System Tools flyout menu shows no items

General Topics
1

Noticed lately, the flyout menu for System Tools (Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools) on my computer mysteriously reveals ‘Empty’ in a greyed-out box.

Can’t recall having deleted anything there myself… perhaps one of several mischievous malware (affecting some .exe files) recently caught, quarantined and successfully deleted by the MBAM/Avast/SAS combo on my system that changed the settings?

I know i can access most of these tasks from the Control Panel, but it is only a single click away from the ST flyout menu. Moreover, i am intrigued by its sudden disappearing act.

How do i get it back to normal? … cheerfully displaying the usual menu items like:

Backup
Disk Cleanup
Disk Defragmenter
Scheduled Tasks
Security Centre
System Information
System Restore

I am using Windows XP SP3. Everything else seems to be running fine (touch~wood) as of now. :wink:

Thanks in advance.

2

Could you have moved the entries to another user startup menu?
Are you logged as the admin of the computer?

3

Thanks for the reply, Tech.

The answer is no … to both your queries.

4

I meant accidentally moved… If you search for Disk Defragmenter, does the link appear in other part of the menu?
Maybe you need to overinstall Windows (repair) or manually create that links.

5

Can’t find it in any of the other flyout options.

Maybe you need to overinstall Windows (repair) or manually create that links.

How would i go about manually creating those links? Will try that first.

6

It will be better if an user with an English Windows could post the name of the links or, better, the executables listed there.
I think I won’t correctly translate them into English.

7

mucho gracias, anyway! ;D

8

For each item you will have to define the Properties for the shortcut like Backup pic below.

Disk Cleanup %SystemRoot%\System32\cleanmgr.exe
Disk Defragmenter %SystemRoot%\System32\dfrg.msc
Scheduled Tasks %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}::{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Security Centre not available on my system but is available in Control Panel
System Information not available on my system is available in Control Panel
System Restore %SystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe

9

aw… thanks, YoKenny for the English translation! ;D

do i go to each of these items in the windows\system32 folder and right-click to arrive at a similar screenshot that you posted?

would like to follow your instructions to the T.

10

You can go to Control Panel, right click the icon, create a link, move the link from your Desktop to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools folder.

11

Thanks, Tech. Got those two back. Worked like a charm.

@Yokenny…
Still trying to figure out how to do the same for the system32 items (Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter and System Restore).

More to the point…

can’t find the file rstrui.exe (System Restore) in the system32 folder.

Right-clicking to the properties for the dfrg.msc doesn’t give me a similar dialog box like your screenshot. So also, explorer.exe.

12

Do like Tech said only go to windows\system32 folder then right click the icon then Send to Desktop (create shortcut) then move the link from your Desktop to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools folder.

Use Search to find rstrui.exe and the other application exe files.

Was someone playing around on your system removing things they should not have?

If you are logged in as a User then the Administrator probably does not want you to use those applications.

13

will do as you say… thanks, again.

Was someone playing around on your system removing things they should not have?

I must have inadvertently removed it, though i can’t, for the life of me, remember doing anything so deliberate. ???

If you are logged in as a User then the Administrator probably does not want you to use those applications.

It is a home computer. I am a user and the administrator rolled in one. :slight_smile:

Hardly use the administrator log-in, and certainly never when i am online.

14

A search for rtsui.exe confirmed it does not reside on my system any more. :frowning:

15

A typo…
C:\windows\system32\rstrui.exe

16

thanks for pointing that out, Tech. :-[ Fixed that as well.