HelpCtr error message

Can anyone help me out here? I recently an unmountable boot volume error and was able to get back by using chkdsk along with my windows XP disc. Now i am getting an error message that states the following:

HelpCtr.exe-BadImage

I cant run my virus scan because this window keeps popping up.
I tried restore but it wont work.
Additionally I cannot access I tunes, office and other programs. The short cut doesnt work. I tried regcur but still have same problem. I downloaded spybot but still problem persists. Deleted after running it so I do not have the logs any longer.

If someone can set me on the roasd to solving this I would appreciate it. I am not all that experienced with trouble shooting so please try to explain it simply.

 

Have you tried running sfc scannow?

Insert you Windows CD, click start > run, type "sfc /scannow" (no quotes). This will check your Windows installation for corrupt files and replace them.

 

Thanks for the advice but I have tried it and I cant get it to work. It tells me, Windows cannot find "sec/scannow ". Make sure you type name correctly, and then try again. To search a file, click start button, then click search.

Can any one tell me what I could be doing wrong?

I did not use the quotes when running the search

 

Losingit65,

There is a space between sfc and /scannow

 

Thanks, I ran sfc /scannow with the windows XP CD in, but still have problems with office and on the control panel I cannot access the add or remove programs file. I did bring up Excel by going through windows explorer, but cannot thru the progarm list. Word wont come up at all.

While running sfc /scannowi got the following message a few times,

Files that are required for Windows to run properly must be copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM now.

Note that I DID have the CD in and was able to keep scanning after hitting retry twice. My disc drive is working and i did see the light blink a few times during the scan.

Any idea what else I can try?

 

I am no longer getting the Help.Ctr error message but that seemed to disapear on its own unless it was because i had run regcur again.

internet seems to be lagging a bit too

 

I am not sure why you were getting the error during SFC. Did it finish successfully?

For the sluggish Internet (and possibly some of your other problems) refer to this post and follow its instructions.

If the programs you are trying to us load correctly when you dblclick on their .exe file, I would check the shortcuts to ensure they are linked to the correct target file. Right click on the shortcut and select "properties ", select "find target ". Otherwise you can navigate to the folder where the .exe file is, rightclick, create shortcut and move that shortcut to your desktop.

For the Add/Remove Programs, are you getting an error message or does it just do nothing?

First try downloading and installing the latest version of Windows Installer from here

Or, you may also want to refer to this knowledgeBase Article for assistance with that.

Finally, you may want/need to try a repair install of XP if you still cannot access add/remove programs. Refer to POST #2 in this link for instructions on a Repair Install.

Finally, I am sure another member will stop by here soon with more or ever better suggestions than I have. Be patient. These problems are fixable.

Mitch

 

Heres yet another boneheaded question. Will doing the reinstall reformat my harddrive or just repair the damaged files. Sorry but I have never done this and am being overly cautious. I thank you for your help and patience to this point.

 

No. A repair install will not reformat your hard drive. It will only repair the current Windows XP installation. Your files and folders will remain intact. Just follow the instructions for the repair install carefully and you should be ok.