19 Comments »

David Boettcher said:

Hi Jason,
When I go to Start->Control Panel it doesn’t look anything like the window that has the left hand side that says “Switch to Classic View” or “Switch to Category View” - I just get a vertical strip of control panel icons with no menu at all, so I can’t click on Tools->Folder Options because there is no “Tools” Help!
- 13 February 2008 at 6:04 am
jasonslater said:

Hi there, it sounds like you may have Control Panel displayed as a menu on the Start Menu.
You can check this by right-clicking on the Start Menu button itself, select Properties, click the Start Menu tab, then the Customize button. Click on the Advanced button and in the section saying Start menu items - see if the option “Display as a menu” is highlighted - if so then that will produce a vertical list of icons you describe.
You can change this option to “Display as a link” then click Ok then Ok. Now when you click on Start then Control Panel it should appear in its own window.
- 13 February 2008 at 6:16 am
David Boettcher said:

Good grief, what a fast reply!
And yes, you are quite right, I had got the Control Panel displayed as a menu, and now it’s fixed. I have been Googling for a fix to this one on and off for ages.
Thanks Jason!
- 13 February 2008 at 10:01 pm
David Boettcher said:

Hi Jason,
I know I’m being cheeky, but perhaps you can help me with another problem I have with XP: Fast User Switching doesn’t work. I went to the microsoft website which told me how to enable it by going to “control panel> user accounts > change the way users log on and off > use fast user switching” but when I followed these instructions I found that the checkbox was already checked. Even so, when I go to Start > Logoff > Switch user, it brings me back to the welcome screen, but then when I try to login to another user account, the screen momentarily flashes, shows the desktop wallpaper for the account I am trying to switch from for a second, then brings me back to the welcome screen. Any ideas? I promise I haven’t got a stack of these questions - this is the only one now!
Regards - David
- 14 February 2008 at 2:11 am
chagest said:

Hi Jason - so, when I click Tools, then Folder Options, under the General tab the “Show common tasks in folders” is shaded (i.e. not an option) unless I click “Restore defaults” which I do, then I click “apply” and it still doesn’t restore the “category view” Any thoughts? thanks!
- 16 February 2008 at 2:59 am
jasonslater said:

chagest, it sounds like you may have an active policy disabling the “show common tasks in folders” option. This is likely if you are running a corporate PC.
This link may help you:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/singleclickfolder.htm
Which basically says that
the value of ClassicShell needs to be set to zero in:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
But always be careful when updating your registry - and make sure you take a backup of your registry first.
- 16 February 2008 at 3:40 am
jasonslater said:

David,
Ensure that Terminal Services service in Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services (or just type services.msc into the command window) is started. Also make sure that the service Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is set to automatic and is started and that Fast User Switching Compatibility is started.
If this doesn’t fix it check the Event Viewer (Control Panel->Administrative Tools-Event Viewer) to see if any errors or warnings are indicated.
- 16 February 2008 at 3:57 am
Kerri said:

Hi Jason,
Total shot in the dark with this one … your web link was sent to me to try to help me with my simple issue. I have donwloaded a National Geographic desktop background photo and can not remove it, nor over ride it for the life of me!! Usually you can right click on a photo an set it to ‘desktop background,’ but it just won’t remove at all!
What can I do?
Thank you,
Kerri
- 22 February 2008 at 4:48 pm
Jason Slater said:

Kerri,
Are you able go get into Start->Control Panel->Display?
If so, you should be able to go onto the Desktop tab where the Background list will let you change the background.
- 23 February 2008 at 3:39 am
Kerri said:

Sure can! The problem is that the actual ‘Desktop’ tab is completely gone! Very strange. I went back on their site and tried to download another to see what would happen and an error message came up saying that there are ‘restrictions’ and to please contact the administrator?? Is it possible I turned something off and did not know?
- 28 February 2008 at 7:24 am
Jason Slater said:

Kerri,
Is this a corporate PC? Perhaps your IT department has locked down the computer using Group Policy. Also, is your PC XP or Vista?
You may find this post useful
http://billjr.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!28CBD6442F406227!362.entry
Jason.
- 28 February 2008 at 7:47 am
Meredith said:

Hi,
I know this is a little off topic, but I just got a new laptop with XP…I’ve had a desktop with XP as well, and I really liked having the XP view (on my toolbar and start up screen and all). My computer seems to be set on Classic view with no option to switch. I was able to switch my control panel and my folders over using your instructions.
When I try to switch my themes, the only options I have are:
Window Classic (Modified) — which I want to get away from
My Current Theme — this doesn’t seem to change anything
More Themes Online — which is no longer offered by Microsoft
and Browse — which just takes me to my own files.
Any suggestions? Is there something I’m missing?
Thanks,
Meredith
- 7 May 2008 at 2:16 am
jasonslater (author) said:

Meredith, it sounds like a problem with the Luna Theme (luna.msstyles) which is located under Windows->Resources->Themes->Luna
A fixed Luna file can be downloaded from
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Scroll down the list to number #187 and on the right hand side you should see a link called “Restore Luna Theme”.
First backup or copy your Luna.msstyles file (just in case you need to get back to it!) then unzip this file and copy the Luna.msstyles file into Luna folder to replace the older file.
After a reboot the XP Theme should appear again.
- 8 May 2008 at 3:53 pm
Alyssa said:

Thank You… This answered my question perfectly. I added your site as a favorite. I am sure I will be bothering you frequently!
*Smiles*
- 2 July 2008 at 8:05 pm
jasonslater (author) said:

Thanks for the comment Alyssa - I am pleased you solved your problem
- 3 July 2008 at 8:37 am
Pam said:

Hello Jason,
Thanks to your clear instructions and the very helpful graphics, got it fixed in literally less than a minute. And I’m a silver surfer.
- 4 July 2008 at 2:17 pm
JOhn said:

This link may help you:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/singleclickfolder.htm
Which basically says that
the value of ClassicShell needs to be set to zero in:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
But always be careful when updating your registry - and make sure you take a backup of your registry first.
When I try to do this, there is no explorer option under policies. Any ideas?
- 14 July 2008 at 5:06 pm
mike said:

Hi Jason,
I have a similar problem with my control panel display. I can only get the classic view to show. I do not have the option of category view. I have followed all the fixes you have suggested regarding this, but nothing has worked. This is a home pc and the other users do not have this problem. This has only been a problem since I removed a malware program (antiviruspro9, I think) with Malewarebytes. Any thoughts? Thanks!
- 8 November 2008 at 7:56 pm
Pastor Steve said:

Hi Jason, Just writing to thank you for some of the advice above. The one on changing from classic to category view in Control Panel has really helped me. Thank you, you are the man!!!
- 20 November 2008 at 9:59 am

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