TechTips - Services MMC is Blank in Windows XP, How Do I Get it Back?

I recently ran into a strange issue with my Windows XP box, I have to say it was a Virtual Machine so that might have something to do with the error, but when I opened my Services.msc it wouldn't display anything. All I got was a blank white screen and I couldn't edit any of my services. Well I wasn't sure how to fix the issue and I tried a few things and in this guide I want to give you some trouble shooting steps and fixes that will hopefully get you working again with your Services.msc.

One of the fixes I tried was to update my XP to Service Pack 2 (Download HERE), I thought it wouldn't hurt since my XP was so out of date (SP3 is the newest service pack), and after the install my Services.msc was still giving me problems. I thought that the update might work and read on a few forums that this did fix some users issues that were similar to mine. I installed SP2 from this link here. You can also do it through the Windows Update Website. This should be your first step (only if your computer is out of date, if you have SP2 or SP3 skip this step).

The second thing you can try is to register the filemgmt.dll, this is a simple step that requires just one command line execution. To register the filemgmt.dll follow these steps:

Click Start

Click Run

Type CMD

Hit Enter

Type regsvr32 filemgmt.dll

Hit Enter

The command should run and you should get a prompt saying that the DLL was registered successfully. Test the Service.msc again, if it works then you are done and can go about doing what you needed with your services. If it didn't work then there is one more fix that will hopefully solve your problem.

The final fix (which actually solved my problem) was to register another DLL (not the filemgmt.dll) the DLL to register is the jscript.dll. To register the jscript.dll follow these steps:

Click Start

Click Run

Type CMD

Hit Enter

Type regsvr32 jscript.dll

Hit Enter

You should again get a prompt saying that the DLL was registered successfully. Test your services.msc again, hopefully it is working now. This was the fix that worked for me; I wanted to list the other fixes just in case the fix that worked for me didn't work for others. I hope that one of these fixes, solves your problem and you can get back to work on your PC.