Published on March 26, 2007

When I double click Administrative Tools either from the Control Panel or the Start Menu it brings up Explorer and the folder is empty. How can I get to these tools?

[Windows Vista] Administrative Tools folder is empty

Question

When I double click Administrative Tools either from the Control Panel or the Start Menu it brings up Explorer and the folder is empty. How can I get to these tools?

Answer

This happens if the shortcuts to various Admin tools have been deleted, either accidentally or when using a third-party disk cleaner program that you may have installed. Follow these steps to restore the administrative tools shortcuts.

Download vista_ultimate_admintools.zip and save to Desktop
Extract the files to the following location:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools