Computer Safety Tip

Windows XP calculator missing or disappeared?

November 30, 2009 Computer Tips And Tricks

I can tell you something that you probably would never have dreamed of. This seriously fascinated me and I hope that it fascinates you too. Everyone expect the calculator to just be there when they need in, with regard to Windows XP.
I am going to tell you a story that happened to me the other day. Okay so the end of the month came, which is never a good time for me in my family because everyone runs out of money at the same time.

I am usually the person who ends up having to lend people money all the time, especially at the end of the month. So my one friend was crying to me because she couldn’t make ends meet and asked me if I could kindly lend her some money until she got paid. I wasn’t sure where I was at, with regard to my budget so I told her to hang on. I switched on my computer and tried to find the Windows XP calculator only to find it was gone.
There are many reasons why your Windows calculator may disappear. The big question is, what can you do in order to get your calculator back and save your math?

Method 1 – Reinstall Calculator
The first method is pretty straight-forward as long as you have your Windows CD. Pop it into the disk drive and go to the Control Panel. Now go to Add/Remove Programs, click on Add/Remove Windows Components.

Click on Accessories and Utilities and then click the Details button below:

Now click on Accessories and click the Details button again. Now make sure to check the Calculator box.

Now click OK all the way back and XP will go ahead and reinstall the calculator! If you can’t get a hold of a Windows XP disc, then try the second method.

Method 2 – Copy over calc.exe
The second way to do it and maybe the easier method is to simply copy the calc.exe file over from another machine to your C:\Windows\System32 folder. Also, copy calc.chm to c:\Windows\Help.

Obviously, you’ll find both of these files in those two directories on another computer that has the calculator working. After that, you can just create a shortcut to the calc.exe file on your Start Menu or wherever you like.
If you have a Windows XP cd, you can also try popping the CD in and running these two commands, where X is your CD/DVD drive letter.
expand -r X:\I386\calc.ex_ c:\windows\system32
expand -r X:\I386\calc.ch_ c:\windows\help

Tags: calculator missing, Copy over calc.exe, disappeared, Reinstall Calculator, Windows calculator, Windows XP calculator