 Few operations are as simple as launching an application in Windows. Just find the shortcut, double-click it, and you’re off. Unless, of course, you double-click and nothing happens. Whether you’ve just installed a program and it won’t run or you’re having trouble with an existing application that ran fine in the past, there are a variety of quick fixes to get things running again.
 Check The Task Manager & System Tray
Sometimes, it appears a program didn’t launch even though it did. This is common for programs designed to run in the background, which often have icons in the System Tray (located on the bottom-right side of the screen). If you double-click and it seems like nothing happened, place the mouse cursor over the icons in the System Tray to see if any of them match up with the program you just launched. If you find the icon and want to access the program’s interface screen, double-click the icon to see if that opens the window; if that doesn’t work, right-click the icon and see if a menu option appears that lets you open the program. Some System Tray programs don’t have interfaces at all, so even though they’re running, you have no direct control over them. | 
Repairing broken shortcuts is easy if you know where to look. |
If you don’t see anything in the System Tray, simultaneously press CTRL-ALT-DELETE and select Task Manager (you need to click Start Task Manager in Windows Vista). When the Task Manager appears, click the Processes tab. If the program you double-clicked appears in this list, then it’s running, but there may have been a problem that prevented its interface window from appearing. Right-click the entry for the program, click End Process, and try double-clicking the program’s icon again to see if that makes it run properly. If not, try the procedures described in the “Patch It” and “Uninstall/Rein-stall” sections in this article to see if those help.
Patch It
Programs often rely on Windows files to work properly, and if either the program or Windows are out of sync due to outdated or missing files, a program may refuse to run. You should always keep Windows patched via Windows Update. In WinXP and Vista, click Start, click All Programs, click Windows Update, and follow the prompts. You likely must reboot the computer after the patching process is complete (in some cases, the computer may reboot multiple times automatically to install everything), so be sure to save any open work before activating this feature.
You also should visit the software publisher’s Web site to see if a patch is available for the program. Patches fix bugs and solve compatibility problems, and you should always read the patch installation instructions carefully because sometimes it is necessary to install a series of patches in the correct order instead of simply installing the latest patch.
Also check the box the software came in, its installation instructions, and the publisher’s Web site for the program’s system requirements. Double-check to make sure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum hardware requirements and to see if another program must be installed before the one you wish to use can work. For example, many programs require a Java engine or the latest version of Microsoft’s .NET framework, so you’ll need to follow the instructions included with the software (or provided at the Web site) to track down the other necessary components.
Check The Shortcut | 
Keeping Windows and your programs up-to-date is important for avoiding launch failures. |
If double-clicking a shortcut on your Desktop or in the All Programs menu doesn’t work, right-click the shortcut and click Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, click Find Target in WinXP or Open File Location in Vista, and when the window opens, check to see which file is highlighted because that’s the file that launches when the shortcut is clicked.
If the Find Target or Open File Location button doesn’t appear or doesn’t work when you click it, the shortcut is broken, and you need to create a new one. Navigate to the folder where the program you want to fix is stored by clicking Start, My Computer (Computer in Vista), double-clicking the icon for the drive where the program is installed, and finding it from there (often, programs are installed on the C: drive in the Program Files folder).
When you have the program’s folder opened, find the file that is double-clicked to launch the software, right-click it, and click Create Shortcut. A shortcut icon (marked with an arrow) appears, and you can drag that onto the Desktop or wherever you prefer, rename it if you wish, and double-click it to launch the software.
Run As Administrator
Some Windows programs require certain privileges that you may not have if you are logged into a nonadministrator user account. In WinXP, you can right-click the problematic shortcut, click Run As, and select a different account on the machine that has the proper privileges to see if that gets the program going.
In Vista, even if you are logged into an administrator account with full privileges, full access to programs is not enabled by default. If you run into a program that won’t start because it demands administrator access, right-click the shortcut, click Run As Administrator, and the program should work.
Reboot
If none of the previous steps work, particularly if you're trying to launch a program you just installed, reboot the computer. Sometimes, software relies on files that can only be installed when Windows is loading, and rebooting will make sure they are copied to the right places so the program can use them. Save all open work and close all running programs. In WinXP, click Start, click Turn Off Computer (or Shut Down), and select Restart. In Vista, click Start, hover the mouse pointer over the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Start menu, and click Restart. Try the program again after the system reboots.
Use A Clean Slate
Sometimes, none of the methods discussed above works, which usually means there's some conflict preventing the software from opening. For example, you should only have one antivirus product installed on your computer, so if another is running when you try to install and open a second one, the second one often won’t start at all. Save all open work, press CTRL-ALT-DELETE, and then click Task Manager (or Start Task Manager in Vista). Select the Applications tab, make sure nothing else is running (if there is an app running, right-click it and select End Task). Next, right-click all of the icons in your System Tray and exit them if possible before trying to launch the troublesome software again. If it works after doing this, you’ll need to contact the software publisher or selectively disable programs one at a time to see what is causing the conflict and whether it is resolvable.
Uninstall/Reinstall
If all else fails, uninstall the problematic software and reinstall it according to the publisher’s instructions. To uninstall software in WinXP, click Start, Control Panel, Add Or Remove Programs, and wait for the list to populate. Click the entry for the program you want to uninstall, click Remove, and follow any prompts to get rid of it. In Vista, click Start, Control Panel, Uninstall A Program, and wait for the list to populate. Click the entry for the program you wish to remove, click Uninstall, and follow the prompts.
No matter what version of Windows you use, be sure to reboot the computer after uninstalling the software so all remnants of it are removed and no longer running in the computer’s memory. Then, reinstall the software from scratch. Bear in mind that any user settings you established before uninstalling the software may have to be completely reconfigured, but that’s a small price to pay to have software that actually works. 
by Tracy Baker
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