control panel not responding

I have had this issue on a Sony Vaio dual-core 3Ghz with 1GB RAM, 250GB drive. Both Beta 2 public release and Build 5456. When I launch Control Panel it is empty. If I click on the window, then it goes to not responding forever. Also experiencing multiple issues of Windows Explorer not responding. The only other software installed is Avast Antivirus software.

I used Avast on my laptop last week with build 5456 and it hogged almost every resource that the system had.
I'd suspect driver issues and vid card issues. Check the manufacturer (Sony) for Vista drivers - and ensure that your vid card is the equivalent of an nVidia FX 5200 or higher. If not, you're gonna have problems. My laptop has "nada" for graphics and it was slow as molassess (but it runs fine on my home system) - primarily due to the graphics card.
- John
"Jim Yount" wrote:

I have had this issue on a Sony Vaio dual-core 3Ghz with 1GB RAM, 250GB drive. Both Beta 2 public release and Build 5456. When I launch Control Panel it is empty. If I click on the window, then it goes to not responding forever. Also experiencing multiple issues of Windows Explorer not responding. The only other software installed is Avast Antivirus software.

Thanks. I narrowed down to the Sigmatel audio driver. Unfortunately, I can' t find a Vista supported driver for the built-in audio. Of course, Sony said to contact MS..........
"usasma" wrote in message

I used Avast on my laptop last week with build 5456 and it hogged almost every resource that the system had.
I'd suspect driver issues and vid card issues. Check the manufacturer (Sony) for Vista drivers - and ensure that your vid card is the equivalent of an nVidia FX 5200 or higher. If not, you're gonna have problems. My laptop has "nada" for graphics and it was slow as molassess (but it runs fine on my home system) - primarily due to the graphics card.

Well Sony is partly responsible. I would file a report anyway: For Feedback: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=55160
Feedback reporting tool: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=43655 -- Andre Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
"Jim Yount" wrote in message

Thanks. I narrowed down to the Sigmatel audio driver. Unfortunately, I can' t find a Vista supported driver for the built-in audio. Of course, Sony said to contact MS..........
"usasma" wrote in message I used Avast on my laptop last week with build 5456 and it hogged almost every resource that the system had.
I'd suspect driver issues and vid card issues. Check the manufacturer (Sony) for Vista drivers - and ensure that your vid card is the equivalent of an nVidia FX 5200 or higher. If not, you're gonna have problems. My laptop has "nada" for graphics and it was slow as molassess (but it runs fine on my home system) - primarily due to the graphics card.

My laptop uses Sigmatel, also. When I first installed Vista, I had no sound. Vista even told me there was an update available- it did not work either. I went to Gateway's site and downloaded the last audio installation update they had for XP. I ran that installation program in Vista- it worked, I had sound. Vista then let me know that update was available again. Feeling brave, I tried it. I just knew that, "if it ain't broke don't fix it", was gonna happen. But, my sound still worked after the update and sounds great, too.
It is hit and miss on what works and what doesn't work and the paths folks take to get things working. Some XP installation routines and drivers work in Vista, some don't. Some of the installs need to be ran in Compatibility mode, some don't. For instance, I couldn't get Picassa2 beta to install until I ran the install in Compatibility mode. Thinking I would also need to run the actual program in Compatibility mode, I checked that in the properties of the icon. Well, Vista spazed out a few times when running it. So, I unchecked the Compatibility mode to see what would happen- Picassa2 beta works great, now.
One last observation, sometimes when installing a hardware device the setup.exe won't work. But, using update driver and pointing it to the location of the files, that seems to work at times when the installation program won't.
FYI, I didn't use Compatibility mode when I ran the installation program for my Sigmatel sound. As always, YMMV.
-Michael
"Jim Yount" wrote in message

Thanks. I narrowed down to the Sigmatel audio driver. Unfortunately, I can' t find a Vista supported driver for the built-in audio. Of course, Sony said to contact MS..........
"usasma" wrote in message I used Avast on my laptop last week with build 5456 and it hogged almost every resource that the system had.
I'd suspect driver issues and vid card issues. Check the manufacturer (Sony) for Vista drivers - and ensure that your vid card is the equivalent of an nVidia FX 5200 or higher. If not, you're gonna have problems. My laptop has "nada" for graphics and it was slow as molassess (but it runs fine on my home system) - primarily due to the graphics card.

