Q195052: Removing or Renaming Directory C:\Program Breaks Applications
Article: Q195052
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): winnt:4.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbenv kbtool kbWinNT400PreSP7Fix
Last Modified: 08-MAY-2002
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
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SYMPTOMS
========
You create a folder called "Program" in the root of the volume hosting the
Windows NT installation (boot partition). When you delete or rename it later, a
dialog box comes up:
This change may impact one or more registered programs. Do you want to
continue?
This message appears even though no applications are installed in this folder.
If you click Yes, applications installed under the Program Files folder may not
be usable anymore because the registry location will point to the Recycle Bin
instead of the correct location. The application will not load for registered
extensions and it cannot be started as an OLE or COM server anymore. You can
still start the application through a shortcut to the executable or by
double-clicking it in Explorer. The problem will happen with any path where the
folder name matches the directory containing an application. For example, on the
German version of Windows NT, the folder C:\Programme\Windows can cause this
problem in conjunction with the folder C:\Programme\Windows NT.
Another symptom of the same problem occurs when the root folder contains a file
named Program or an executable file with a base name of Program (such as
C:\Program.exe). If this is the case, all the programs under the C:\Program
Files folder with paths that do not contain quotation marks stop working.
CAUSE
=====
On all Rename and Delete operations, the shell checks the files involved against
the registry of all installed applications. If the path to the application
executables contains spaces, the entry should be placed into the registry with
double quotation marks around it because these entries can also contain
command-line parameters.
However, many applications do not use quotation marks when adding the registry
entries during installation. The parser, on the other hand, relies on those
quotation marks to work correctly.
This means that the parser will read the string "C:\Program Files\Windows
NT\Accessories\Wordpad.exe" as if it were the application C:\Program with the
parameters Files\Windows and NT\Accessories\Wordpad.exe. Hence, it will display
this warning when you try to delete or rename the C:\Program folder. It will
also later change the path in the registry to the Recycle Bin or the new name
for C:\Program.
If you have a file named C:\Program, the problem occurs when the shell tries to
start a program with a path that does not contain quotation marks because the
file produces a match against C:\Program, which is the first part of the full
file name.
RESOLUTION
==========
A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to
correct the problem described in this article and should be applied only to
systems experiencing this specific problem.
To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the
fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and
information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World
Wide Web:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS
NOTE: In special cases, charges that are normally incurred for support calls may
be canceled, if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific
update will resolve your problem. Normal support costs will apply to additional
support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in
question.
The English-language version of this fix should have the following file
attributes or later:
Date Time Version File name Platform
-----------------------------------------------------
11/12/99 00:16 1.854.736 Shell32.dll Alpha
11/12/99 00:18 1.279.248 Shell32.dll Intel
After you apply this fix, the rename operation problems described in the "Cause"
section no longer occur. The parser has been improved to check for these
conditions.
However, because of the ambiguity of the path name, the second issue (having a
C:\Program.exe or C:\Program file on the on the disk), cannot be solved. The
only solution is to change the program in one of the following ways:
- When you register the program, make sure to include quotation marks if the
path contains spaces.
- Instead of registering the long path name, use the shortened path name. For
example, use "c:\progra~1" for "c:\program files." Note that short file names
might not be enabled on all computers and that they might change after
restore operations.
WORKAROUND
==========
You can prevent the problem before it occurs with either of the following
approaches:
- Turn off the Recycle Bin through its properties. This workaround does not
help with renames.
- Use File Manager (Winfile.exe) for graphical file system management instead
of Explorer. Install Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 or
later. It does not have the problem with deletions and only affects the keys
below the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App
After the problem has happened, there are several approaches to correcting the
problem:
- Undo the delete operation by restoring the directory from the recycle bin and
then delete it through the command line. This workaround is not feasible with
a rename operation.
- Restore a recent backup of the registry, especially the SOFTWARE hive. Do
this restore through an emergency repair.
- Reinstall (remove may be required) all affected applications. If you have not
deleted the folder yet, delete it through the command line instead of
Explorer.
STATUS
======
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are
listed at the beginning of this article.
Additional query words:
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Keywords : kbenv kbtool kbWinNT400PreSP7Fix
Technology : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400
Version : winnt:4.0
Issue type : kbprb
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