Vista - HELP!! Totally stumped!!

I'm running Vista Ultimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to get
around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a sudden I
cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl, Welcome Center, or
even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the apps I have installed
run just fine. I can also perform searches both locally and on the
internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this message and, as you can
tell, it works just fine. The most common message I get is "Windows cannot
access the specified drive, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate
permissions to access the item." When that window comes up, sometimes there
will be a class id in the title and sometimes not. When attempting to run
Welcome Center, I will occasionally receive a rundll32 error.

I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but some
keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really don't
want to do a clean install if at all possible.

Any suggestions on what I should try next?

Chris

"ChrisW" <chris@guamusa.com.us> wrote in message
news:788BD780-6A76-436D-9BF4-DE37A989BDFA@microsoft.com...
> I'm running Vista Ultimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to
> get around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a
> sudden I cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl, Welcome
> Center, or even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the apps I
> have installed run just fine. I can also perform searches both locally
> and on the internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this message and,
> as you can tell, it works just fine. The most common message I get is
> "Windows cannot access the specified drive, path, or file. You may not
> have the appropriate permissions to access the item." When that window
> comes up, sometimes there will be a class id in the title and sometimes
> not. When attempting to run Welcome Center, I will occasionally receive a
> rundll32 error.
>
> I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
> installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
> However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
> tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but some
> keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really don't
> want to do a clean install if at all possible.
>
> Any suggestions on what I should try next?
>
> Chris


Use the "System Restore" utility to go back to a registry setup prior in
time to when you had this problem for the first time. Likely a worm or virus
caused this issue; but you never know. Make sure you have your security
utilities properly setup and running.

Richard.

In the System Properties click on Environment Variables. What is the path
set to? It should look something like this.

%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem

Just a guess. As Richard posted System restore might work.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"ChrisW" <chris@guamusa.com.us> wrote in message
news:788BD780-6A76-436D-9BF4-DE37A989BDFA@microsoft.com...
> I'm running Vista Ultimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to
> get around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a
> sudden I cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl, Welcome
> Center, or even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the apps I
> have installed run just fine. I can also perform searches both locally
> and on the internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this message and,
> as you can tell, it works just fine. The most common message I get is
> "Windows cannot access the specified drive, path, or file. You may not
> have the appropriate permissions to access the item." When that window
> comes up, sometimes there will be a class id in the title and sometimes
> not. When attempting to run Welcome Center, I will occasionally receive a
> rundll32 error.
>
> I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
> installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
> However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
> tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but some
> keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really don't
> want to do a clean install if at all possible.
>
> Any suggestions on what I should try next?
>
> Chris

I forgot to mention that I had already tried System Restore but I only had 4
points to rely on and none of those solved the problem. I found the
Environment keys under the registry ControlSet and tried altering the path
value to what you suggested but that failed as well. I'm still working on
the problem and would appreciate any thoughts no matter how off the wall
they may be.

Chris

"Kerry Brown" <kerry@kdbNOSPAMsys-tems.c*a*m> wrote in message
news:erIUDwTeHHA.4564@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> In the System Properties click on Environment Variables. What is the path
> set to? It should look something like this.
>
> %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem
>
> Just a guess. As Richard posted System restore might work.
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
> "ChrisW" <chris@guamusa.com.us> wrote in message
> news:788BD780-6A76-436D-9BF4-DE37A989BDFA@microsoft.com...
>> I'm running Vista Ultimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to
>> get around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a
>> sudden I cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl, Welcome
>> Center, or even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the apps I
>> have installed run just fine. I can also perform searches both locally
>> and on the internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this message and,
>> as you can tell, it works just fine. The most common message I get is
>> "Windows cannot access the specified drive, path, or file. You may not
>> have the appropriate permissions to access the item." When that window
>> comes up, sometimes there will be a class id in the title and sometimes
>> not. When attempting to run Welcome Center, I will occasionally receive
>> a rundll32 error.
>>
>> I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
>> installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
>> However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
>> tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but
>> some keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really
>> don't want to do a clean install if at all possible.
>>
>> Any suggestions on what I should try next?
>>
>> Chris
>

You don't need to edit the path in the registry directly. You can edit it
here:

Right click on Computer, pick Properties, click on Advanced System Settings,
click on Environment variables

