Display properties tabs gone?

Hello
I am having a weird problem with my XP machine. I have lost the tabs ( setting, background, screensaver...) under display properties. I can tab to them and get the different sections of the applet but the visible portion of the tab is gone. I have tried to change the 3d object font and color and that did nothing. I also re-installed my drivers (geforce 2 gts)If I change the theme I get them back until I close the Display Properties applet, I re-open it and they are gone again. There is a screenshot of what I am talking about on my web server here http://www.athometech.com/desktop.jpg .
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Ken

hi there, quick ? can you see the tabs when you use the windows standerd theme or is it missing all the time. or do you have any third party software for skinning?

you got me stumped, you might try using Start->Run and sfc /scannow

Have you edited and reg keys or run a reg cleaner. Maybe played with settings using 12 ghosts, X-Setup, TweakUI, TweakXP or anything like that have you.

Hi again, I don't have any 3rd party skinning software installed. I looked thru tweakui but I didn't find anything in there that would have to do with this. I haven't run any reg cleaners, I did do a system restore after removing a bunch of junk apps and got some nasty results (programs I had removed now 1/2 back ect..)

About the theme, I can see them after I first change back to the XP default theme, then when I close/re-open the applet they are gone again.

SFC /scannow did not find the problem. I had already run file signiture verify utility and nothing seem out of the ordinary.

Thanks
Ken

Wow, I never knew about sfc /scannow. It seems I was missing quite a few dll files.

Anyone else got any ideas? I ran a regclean and that didn't help either.

TTYL
Ken

hmmm, I am not sure I would have thought that might have helped, have you tried looking through the MS knowledge Base at all about Desktop Tabs, or Properties Tabs.

Still no luck. I did searc the KB and found nothing related. I booted to safe mode and all looked good so I'm thinking it has something to do with the video driver. I tried to remove them but that did nothing. Tomorrow I will try a new video card and see if that cleans it up. Does anyone know were those tabs are generated, what DLL they are pulled from?

Ken

Well, I replaced the video card with an old Voodoo3 I had laying around and still have the problem. I have noticed while messing with it that I can get the tabs back under display settings->advanced by tabing to the monitor tab, going to properties, ok, ok , apply. then when I close the display propereties applet it get and error message like this
Application popup: rundll32.exe - Application Error : The instruction at "0x77f536f7" referenced memory at "0xab040301". The memory could not be "written".
sometimes it's "written" sometimes it's "read" and the addresses change around. I also get 4 events writen to the event log when I "TAB" around in the display properties applet, I put a screenshot here http://www.athometech.com/event_log.jpg . Then I get the error about the rundll32 thing. I have no idea why RAS would be being hit when I tabe thru display properties but it is confirmed that it is happening then. I am totaly confused. I don't have a valid restore point that fixes this either.
Any Ideas????
Thanks
Ken

well when all else fails back up what you need and reinstall xp, thats is if you haven't already fixed the prob. bc if you cant restore or find any missing files to correct the prob. it could just be a glitch and need to be installed again.

I plan to re-install anyway but I really hate having problems I can't "fix". I have been trying to get my new domain controler up and it's been a big headache so this machine has become priority number 2.

Thanks
Ken

Ok, I finally tracked down the cause of the problem (on accident). I had started to run "repair" from the xp cd and interupted it in the middle of the file copy process. I was tring to get a dual boot with 98 and XP with xp installed first. Anyway, I did the same thing on my laptop tongiht and whamO! same wierd thing. I re-ran the repair and it fixed it, so the answer to the problem is, run the repair option from the XP bood CD and it'l fix its self.

Ken

Bonza Ken!!!

I've finally managed to spot the source of the problem.
All you gotta do is create a freakish WindowsShell.Manifest file in your %SystemRoot% folder. This file is merely an XML gadget from .NET framework defining the assembly attributes for shell32.dll based procs. I inlined the file - cut and paste everything between (but not including) the symbols "#" and save in DOS format with no CR/LF using the name mentioned - it's a single line file in fact):

#<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0"> <assemblyIdentity processorArchitecture="*" version="5.1.0.0" type="win32" name="Microsoft.Windows.Shell.shell32"/> <description>Windows Shell</description> <dependency> <dependentAssembly> <assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" version="6.0.0.0" publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df" language="*" processorArchitecture="*" /> </dependentAssembly> </dependency> </assembly> #

Well go through group policies, or visit this site for further help:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/