Why can't I run the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet under Windows 2000 and later?

A Web Exclusive from FAQ for Windows
John Savill
Problem Solving
InstantDoc #38595
FAQ for Windows

A. The Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet might stop running if your system is missing some required registry entries. To resolve this problem, you must add the necessary entries to the registry by performing the following steps:

Start a command session by going to Start, Run and typing
```
cmd
```
Enter each of the following commands (click OK to each confirmation that appears):
```
regsvr32 mshtml.dll
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll -i
regsvr32 shell32.dll -i 
```
Close the command session by typing
```
exit 
```

You should now be able to start the Add/Remove Programs applet. If the applet still won't run, you might be missing a file; to check, use the system file checker (SFC) to check for and replace missing or corrupt files by performing the following steps:

Start a command session by going to Start, Run and typing
```
cmd 
```
Enter each of the following commands (the system might prompt you to enter the installation media during this process):
```
sfc /purgecache
sfc /scannow 
```
Restart the computer.

End of Article

Excellent advice! Problem solved.
Thank you,

Rolf September 05, 2003

Thank you !!!

Jean-Marc Gillet October 02, 2003

Much better explanantion and instructions for the problem we ran into than what was on Microsofts website. Thanks!

John Lear October 23, 2003

Hi ;

I have the same problem and have tried the commands on this article. However, they do not work for my situation. Now, I run on Windows 2000. Should I be trying something else?

Much appreciated for the assistance.

Wai

Wai Huynh November 18, 2003

I tried the above procedure and it works to perfection.
Thanks.

Akash Gupta November 20, 2003

It didn´t work... What should I do? I´m running Windows XP Pro...
Please tell me... Is there something else I can do to be able to run Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet under Windows XP Professional?
Thanks in advance!

Rodrigo December 04, 2003

This works very well.
Thanks

Alex Lima March 10, 2004

Works perfect for me, thanks!!

For those still having trouble, trie also Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q329862

Dumon Maarten April 02, 2004

Excellent! After searching through newsgroups and technet I was about to give up. This solved my problem. Thank You!

Amanda April 22, 2004

I was unable to run the add/remove app. under a terminal server session. I did what this article suggested and it worked.. Thanks

Joe April 23, 2004

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