control panel GONE???

cathy01

hi ya, went onto my sons computer and the control panel was gone.I went into settings and nothing htere.I did a file search and nothing.Any ideas.Its only logged in his name.
thanks,cathy

Karoma

What version of Windows?

For XP, try the obvious:
Right click on "start" -> "properties" -> "Start Menu" tab -> "Customize" -> "Advanced" tab -> select "Display as a link" under control panel section

Balfa

You may be able to see it by opening windows explorer (hold down the windows key and press E, or right-click on "My Computer" and choose "explore"). It should be on the tree on the left below any disk drives you have.

cathy01

No, its not there.I have tried both? any other thoughts on it.
cathy

coolmoose

sounds like virus behaviour...have your run a virus scan?

cathy01

I did a full scan a while ago , it automatically updates itself.
i will scann again, thansk .
cathy

Mr. Presentable

Try this, but read the instructions first. Assumes some PC savvy - be backed up!

http://downloads.andymanchesta.com/RemovalTools/SDFix.exe

Download SDFix and save it to your Desktop.

Double click SDFix.exe and it will extract the files to %systemdrive%
(Drive that contains the Windows Directory, typically C:\SDFix)

Please then reboot your computer in Safe Mode by doing the following :
Restart your computer
After hearing your computer beep once during startup, but before the Windows icon appears, tap the F8 key continually;
Instead of Windows loading as normal, the Advanced Options Menu should appear;
Select the first option, to run Windows in Safe Mode, then press Enter.
Choose your usual account.
Open the extracted SDFix folder and double click RunThis.bat to start the script.
Type Y to begin the cleanup process.
It will remove any Trojan Services and Registry Entries that it finds then prompt you to press any key to Reboot.
Press any Key and it will restart the PC.
When the PC restarts the Fixtool will run again and complete the removal process then display Finished, press any key to end the script and load your desktop icons.

Gadgetman496

I've used this method (SDFix) to restore the Control Panel in the past & it worked fine.

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cathy01

ok Im going to print this off and try it,
thanks Cathy.

watty

Start Run
control.exe
You can create a shortcut to control.exe

ActorSeeksJob

Honestly you shouldn't be telling users to run SDFix unless you know he has a backdoor bot infection or something like that. It is a very strong tool and should only be run under the right circumstances.

It could be malware related, so try this

Please download Deckard's System Scanner (DSS) and save it to your Desktop.

• Close all other windows before proceeding.
• Double-click on dss.exe and follow the prompts.
• When it has finished, dss will open two Notepads main.txt and extra.txt -- please copy (CTRL+A and then CTRL+C) and paste (CTRL+V) the contents of main.txt and extra.txt in your next reply.

cathy01

ok, my son has his computer in school today so when he comes home I will try and do it,
thanks all,
cathy

watty

It's possible to simply loose the Shortcut. So simply try running control.exe and if that works create a new shortcut.