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Author Topic: Lost Favorites from Start Menu  (Read 4443 times)

oldfogy

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Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« on: November 01, 2008, 03:38:36 AM »

I need to know if anyone can tell me how to restore "Favorites" to the start menu please.

Basically, the culprit is "TweakUI"
I used TweakUI to point my favorites onto my main PC, that way there is actually only one favorites folder being shared on the whole network (4 PC's)
So providing the main PC is turned on, which it normally is anyway, there is no problem, although if it's not switched on then obviously the favorites just do not show.

Yesterday I decided to cleanup and rename the folders and change the network computer names.
(BIG mistake)

Basically TweakUI has altered the path to the new location, which now no longer exists and the setting for Favorites in TweakUI's "Special Folders" has now disappeared so I can't even point it back to the original windows position. (There is also NO option to undo in TweakUI)

This happened on two of the PC's but fortunately I managed (at great length and after a long time) to sort the one PC, but the laptop just does not want to co-operate.
Even after trying several ghost images even going back a year it's a no no.

The reason I know it's still pointing to the old location is, I also tried to remove Java Script but an error message came up showing the old location as being unaccessible, so also unable to remove Java Script.
(By this time I was just trying anything that "might" help to solve the problem)

So apart from re-altering the network and folder name/s, which I don't really want to do just-in-case it upsets the rest of the system again.
Or re-installing XP PRO.
Does anyone have any other ideas or know which registry item will need altering.

Thanks.

**********
PS:
Have also tried sfc /scannow
but still no luck.... :no:
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kitz

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2008, 12:41:54 PM »

Try

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

You should be able to edit the path in there.
The default start menu string value is (or at least on my machine)

Code: [Select]
%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu


All the usual warnings about editing the registry.. backup ... blah blah.


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oldfogy

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2008, 01:11:41 PM »

Kitz, many many thanks, but

Only 5 minutes ago I decided to rename the old network back to what it was (Medion v Medion1)
Restarted PC's etc, and using Tweak UI, changed the path back to the default folder "considering Tweak UI was back working again"
Re-named network "back" to new settings and everything is back as it should be.

**************
However if I'd had your link (before posting my question) that would have saved me 6+ hours of trying to solve the problem.
That must of been the one entry in the registry that I missed last night (must of been tired) :lol:
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kitz

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2008, 01:15:22 PM »

nps - glad its fixed now :)
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oldfogy

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2008, 01:26:33 PM »

Well I thought if I only change the network name and don't do anything else, it would be worth trying "which it was"
(Fortunately this PC's folders did not need renaming)

But it's strange that Tweak UI loses the entry in Special folders for Favorites the way it does.
(Just because the path does not exist)
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Floydoid

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2008, 01:46:32 PM »

I've been following this thread and it does seem strange, I've never known TweakUI to fowl anything up before.
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oldfogy

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2008, 02:00:23 PM »

True, but it's also not very often that one changes a network name in windows settings.
(possibly changing a folder name might cause the same problem also)

It was unfortunate that Tweak UI is/was one of the first programs I always install because I also like to use the Drive letter option, which then meant I did not have any image backup files without it on.

However what should have been a quick fix turned out to be a marathon,
all for the sake of not reverting back to it's original name and changing Favorites back to the default location first.

**************
edit.
Still, it gave me the excuse to ghost back the PC's 6/12 months or so which no-doubt will have removed some rubbish left behind from installed/uninstalled programs.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2008, 02:07:14 PM by oldfogy »
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Floydoid

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2008, 04:01:34 PM »

As long as we've all learned something at the end of the d then it was probably worth all the frustration.
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oldfogy

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Re: Lost Favorites from Start Menu
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2008, 04:46:47 PM »

Just to sort of "well actually to complicate matters further"

Apart from my original problem I then discovered that access was random whether I could access network files or not from different PC's. What worked on one PC did not necessarily work on another.

One PC would see the Vista PC but would not let me access it without a password, which it did not recognise,
(As I use the same password on on all PC's it should not have happened)
Another PC could see and access the others.

So, eventually I managed to change the password by "having to create a second admin account" then using that account to remove my original password and then re-install a password.
(This is because Vista on a network will not let XP access a Vista PC's files without a password)

The problem then was, the original PC that was seeing all the other files was now being blocked. (wrong password)

OK, I think I should get to the point "and to the solution" the problem appears to have been caused by TWEAK UI

Yes, Tweak UI, because when using the "Autologon" feature, I guess as it is encrypting the password/s it is therefore changing them.
So with disabling/removing the "Autologon" feature from Tweak UI on all the XP PC's and replacing the password in User Accounts (albeit with the same password) on all the PC's.
Everything then worked properly.
Now, I reinstated the Autologon feature on all the XP PC's and everything still worked okay.

All this because I changed a name from "Medion to Medion1"
Not to mention it was Vista that was also the cause of the problem.
XP to XP was not a problem at all.

As long as we've all learned something at the end of the d then it was probably worth all the frustration.
I'll have to consider that statement closely. :comp:

***********************************************
Dare I mention that I'm still not 100% happy with the performance, so may now go for a re-install on the main XP PC? :hmm:
« Last Edit: November 03, 2008, 04:51:07 PM by oldfogy »
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