Microsoft KB Archive/823620

= PRJ2000: You Cannot Start Project When You Click the Project Icon on the Start Menu =

Article ID: 823620

Article Last Modified on 7/27/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Project 2000 Standard Edition

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SYMPTOMS
When you click the Project 2000 icon on the Start menu, nothing occurs.



CAUSE
This problem occurs if one of the following conditions is true:
 * The Project 2000 icon is damaged.

-or-
 * The Microsoft Windows Installer program is damaged.



RESOLUTION
To determine whether the Windows Installer is damaged, try to start a Microsoft Office 2000 or later program, such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, on the Start menu. If the program starts, the Windows Installer is functioning as expected. If the other programs do not start, then the Windows Installer is very likely damaged.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

If you determine that the Windows Installer program is functioning as expected, you must repair your installation of Project 2000.

How to Reinstall or Repair Project 2000
This procedure helps you to detect and to repair problems that are associated with your installation of Project 2000, such as registry setting problems or missing installation file problems.

Use the following steps to detect if there are problems with your installation of Project 2000:
 * 1) On the Help menu in Project 2000, click Detect and Repair.
 * 2) Click to select the Restore my shortcuts while repairing check box, and then click Start.

Use the following steps to repair any problems that you found with your installation of Project 2000:
 * 1) Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
 * 2) In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
 * 3) Double-click the Project 2000 entry that is listed in the Add/Remove Programs dialog box.
 * 4) Click Repair Project.
 * 5) Click Repair errors in my Project installation, click to select the Restore my shortcuts check box, and then click Finish.

If you determine that there are problems with the Windows Installer program, you must reinstall the program.

How to Reinstall Windows Installer
To reinstall the Windows Installer, you must rename the damaged Windows Installer files, and then you must reinstall Windows Installer. To do this, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

 Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

Microsoft Windows opens a Command Prompt Window. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

attrib -r -s -h  :\   \System32

where :\  is the drive and folder where Windows is installed. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

CD  :\   \System32

 At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER after you type each line:

ren msi.dll msi.old

ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old

ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old

 At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER. Restart your computer. Update the Windows Installer files to the latest version. To do so, visit one of the following Microsoft Web sites, and then download and install Microsoft Windows Installer 2.0.

Note Windows Installer 2.0 is included in Microsoft Windows XP. You do not have to do this step if you are using Windows XP.

<ul> To download and install the Windows Installer 2.0 update for Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cebbacd8-c094-4255-b702-de3bb768148f%20&displaylang=en

</li> To download and install the Windows Installer 2.0 update for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft Windows 2000, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4b6140f9-2d36-4977-8fa1-6f8a0f5dca8f For additional information about how to reinstall the Windows Installer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

315341 How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP

</li></ul> </li> After you have completed the installation of Windows Installer, shut down and restart your computer, and then follow the steps in &quot;How to Reinstall or Repair Project 2000&quot;.</li></ol>

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WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, create a shortcut for the Project 2000 program.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
 * 1) Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
 * 2) In Windows Explorer, expand the Windowsfolder, expand the Start Menu folder, expand the Programs folder, and then delete the shortcut to Microsoft Word.
 * 3) In Windows Explorer, expand the Program Files folder, expand the Microsoft Office folder, expand the Office folder, and then right-click Winproj.exe.
 * 4) Click Create Shortcut.
 * 5) Right-click the shortcut, and then click Cut.
 * 6) Expand the Windows folder, expand the Start Menu folder, and then expand the Programs folder.
 * 7) On the Edit menu click Paste.

Additional query words: PRJ2000

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