causes for this problem:

1. Incorrect "Send To" pointer in the registry (does not apply here)
2. exe DropTarget handler missing (registering shell32.dll fixes it)
3. .lnk DropTarget handler missing

For case 3:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\DropHandler
Set (default) to {00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

This should fix the problem.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

Unfortunately, the key+value you mentioned already existed in the problem
machine. Registering shell32.dll worked but did not affect the problem.

I'm not sure which of the 2 below given registry repairs did it, or if both
were required, because I applied both at the same time. But upon reboot the
problem was then repaired. However, it was necessary that any *user* added
shortcuts actually point at a filename, rather than just a folder. For
Winworks, the shortcut in Program Files for Word, for example, works fine
from there and does NOT reference an actual filename but it will not work in
the problem machines' Send To folder -- the shortcut will only show up in
the Send To folder if it actually pointed to the executable Word application
file, and then only after the below fixes were applied and the machine
rebooted. The "SendToFix1.reg" registry entry existed on a working XP-Pro,
but did not exist on the problem machine. I'm not sure it is really needed,
since its value is null, but it might be a list generation iterator
terminator if it doesn't exist, and it doesn't seem to hurt for it to exist.
I suspect the last key in "SendToFix2.reg", below, is what actually did the
trick.

Thanks again for the help and research, Ramesh. I hope the below info is
worthy of entry into your "possible fix" records! This was a tough one.

Winguy


===== Cut here, save as SendToFix1.reg =====
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shellex\DragDropHandlers\{BD472F60-27FA-11cf-B8B4-444553540000}]
@=""

========= Cut here ===========



===== Cut here, save as SendToFix2.reg =====
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Send To]
@="{7BA4C740-9E81-11CF-99D3-00AA004AE837}"

========= Cut here ===========

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Thank you WinGuy, for posting this information. BTW, what did the SendTo folder contain actually? I assumed it contained shortcuts to executable files, not folders.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


WinGuy,

There are atleast three causes for this problem:

1. Incorrect "Send To" pointer in the registry (does not apply here)
2. exe DropTarget handler missing (registering shell32.dll fixes it)
3. .lnk DropTarget handler missing

For case 3:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\DropHandler
Set (default) to {00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

This should fix the problem.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

Unfortunately, the key+value you mentioned already existed in the problem
machine. Registering shell32.dll worked but did not affect the problem.

I'm not sure which of the 2 below given registry repairs did it, or if both
were required, because I applied both at the same time. But upon reboot the
problem was then repaired. However, it was necessary that any *user* added
shortcuts actually point at a filename, rather than just a folder. For
Winworks, the shortcut in Program Files for Word, for example, works fine
from there and does NOT reference an actual filename but it will not work in
the problem machines' Send To folder -- the shortcut will only show up in
the Send To folder if it actually pointed to the executable Word application
file, and then only after the below fixes were applied and the machine
rebooted. The "SendToFix1.reg" registry entry existed on a working XP-Pro,
but did not exist on the problem machine. I'm not sure it is really needed,
since its value is null, but it might be a list generation iterator
terminator if it doesn't exist, and it doesn't seem to hurt for it to exist.
I suspect the last key in "SendToFix2.reg", below, is what actually did the
trick.

Thanks again for the help and research, Ramesh. I hope the below info is
worthy of entry into your "possible fix" records! This was a tough one.

Winguy


===== Cut here, save as SendToFix1.reg =====
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shellex\DragDropHandlers\{BD472F60-27FA-11cf-B8B4-444553540000}]
@=""

========= Cut here ===========



===== Cut here, save as SendToFix2.reg =====
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Send To]
@="{7BA4C740-9E81-11CF-99D3-00AA004AE837}"

========= Cut here ===========

 

[WinGuy]

Thank you WinGuy, for posting this information. BTW, what did the SendTo
folder contain actually? I assumed it contained shortcuts to executable
files, not folders.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

----------

Just the default shortcuts from installation. I make it a habit to add ones
pointing to Notepad and either Wordpad (or Word if Office is installed),
since opening a file that way using the Send To menu is such a common need.
I actually wanted to send a "scrap" file to Notepad so I could examine its
content (potential virus, but it was actually a lost picture file because
the OS had not been upgraded to NTFS) when I noticed the problem. I usually
just copy the Notepad shortcut, to the SendTo folder, that already exists in
Program Files. I did that, but it wouldn't show up in the Send To menu even
though the shortcut existed where it should exist at, and it did point to an
execuatble file.

I also routinely put a shortcut to Internet Explorer into the SendTo folder
too, so that various files can be viewed from IE if desired. I usually copy
the one from the desktop to there. If you look at the properties for that
desktop shortcut for IE, you should get the configuration menu instead of
the normal shortcut info. Same thing with the Windword shortcut found in the
Program Files listing on systems using Works instead of Office. Placing
those types of shortcuts into the SendTo folder is supposed to work (and
does on my own XP Pro) but still does not on the problem machine. But I'm
not going to fix that, because "normal" shortcuts placed into the problem
machine SendTo folder, and which point to an actual executable or properly
associated file, now do show up in the Send To menu, where before they would
not show up (but the special default ones from installation would show up)
before the fix applied & noted in my last post in this thread; and that is
sufficient because it does provide the needed Send To functionality anyway.

The only ones that were showing up in the Send To menu, even though others
existed in the SendTo folder, before the fix were:
Compressed, Desktop, Mail, My Documents and 3.5 Floppy A drive

Happy Holidays!
Winguy

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Thanks for the detailed info, Winguy. Happy Holidays!

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Thank you WinGuy, for posting this information. BTW, what did the SendTo
folder contain actually? I assumed it contained shortcuts to executable
files, not folders.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

----------

Just the default shortcuts from installation. I make it a habit to add ones
pointing to Notepad and either Wordpad (or Word if Office is installed),
since opening a file that way using the Send To menu is such a common need.
I actually wanted to send a "scrap" file to Notepad so I could examine its
content (potential virus, but it was actually a lost picture file because
the OS had not been upgraded to NTFS) when I noticed the problem. I usually
just copy the Notepad shortcut, to the SendTo folder, that already exists in
Program Files. I did that, but it wouldn't show up in the Send To menu even
though the shortcut existed where it should exist at, and it did point to an
execuatble file.

I also routinely put a shortcut to Internet Explorer into the SendTo folder
too, so that various files can be viewed from IE if desired. I usually copy
the one from the desktop to there. If you look at the properties for that
desktop shortcut for IE, you should get the configuration menu instead of
the normal shortcut info. Same thing with the Windword shortcut found in the
Program Files listing on systems using Works instead of Office. Placing
those types of shortcuts into the SendTo folder is supposed to work (and
does on my own XP Pro) but still does not on the problem machine. But I'm
not going to fix that, because "normal" shortcuts placed into the problem
machine SendTo folder, and which point to an actual executable or properly
associated file, now do show up in the Send To menu, where before they would
not show up (but the special default ones from installation would show up)
before the fix applied & noted in my last post in this thread; and that is
sufficient because it does provide the needed Send To functionality anyway.

The only ones that were showing up in the Send To menu, even though others
existed in the SendTo folder, before the fix were:
Compressed, Desktop, Mail, My Documents and 3.5 Floppy A drive

Happy Holidays!
Winguy