Unable to access start menu in ME

[videobruce]

The start menu is unaccessible and My Computer only opens up a blank window. I get a error message from IE;

"Your current sercurity settings prohibit running Active X controls on this page."

Even in safe mode the start menu is unaccessible. Though I can see the drives in My Computer where I couldn't in normal mode. This isn't my box, it's a Comtrash with a KZ133 chipset MB.

Any ideas?

[GaryRouth]

Hi videobruce

The two easiest repairs for this would be to use System Restore or the scanreg command line utility to restore a saved Registry from before the problem's appearance.

Here's Microsoft's article on how to start System Recovery from the command prompt in WinMe http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=279736

To use the scanreg method, perhaps the easiest way would be to boot from a bootable WinMe floppy (you can download one from http://www.bootdisk.com ) and try the "scanreg /restore" command (without the quotes) to restore a saved copy of the registry.

Registry errors for either Java Script or Active X can cause this kind of behavior. For example, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q309663

If these efforts don't work, an over-the-top likely would http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=70846

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[I'd probably use the scanreg tool as a first try]