My computer just doesn't stop giving me problems. Now, anytime that I need to open something (picture, pdf file,etc.), it gives me the option of save and cancel. It doesn't have "open" anymore. What happened to it? Why can't I open anything anymore?

If this is a recent problem I would try to revert to a restore point before when this started. Whats your operating system?

Obviously XP.

Try this:

Go to start Run...

regsvr32 shell32.dll

I don't know how long I've had this problem but I recently had major windows issues where I had to reinstall it. I tried the start run thing but it didn't help. I can't restore it before the date i reinstalled windows which was a few days ago and I assume the problem is connected. Any other suggestions?

Did you reboot after running the shell DLL?

What is the make and model of the computer?

How did you reinstall XP?

Thank you for the reply. I did not reboot. Do you mean restarting it or turning it off and then back on? I am not with my computer at home now but it's a dell with windows xp but I don't know the model number off hand. I reinstalled windows with the disk I received with the computer. I did it as a repair so I wouldn't lose any data.

Yes I meant restarting the computer.

What message did you receive when you ran regsvr32 shell32.dll?

In a worse case scenario you can back up your data and Clean Install.

There are some other options but for now did the regsvr32 shell32.dll claim to be successful?

Ok. No, I didn't restart it and yes, it did say it was successful. I am not at my computer though so I would have to restart it tommorrow. Should I do that and should I do that shell thing again before I restart it?

Restart the machine and see if there is a difference. If not, rerun the command jephree gave you (regsvr32 shell32.dll) then restart it again. Post back with the results.