Those really familair with the registry/shell/context menu/mmc snap-in

klepp0906 · 14 Sep 2017

Yea convoluted title for a convoluted issue.

First some back story - I apologize.

I'm very specific and ocd. Bar the natural slow evolution of things over the years, ive kept my pcs with each successive build set up exactly the same way. Its painstaking at first but then im golden till I build my next one. Of course each new version of windows that Microsoft decides to bloat up at the expense of power users brings its own challenges, this one included.

Tidying up my context menu Ive always used nirsoft but it had limitations. I came across a program called Windows 10 Manager which is a suite that has a Context Menu Manager built in. I run the/a portable version since its not something I'll use often.

Using this I began having issues when I disabled certain items (I cant remember which, it was awhile ago and I'm just now finding the time to address). I found out that disabling certain items sometimes instantly/sometimes on reboot - killed my task scheduler and event viewer which are both imperative to have functioning.

So I would disable an item, check my task scheduler, if it didnt open and gave me the error "MMC Could not Create the Snap-In" with a registry clsid reference within the empty window, I would system restore, and move on/try with the next item I wanted to remove.

I finally got to such a state that My context menu is functioning/looking exactly how I want it to. My Task scheduler is working as is my event viewer.

Unfortunately the other day I went to open Windows 10 managers context menu manager. I forget why but thats irrelevant. Doing so insta-broke my mmc snap ins again. I had to system restore.

After this long drawn out story, im trying to figure out how I can/should go about addressing this. Why it is breaking, and how to stop it from breaking on opening that program? The MMC's are working now as we speak the way I want them to, so I'd like to keep this behavior but still be able to open Windows 10 Manager lol.

Also, should an accident happen and a system restore not be available to a reasonable point - how does one "fix" it and make the snap-ins work again? I've had 0 luck with this outside system restore.

Is there a registry key I can back up that encompasses them all for starters?

Apologize i know this is multi faceted and requires a lot of knowledge, reading, and likely a relatively long reply. Didnt know where else to turn.

dalchina · 14 Sep 2017

Hi, the key thing to remember when editing your context menu entries is
never delete or disable any by Microsoft

Shellmenuview by nirsoft has an option 'Hide standard menu items'

Shellexview allows you to hide MS items

As you probably know, no one tool nowadays seems to allow you to see all context menu entries. As System Restore can be temperamental (unreliable) perhaps a good way to secure yourself is by backing up the registry first. E,g. Tweaking.com has a good tool for that.

klepp0906 · 14 Sep 2017

Yea admittedly I have several baked in ones disabled. Most 3rd party ones are able to be selected or de selected somewhere within said application.

That being said, I'm trying to determine what is breaking it specifically at this point. Works fine until I open that app. Simply opening it changes something that breaks it.

Moreso, what can I do to fix it when broken outside of a system restore?

Any idea where the context menu stuff lies in the registry or would it be all over? I'd love to whittle it down so when it comes time to reinstall windows or build a new pc I don't have to go through this again and again lol.

dalchina · 15 Sep 2017

If your PC becomes unbootable there is the possibility of booting from a boot disk, and restoring the backup copy of the registry Windows keeps. That's approaching desperation.

We strongly and repeatedly urge people to routinely use disk imaging which can protect Windows and any combination of disks and partitions. So many advantages- you can recover even if your disk fails (with a new disk of course). E.g. Macrium Reflect (free).

Many of the tools such as those I've mentioned let you launch regedit and view the key for the context menu entry. That will give you a good idea where they are.

At a detailed level, the ancient ContextEdit may interest you.

I'd love to whittle it down so when it comes time to reinstall windows or build a new pc I don't have to go through this again

I'm not sure that would help you, as what's present depends on what you then install and how you configure it.
Using 3rd party tools is far far safer for this than diving into the registry.

If you consistently install the same programs over several years (which itself begs a question) simply keep notes on what you do and how to do it.. that wouldn't take long to repeat.