Eric Legge Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Greetings all,When I enter msinfo32 in the Start => Run box the Help and Support window comes up instead of the System Information.Anyone know what's the matter and how to get the System Information window to run?The Registry paths are all correct and lead to msinfo32, but the msinfo32.exe file is now the executable file for Help and Support. Clicking on the file brings up Help and Support.Does anyone know what the file name of Help and Support is?Maybe if I clicked on it, System Information will come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 That's definitely a frustrating one!KellysKorner has an answer for you: Msinfo32 - System Information (Error or Missing)Odd msinfo32.exe problem. msinfo32 mystery solved. (written by Vampirefo, furnished by Martin)I finally figured it out, after running test after test. A index.dat file has been deleted, and that's why when some run msinfo32 they get the help center instead of system information.I had this problem, and just now got it figured out, I restored a new image and system information was working great, I then ran Spider which cleans temp files, I saved the report rebooted and system information was not working.I looked at what spider deleted and I found it deleted a index.dat here E:\\WINDOWS\\PCHEALTH\\HELPCTR\\OfflineCache\\index.datI opened and image and restored just this dat, and now my system information is working, so this dat file is the cause for the problem. Hope this helps you too.I originally found KellysKorner iinfo on this through Google Groups here:http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.p...19e032a46db9277 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Legge Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Thanks for the reply.That is the correct answer to the problem.The index.dat from C:\WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\OfflineCache was deleted, in my case by CCleaner,which deletes al of the index.dat files.The one at that location is usually 79K unaltered. Replacing it restores System Information.Someone sent me a copy from his XP Home Edition computer. The XP Pro index.dat file might be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I have WinXP Pro and the file is 85K unaltered since install as well ... so yes, it is a little bit bigger with the Pro version.It is nice that it can be replaced without ill effects or having to reinstall just to fix that problem.I take it then that you are using XP Home on that computer?That's strange about CCleaner. I have been using it for quite a while and have never had it delete unilaterally all index.dat files. This one is still in place on my computer. But I only set it to do Custom Folders in the Advanced section under the Windows Tab.CCleaner isn't the only 'cleaner' that could do that. It is a standard possible removal item on computers. ... so...I have zipped up this file and put it in my Tech Tools so those with WinXP Pro can benefit from my copy of it if they ever experience the same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Legge Posted October 18, 2005 Author Share Posted October 18, 2005 (edited) FYI, I discovered that Spider not CCleaner was to blame for clearing the contents of that index.dat file.CCleaner is safe to use in this regard.I used Spider to view the contents of the main index.dat file that records visited sites to see if CCleaner had cleaned it out, because I'm pretty certain that Microsoft and my ISP access and use the contents of that file for marketing purposes.My ISP even tries to make itself a Trusted site without asking for permission and tries to change the Internet security setting from High to Medium every time I log on. MS Antispyware prevents it from doing so.I can't stand all of this snoopy business. Edited October 18, 2005 by Eric Legge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riceloft Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 (edited) I have the same issue, and whatever program deleted it (Probably CleanUp! 4.0) doesn't seem to have a recovery option. I don't have a saved restore point with that file, either.EDIT: request for proprietary file removed. Thanks for your understanding. Please read over the Forum Rules. Edited November 9, 2005 by LilBambi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.