Extra Add & Remove Icons in Control Panel

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Alan - 25 May 2008 23:39 GMT

Hi all,

A few weeks ago right after I first installed -- and then uninstalled --
SP3, I noticed I had an extra Add & Remove icon in my Control Panel.
Although the 'extra' A & R showed a generic icon, it brought up the usual
Add and Remove application.

A few days later, it then had the usual A & R icon. Once again, both icons
invoked the Add and Remove application as expected.

After I did a System Restore a few days ago for another issue -- which also
brought back SP3 -- I noticed I now have THREE Add & Remove icons.

I'm running XP Home and, as I mentioned, SP3 is once again installed.

The PC is clean of viruses and malware, at least according to Avast, SpyBot,
Super AntiSpyware and Windows Defender. I'm using the native XP firewall.

While I'm curious as to why I might be getting these extra icons, I'm more
interested in how I can remove them from the Control Panel?

Right-clicking on them gives only two options: Open and Create Shortcut.

Is there some place in the registry I need to go to remove them, and if so,
where? Or is there some other sort of tweak that is available?

Thanks.

Alan

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Terry R. - 25 May 2008 23:59 GMT

The date and time was 5/25/2008 3:39 PM, and on a whim, Alan pounded out
on the keyboard:

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> Alan

Hi Alan,

Usually the CPL files are in the system32 folder. That one is
appwiz.cpl. Do a search of your hard drive for other copies. I have
two, the other one being in my i386 folder. If you find them in other
locations, try renaming them and see if the icons disappear in CP, as
they might also be in the path. If so, remove the renamed copies.

Signature

Terry R.

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Alan - 26 May 2008 00:54 GMT

Hi Terry,

As it turned out I had one appwiz.cpl in my I386 folder and three --
appwiz.cpl, appwiz(2) and appwiz(3) -- in my system32 directory. All three
had the exact same properties and all were time-stamped 4/14/08.

In fact, there are 1800 or so files that have April 14, 2008 as the modified
date in my system32 folder.

Are all these 4/14/08 files from SP3??

In any case, replacing the appwiz.cpl in my system32 folder with the one
that's in my I386 folder got rid of the extra Add & Remove icons in my
Control Panel.

Thanks very much.

Alan

> The date and time was 5/25/2008 3:39 PM, and on a whim, Alan pounded out
> on the keyboard:
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
> renaming them and see if the icons disappear in CP, as they might also be
> in the path. If so, remove the renamed copies.

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Terry R. - 26 May 2008 05:15 GMT

The date and time was 5/25/2008 4:54 PM, and on a whim, Alan pounded out
on the keyboard:

> Hi Terry,
>
[quoted text clipped - 55 lines]
>> renaming them and see if the icons disappear in CP, as they might also be
>> in the path. If so, remove the renamed copies.

I just checked my system32 folder and it appears SP3 did place the files
dated 4-14-08. Why you wound up with the additional appwiz.cpl files is
strange. But at least it's resolved.

Good to hear,

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Terry R.

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