Vista 64 and Control Panel Issue

[Hokie]

Is anyone running Vista 64? I have a Dell Studio with Vista 64 and from day 1 it hangs when opening Control Panel the first time. If I close Control Panel it restarts Explorer and then Control Panel works fine the rest of the session. I am current on all the patches and service packs. I have tried the Microsoft KB and seen this problem mention but the fix is supposed to be in the service pack. I didn't work for me.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

1. I use Vista 64 but don't have that issue

Are you running in 32 bit mode?

Maybe this? http://forums.techarena.in/vista-help/770284.htm

[Hokie]

2. Thanks

Funny thing. I tried and Windows would only let me move 3 of the .cpl files. After moving this Control Panel works. I then moved all 3 back and it still works. This was after Windows Update install a bunch of items last night. I will reboot and try again but it seems to be working now.

On edit: I rebooted and the problem is back. It looks like I will have to move the .cpl files, then move them back one at a time, and reboot before trying Control Panel each time.

[Hokie]

3. Found the culprit

It was the Dell Wireless LAN Utility. The first file I restored was bcmwlcpl.cpl and that caused it to crash again. After doing a search I found this:

Control Panel Crashing While Loading WLAN Utility
04 Aug 2009 11:23AM

On 64 bit Windows Vista Home Premium, the Control Panel will crash during the first time it's opened, Windows Explorer will not respond and is restarted, after that, the Control Panel will load fine until the computer is rebooted.

This behaviour is also observed on 64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate.

I've noticed that during the crash, one icon would not show up, which is the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility. I suspected Control Panel has trouble loading this item. The file for this item is BCMWLCPL.CPL

If you remove BCMWLCPL.CPL from the C:/Windows/System32 folder, the control panel will not crash. This file is the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility.

If you experience a similar issue, I suggest you move the file BCMWLCPL.CPL to another location and edit the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility shortcut provided in your Start Menu to point to the new location.

Dell, please see why Control Panel crashes when loading this file and fix it via an update or patch.

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19287843/19529825.aspx

[EvolveOrConvolve]

4. I've run into a number of issues with Dell's wireless utility

It's a piece of crap, and when you combine that with the problems with Vista, it's a real PITA to fix.

If I were you, I'd completely uninstall the Dell wireless utility. This is something that Windows is actually better at.

[Hokie]

5. I downloaded the latest version of the utility and it seems to work

I updated to the latest version and that seemed to fix the problem. The Dell Wireless Utility is back in Control Panel. I will leave well enough alone unless the problem shows up again. Now if Minolta - Konika would just issue a damn 64 bit driver for my 1350W laser printer I would be all set.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

6. If it works for you that's awesome

I'm glad you got everything resolved!

[Hokie]

7. Hey, thanks for the help

I had this stupid problem with Control Panel for a year and kept thinking Windows Update would fix it eventually.