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"Chris W." <chris@guamusa.com.us> wrote in message
news:A6B78CD6-5307-466E-B7B9-11041A6D3B52@microsoft.com...
>I forgot to mention that I had already tried System Restore but I only had
>4 points to rely on and none of those solved the problem. I found the
>Environment keys under the registry ControlSet and tried altering the path
>value to what you suggested but that failed as well. I'm still working on
>the problem and would appreciate any thoughts no matter how off the wall
>they may be.
>
> Chris
>
> "Kerry Brown" <kerry@kdbNOSPAMsys-tems.c*a*m> wrote in message
> news:erIUDwTeHHA.4564@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> In the System Properties click on Environment Variables. What is the path
>> set to? It should look something like this.
>>
>> %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem
>>
>> Just a guess. As Richard posted System restore might work.
>>
>> --
>> Kerry Brown
>> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
>> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>>
>>
>> "ChrisW" <chris@guamusa.com.us> wrote in message
>> news:788BD780-6A76-436D-9BF4-DE37A989BDFA@microsoft.com...
>>> I'm running Vista Ultimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to
>>> get around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a
>>> sudden I cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl,
>>> Welcome Center, or even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the
>>> apps I have installed run just fine. I can also perform searches both
>>> locally and on the internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this
>>> message and, as you can tell, it works just fine. The most common
>>> message I get is "Windows cannot access the specified drive, path, or
>>> file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."
>>> When that window comes up, sometimes there will be a class id in the
>>> title and sometimes not. When attempting to run Welcome Center, I will
>>> occasionally receive a rundll32 error.
>>>
>>> I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
>>> installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
>>> However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
>>> tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but
>>> some keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really
>>> don't want to do a clean install if at all possible.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions on what I should try next?
>>>
>>> Chris
>>
>

On Apr 7, 9:24 am, "ChrisW" <c...@guamusa.com.us> wrote:
> I'm runningVistaUltimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to get
> around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a sudden I
> cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl,Welcome Center, or
> even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the apps I have installed
> run just fine. I can also perform searches both locally and on the
> internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this message and, as you can
> tell, it works just fine. The most common message I get is "Windows cannot
> access the specified drive, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate
> permissions to access the item." When that window comes up, sometimes there
> will be a class id in the title and sometimes not. When attempting to runWelcome Center, I will occasionally receive a rundll32 error.
>
> I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
> installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
> However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
> tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but some
> keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really don't
> want to do a clean install if at all possible.
>
> Any suggestions on what I should try next?
>
> Chris

Have you tried using msiinv to find the product guid for powershell
and then running msiexec /x {product-guid-for-powershell}? Found a
blog entry that describes it for me - http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archi...01/434814.aspx
..
I don't know a lot about the requirement to have powershell
uninstalled (never heard of it, but it's a big product), but this
should allow you to uninstall it.

HTH,
James [MSFT]
http://blogs.msdn.com/jamesfi

I am running ultimate as well and i havent had this problem before. The only
thing i can think of doing is a total reformat of ur hard drive. Then put
vista back on. im sure you can find on the internet a software thats backs
your computer up safely if you cant access the folders. thats the only thing
i can think of.

Good Luck
<jamesfinnigan@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1176027440.018629.114940@o5g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> On Apr 7, 9:24 am, "ChrisW" <c...@guamusa.com.us> wrote:
>> I'm runningVistaUltimate and have run into a problem I cannot seem to get
>> around. I've been running this for about a month now and all of a sudden
>> I
>> cannot open Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Appwiz.cpl,Welcome Center,
>> or
>> even pull up the properties on Computer. All of the apps I have
>> installed
>> run just fine. I can also perform searches both locally and on the
>> internet. I'm using Windows Mail to compose this message and, as you can
>> tell, it works just fine. The most common message I get is "Windows
>> cannot
>> access the specified drive, path, or file. You may not have the
>> appropriate
>> permissions to access the item." When that window comes up, sometimes
>> there
>> will be a class id in the title and sometimes not. When attempting to
>> runWelcome Center, I will occasionally receive a rundll32 error.
>>
>> I have attempted to reinstall (upgrade) but because I have PowerShell
>> installed, I am unable to perform that task until it is uninstalled.
>> However, since I cannot run AppWiz, I cannot uninstall PowerShell. I've
>> tried removing all references to that program from within RegEdit but
>> some
>> keys cannot be deleted because of a permissions problem. I really don't
>> want to do a clean install if at all possible.
>>
>> Any suggestions on what I should try next?
>>
>> Chris
>
> Have you tried using msiinv to find the product guid for powershell
> and then running msiexec /x {product-guid-for-powershell}? Found a
> blog entry that describes it for me -
> http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archi...01/434814.aspx
> .
> I don't know a lot about the requirement to have powershell
> uninstalled (never heard of it, but it's a big product), but this
> should allow you to uninstall it.
>
> HTH,
> James [MSFT]
> http://blogs.msdn.com/jamesfi
>