Hello,

I wanted to remove a program from my Add/Remove Programs list and I was surprised to see that it was empty! Is there any way that I can repair the registry to fix this problem? I already ran a system restore, but unfortunately, my backup also had this problem when I ran the backup, so the restore simply put the same empty Add/Remove Programs applet back again.

I have some basic knowledge of how to manually repair the registry, although I would appreciate some guidance as to what I should be looking for to correct this problem.

Which registry key(s) do I need to edit in order to restore the Add/Remove Programs applet so that it is visible again? Thanks very much for any help and suggestions!

OS: Win98SE

RAM: 128 MB

CPU: AMD Athlon 500 MHz

Edited May 20, 200818 yr by etalmar

I once had a Pocket PC game demo that when removed from 98SE, removed the entire Uninstall registry key.

Nothing in Add/Remove Programs...

I had to rollback the registry to a previously good one...

It sounds like this may not help you now... But check it out anyway:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221512

It helps if you know when the Add/Remove list got nuked!

I once had a Pocket PC game demo that when removed from 98SE, removed the entire Uninstall registry key.

Nothing in Add/Remove Programs...

I had to rollback the registry to a previously good one...

It sounds like this may not help you now... But check it out anyway:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221512

It helps if you know when the Add/Remove list got nuked!

Thanks very much, RetroOS, for the Microsoft support link. Actually it did help, as the Add/Remove Programs problem just occurred early yesterday evening, so I was able to restore a previous copy of the registry by following the instructions via the link that you provided. Fortunately, the registry backup that I selected restored the corrupted APPWIZ.CPL applet.

To help other forum members who may experience this problem, here's what I did:

First, I changed the number of registry backup copies from 5 to 15, using X-Setup Pro 6.6.300.Final1 (Program Options / Built in Windows Apps / Windows Registry Checker / Maximum Number of Backups) to increase the percentages of my having a previously good registry copy in the future, should any major registry error occur again.

Then I followed the directions in the Microsoft support update 221512:

1. Restart your computer in MS-DOS mode.

2. At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\windows\command - then press ENTER.

3. At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore - then press ENTER.

NOTE: That's a space between scanreg and the /restore command.

4. Select the previous registry you want to restore - then press ENTER.

NOTE: A properly working registry has the word "Started" next to the date.

5. When you receive notification that you restored a properly working

registry, press ENTER to restart your computer.

Thanks again for your help RetroOS.

Edited May 22, 200818 yr by etalmar