Too few pgms shown in Add/Remove programs

After installing Service Pack 2, I noticed that the list of pgms was much too short, only 8 out of about 30 or maybe more. Before that, I noticed that many of the upgrade pgms to Windows XP were listed separately. So my questions are:
1. How to get all the pgms that are now available to show in the Add/Remove list?
2. Is it OK to delete all the upgrades previously shown in this list?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Thank you, but checking that box did not produce any additional pgm names. It is still just 8 out of maybe 30 or more pgms.

Got any other ideas?

Thanks again Arie.

 

sounds like the registry had a problem on the update.

 

Take a look at your sysoc.inf file (text file so notepad is fine). Any line that has ,hide, in it will not show up in add/remove.

I have no idea if SP2 will have played with that file or not. If there are any items with the ,hide, entry that you want to see in add/remove, you can simply remove the word hide but make sure to leave the commas so where you once had ,hide, you should now have ,,.

Note that if your system is set to hide known file extensions you may simply see a file named sysoc rather than the full sysoc.inf name.

 

Newt--Had a look at my sysoc.inf file. What a bunch of weird stuff. First few lines
"[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,hide,7 "
None of which are in my add/remove window, and none of add/remove contents are in sysoc.inf.

 

Lots of them only show up when you go to add/remove and then to windows components.

For instance, try removing hide from the WBEM line, rebooting, and then checking to see if you find Windows Management Instrumentation in the add/remove windows section. Don't remove it though. The usual stuff in sysoc runs the gamut from pinball (no problems if you blitz that game) to com and dtc and likely problems if you remove them or wbem.

 

Seen this a few times before.

Scroll waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy down in add and remove programs. For some reason there be a huge blank area in there.

 

If it's just the previous windows updates that are missing, it would be normal. They're included in SP2 and are removed from the list when you install it.

 

Yes!!!!!!!!! That's it. Huge space waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy down!!! So thank you. Now, logical next question, how can I get rid of that enormous gap?

Can you come through for me again? TIA

Klingsor

 

Havent tried to solve that problem yet.

 

klingsor,

It would be interesting to see if this is just a Windows anomoly or whether it fools other software as well.

If you are so inclined and don't already have it, download and run RegCleaner by Jouni Vuorio . Click the Uninstall Programs tab and compare that list to the Windows rendering.

 

Hi Surferdude2

Thanks for replying so fast. I already use a registry cleaner that I paid for and which works fine, so I'm not inclined to get another one. It obviously has not solved the blank space problem. But my question here is do you think all that blank space is really a registry problem?

Klingsor

 

I doubt that it is but without more diagnostic data to support that belief, it's just a wild guess.

I wasn't suggesting that you run RegCleaner to try and rid yourself of that blank space - I just meant that since RegCleaner gives a report of the Uninstall Items, it might be of interest to see if there were more programs listed there than in Windows Add/Remove. Initially running RegCleaner merely gives reports and takes no actions at all until you direct it. From that standpoint, it's completely passive and non-invasive. It is arguably the best Registry cleaner available and it's FREE.

As an alternate manual check, you can do this:


From the Start Menu hit Run
Type in REGEDIT.EXE, hit ENTER
Click the + on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Click the + on Software
Click the + on Microsoft
Click the + on Windows
Click the + on Current Version
Click the + on Uninstall


Check what's listed there against what the Windows Applet lists.

This is all academic at this point and I'm not suggesting any fix yet. Perhaps after more probing, something will become apparent.

I'll add that since it might be a Windows Applet corruption issue, you could try running sfc /scannow for any possible relief. If any files are corrupt or missing, you'll be asked to supply the source for replacements (perhaps the XP install CD).