On my Viao, the original Sony sound card driver works fine. YMMV.
--
Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have. Spend it wisely.

"Jim Yount" wrote in message

Thanks. I narrowed down to the Sigmatel audio driver. Unfortunately, I can' t find a Vista supported driver for the built-in audio. Of course, Sony said to contact MS..........
"usasma" wrote in message I used Avast on my laptop last week with build 5456 and it hogged almost every resource that the system had.
I'd suspect driver issues and vid card issues. Check the manufacturer (Sony) for Vista drivers - and ensure that your vid card is the equivalent of an nVidia FX 5200 or higher. If not, you're gonna have problems. My laptop has "nada" for graphics and it was slow as molassess (but it runs fine on my home system) - primarily due to the graphics card.

Usama--
To restore your control panel, try clicking this>yes to accept.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/controlpanelrestrictionrestore.reg
Or if you feel more geeky happy editing the ole reg directly than bop on down to:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoControlPanel"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoControlPanel"=dword:00000000
Also see:


Open your registry and find the key below. Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value called 'NoControlPanel' set the value to equal '1' to enable the restriction.
Exit your registry, you may need to restart for the changes to take effect.


(Default) REG_SZ (value not set) NoControlPanel REG_DWORD 0x00000001 (1)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...

Registry Settings User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer] System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer] Value Name: NoControlPanel Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
"One last observation, sometimes when installing a hardwaredevice the setup.exe won't work. But, using update driver andpointing it to the location of the files, that seems"
Excellent point by Michael. I've found that you increase chances of getting a driver in,up and running in Vista builds if you do this vs. any other type of driver install.
CH
"MICHAEL" wrote in message

My laptop uses Sigmatel, also. When I first installed Vista, I had no sound. Vista even told me there was an update available- it did not work either. I went to Gateway's site and downloaded the last audio installation update they had for XP. I ran that installation program in Vista- it worked, I had sound. Vista then let me know that update was available again. Feeling brave, I tried it. I just knew that, "if it ain't broke don't fix it", was gonna happen. But, my sound still worked after the update and sounds great, too.
It is hit and miss on what works and what doesn't work and the paths folks take to get things working. Some XP installation routines and drivers work in Vista, some don't. Some of the installs need to be ran in Compatibility mode, some don't. For instance, I couldn't get Picassa2 beta to install until I ran the install in Compatibility mode. Thinking I would also need to run the actual program in Compatibility mode, I checked that in the properties of the icon. Well, Vista spazed out a few times when running it. So, I unchecked the Compatibility mode to see what would happen- Picassa2 beta works great, now.
One last observation, sometimes when installing a hardware device the setup.exe won't work. But, using update driver and pointing it to the location of the files, that seems to work at times when the installation program won't.
FYI, I didn't use Compatibility mode when I ran the installation program for my Sigmatel sound. As always, YMMV.
-Michael
"Jim Yount" wrote in message Thanks. I narrowed down to the Sigmatel audio driver. Unfortunately, I can' t find a Vista supported driver for the built-in audio. Of course, Sony said to contact MS..........
"usasma" wrote in message I used Avast on my laptop last week with build 5456 and it hogged almost every resource that the system had.
I'd suspect driver issues and vid card issues. Check the manufacturer (Sony) for Vista drivers - and ensure that your vid card is the equivalent of an nVidia FX 5200 or higher. If not, you're gonna have problems. My laptop has "nada" for graphics and it was slow as molassess (but it runs fine on my home system) - primarily due to the graphics card.

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