When you click the Windows Explorer shortcut which is Pinned to the Taskbar, or when running explorer.exe directly in Windows 7, the following error message may be displayed with text "explorer.exe" in the title bar.
This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel.
And using the WinKey + E key sequence causes "Unspecified error" (more…)
When you insert a DVD media in the drive, right-click on the drive and choose Play from the context menu, the following error may occur.
Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.
However, you may be able to play DVD movies via the AutoPlay dialog, or by starting Windows Media Player and using the Play menu. This happens if the DVD/Play association setting is missing or incorrect, or is of incorrect value type. The DVD Play verb is stored in this registry key: (more…)
Recently I came across a problem in a Windows 7 PC where the Windows Search service failed to start, and manually starting the service using Services MMC resulted in Error 1053, with the following error message verbatim.
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.
When you right-click the Computer icon and click Manage, the following error message appears and Computer Management window doesn’t appear.
This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel.
This happens if the IsShortcut registry value is deleted, in an attempt to hide the shortcut arrow overlay. This is one of the many side-effects caused by the removal of IsShortcut registry value. To resolve the problem, download and apply the .lnk file association fix from the following link:
File Association Fixes for Windows 7
File association fixes for Windows Vista
This restores the IsShortcut String value in the following registry key:
Editor’s Note: For a proper way to remove the shortcut arrow in Windows Vista and Windows 7, see article How to remove or modify the Shortcut overlay in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
When you type a search word or phrase in the Windows 7 Start menu, the search results may turn up empty with only the category headings (such as “Control Panel”, “Files”, “Microsoft Outlook”) showing. Also, clicking any of the category heading from the search results may open a Windows Security dialog displaying the error "These files can’t be opened". (more…)
When you click the Organize Favorites option under the Favorites menu in Internet Explorer, the following error occurs and the Organize Favorites dialog appears blank as in the graphic below:
When you double-click a library to view the contents, the following error may occur.
For example, the following error may occur when opening Documents library
Similarly when opening the Music, Pictures or Videos library
To fix this problem, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the corresponding library and choose Delete. Click Yes when asked for confirmation.
Note: Deleting a library does not delete the contents of the included folders. However, you may need to re-add or include your folders manually, if needed.
Then, in the navigation pane of Windows Explorer, right-click Libraries and click Restore default libraries.
This recreates the library that was deleted earlier. This option only restores the default libraries.
When you start the Event Viewer, the following error message may be shown.
Any attempts to start the Event Log service results in the following error:
As the Windows Event Log service isn’t running, starting Task Scheduler results in the following error:
This problem was reported by one of our readers via email, and it has been fixed. Service startup error 1079 occurs if the logon account for the service is incorrectly set. Usually this is resolved by fixing the service logon account (via the Log On tab in the Property sheet) via the Services MMC (services.msc)
This can’t be done in case of Windows Event Log, where the Log On tab controls remain grayed out by default.
So, we need to alter the ObjectName registry value in the following location:
Start the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to the above branch:
Double-click ObjectName value and set its data as NT AUTHORITY\LocalService {for Windows Vista & Windows 7}
Double-click ObjectName value and set its data as LocalSystem {for Windows XP}
Restart Windows.
Registry Fix
To automate the above setting, download eventlog-svc-fix.zip and run the REG file which is applicable for your Operating System. The zip file includes the REG fixes for Windows XP and Windows 7/Vista. Restart Windows after applying the fix.
When you run the System File Checker using the /Scannow parameter from an elevated Command Prompt, the following error may occur. Additionally, you may experience problems running Windows Installer Setup files and installing fixes from Windows Update. (more…)
When you attempt to run Disk Defragmenter using the property sheet of a hard disk drive, the following error may occur. We saw how to fix the Disk Defragmenter error using the registry editor in Windows Vista. Here are the instructions for Windows XP systems. (more…)
