XP problem

[Guest c4evap]

A few days ago the system fonts on one of my computers somehow became corrupted. I managed to repair the font folder but still have a few "oddities" remaining. The main one being: on all my menus, where there is a sub-menu, there are usually little arrows that indicate the presence of said sub-menus. Instead of an arrow appearing I have a tiny computer mouse graphic displayed. Also, every check box (which should either be blank or contain a check or a dot is instead totally black. I've done an exhaustive search for info on this problem but came up empty. Any of you out there have a solution (besides a re-install)?

 

p.s. I've done a spyware and virus scan. Nil. Pics below.

 

c4

[kyran]

try recovery console and chkdsk /r

it fixes corrupted o/s files

sounds interesting tho

 

[Amnot Borg]

Kyran's right. Try to repair the file system.

 

Sometimes,  you can defragment your hard drive or clean your registry and it will fix problems like that.

 

Sometimes, you just need to reboot the PC.

 

Could be RAM is going bad. Memory errors can creep in if the PC runs for a long time.

[bones2097]

do you have a seperate partition of windows only....

 

if you don't, you really should..... it saves windows tyring to cache data around your existing progs & files...

 

 

just a thought...since your carrying out maintainance... cause i hardly ever have to fix windows, these days....

[Megalith]

does it work ok if you change the font? if so then you can reinstall the font.

do you have a theme application? perhaps it needs reinstalling.try changing themes

i would do a surface scan on the disc though as mentioned above, as it may not only fix it but it could indicate you are getting bad sectors and need to replace the hard drive.

[Arktis]

You might also try extracting the fonts out of the proper cab file on your installation disc.  That's strange though.  Windows XP has a feature to prevent problems like this occurring with system folders.  It makes modifying, replacing, or deleting files more difficult.

[msg4real]

um you know that you can clear the icon cache ( some of what you are saying is icons from %system32%\shell.dll)

 

There is a hidden icon cache file in your windows directory, ShellIconCache, which contains a copy of all the default desktop icons. It sometimes gets corrupted. If it does, your icons will go all black or they may display the wrong icons. If this happens, delete it and reboot. NT (& Win9x) will repopulate the cache with the default icons. To delete the ShellIconCache:

at a command prompt, change to the %SystemRoot% folder

remove the hidden attribute from the file:

type attrib -h shelliconcache and press ENTER.

delete the file:

type del shelliconcache and press ENTER.

logoff and backon and the default icons should be restored.

TweakUI has been known to corrupt the ShellIconCache. 

[Guest c4evap]

Thanks all!

 

I did all the things mentioned above except using the recovery console. I will try that next. If that doesn't work...looks like a re-install  >:(

 

c4  B)[br]Posted on: December 22, 2006, 21:02:52

---

The recovery console didn't work. I ended up doing a format and fresh install. Pain in the arse, but at least it's done now (until XP frells up again). Thanks to all for the suggestions and help.

 

Locking thread.

 

c4  B)