Control Panel won't open

help please! (vista)

my control panel, when i try to open it, merely flashes for a split second and then nothing. at first it appeared blank, but now its even worse.

i have tried the solution of manually deleting then replacing the .cpl files within the system32 folder, but theres so damn many of them. surely this is not the most straightforward answer.

or if it is, then which particular .cpl files are causing the problems?

is there any other way to do this?

cheers.

What has changed in the system prior to Control Panel was working?
What OS is this? And Serviced Pack?
This is what you do...
If you're using XP or Vista reboot the system and Press F8 and hit SAFE mode only!
Load in as the administrator account and do not use the same account that is having the problelm.

Once you're in their everything is going to look huge..That's normal view!
Now see if you can open the Control Panel? If you can then this is what you need to do:

1. go into document and settings
2. go into the user login name you're having problems with
3. copy desktop, favorites, cookies (optional hidden), my documents to c:\backup
4. go back into the control panel and click on system
5. click on advanced then on profiles
6. delete the profile name you're having problems with
7. reboot the system
8. login back with the deleted profile name
9. try again the control panel

If the control panel doesn't open up in the safe mode using the admistrator account then the control panel is corrupted. If you use SP3 you can fix that problem, but either you live with the problem or re-store xp or vista with a fresh copy It's a lot of work. But you can do this create a new control panel using the *.cpl as short cuts in the start menu just create a new folder called control panel2. Make sure cuts for all *.cpl files and put them into that folder.

.
What caused this problem, could be:

virus
trojan
worm
spyware
adware
malware
unknown item could have corrupted this applet...

Good security measure would be to download spyware terminator and let it scan the system for any known issues on your system.

From what I've read, it looks like you may be forced into Reduced Functionality Mode by one application or another. Apparently a nasty bug in Vista.

Run services.msc and stop SLUNotify and Software Licensing services, then restart them in reverse order. See if that makes CP come back.

Look for an update to resolve the issue eventually, if it hasn't been issued already.

Good luck!