Win 7 64 bit - 3rd party apps won't open Windows dialog boxes (save as, save, open, import, etc)

Question

I'm running Windows 7 pro 64 bit. I have Office 2010 installed and a host of 3rd party apps. The problem is that all of my 3rd party apps are unable to open up a child window or dialog box.

For example, if I am using Open Office and am in Write or Calc and go to save a document by going to File>>Save, the Open Office window will blink a couple times quickly and nothing will happen. No dialog box opens. Therefore, I am unable to save the file. Keyboard shortcuts don't work either for this purpose. However, if I change options in Open Office preferences to use the native Open Office dialogs, then everything works just fine.

The only problem with that approach is that very few apps have that option. All of the native MS apps work just great. It is only a 3rd party app issue. So, what I get out of this is that there is likely a registry problem where applications are attempting to make a call but the needed key is no longer there or corrupted in some way. I'm trying to not reinstall Windows 7 because I don't want to go through the pain of reinstalling all of the apps.

Things I've tried so far: unistall anti-virus, Windows repair, turn off all user account control, turn off firewall, run compatability mode, admin mode, application reinstall, latest windows updates, video drivers, safe mode, and mobo firmware update. No dice. I don't have a restore point to before the time I started to notice the problem. I'm not sure what I installed, uninstalled, or deleted that may have caused the issue.

This problem is killing me. Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello facedown,

There are a couple of things you can try to see if it helps.

One, run SFC /scannow to see if you have any corrupt system files in Windows 7.

Click Start

Type: CMD, from the results, right click CMD

Click 'Run as Administrator'

At the Command Prompt, type: sfc /scannow

This will check for any integrity violations and fix any corrupted operating system files.

Restart your system.

KB Article ID: 929833 -How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

Then try and see if you are still not able to open Windows dialog boxes. If not, then I would think your next option would be to do a In-Place upgrade which repairs Windows 7.

However, you will need to have the Windows 7 DVD.

The In-place Upgrade is a tool to repair the system. Through the special upgrade process, we will be able to repair the system. The In-place Upgrade will not affect settings like photos, movies, documents, etc. that are saved on the computer. Though this operation will not remove or modify the installed programs and files, I still suggest you backup the important files before doing this. In addition, you may have to reinstall the device drivers after this operation.

The detail steps are included as below:

In-place upgrade

====================

1. Log on the system first.
2. Insert the Windows 7 DVD in the computer's DVD drive.
3. Click Start and choose Computer.
4. Find the "setup.exe" file in the DVD-ROM and double click it.
5. Click Install now.
6. When you are prompted to input the product key, please click Next directly without inputting any key. The setup wizard will prompt and asking if you confirm to install Windows 7 without the key and please choose to confirm.
7. When you reach the "Which type of installation do you want" screen, click Upgrade to upgrade the system files of Windows 7.

Note: While performing the in-place upgrade, the system will restart automatically (Several times) to merge the files and programs, please leave the computer alone and do not configure it until the "in-place upgrade" completed. The system will start Windows 7 once it is upgraded. Once the computer is performing "in-place upgrade", you can go away and leave the computer and it will complete automatically.

Please reply back with an update and let us know if this helps.

Sincerely,

---

Marilyn

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think

Answer 2

Hello facedown,

So glad the In-Place upgrade/repair helped to get your computer back in working condition.

Thank you for letting us know the outcome.

Take care,

---

Marilyn

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think

Answer 3

Marilyn,

I ran scannow and it did uncover some issues. However, that didn't fix the problem. So, I moved on to the upgrade in-place. It worked perfectly. I can't thank you enough. I was unaware that the feature to reinstall on top of an existing installation while retaining your other installs and data existed. You made my day!

Thank you, once again.

Answer 4

Sadly, it isn't an Open Office-specific problem. It is all 3rd party apps. Chrome, Google Earth, iTunes, ArcGIS, Global Mapper, Firefox, GeoGraphix (mapping app), and any non-MS app that doesn't have its own UI for dialog interface. Basically, the 3rd party applications can't call the Windows dialogs. 

Event Viewer doesn't throw any error messages or warnings when an operation "fails". For example, going into Google Earth and going to File>>Open makes the Google Earth window frame flash once (as if it is no longer the focus) but then nothing happens; no "Open" window pops up. No error is recorded.

Answer 5

Maybe; perform a clean boot, then reinstall Open Office see if that makes any difference

Also review Event Viewer for any clues