Windows XP calculator missing or disappeared?

Posted on September 24, 2009 at 5:00 am

You’re probably reading this article if you were going to find the calculator on your Windows XP machine to figure out some important calculation. After a bit of searching, you probably realized that your calculator is missing!

Pretty weird right? Well this can happen for a number of reasons, but basically your calculator is gone! If you recently installed a service pack to XP, such as SP2 or SP3, that could be the culprit.

Either way, here are a couple of ways you can get your calculator back in Windows XP!

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.

calculator is missing

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

windows xp calculator missing

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

calculator disappeared

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.

calc exe

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

If your calculator is still missing or gone, then post a comment here and I’ll try to help! Enjoy!

» Filed Under Computer Tips

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Comments

10 Responses to “Windows XP calculator missing or disappeared?”

  1. linda halim said on : October 14th, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    It works, you are so smart. AWESOME………thanks a lot. I now have my XP calculator back!


  2. harry said on : February 17th, 2010 at 11:06 pm

    hi I am unable to view the Calculator in the Accessories, but I am able to open it thru the Run Command.


  3. bankerjohn said on : March 15th, 2010 at 10:01 am

    In Windows Explorer, go to Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Accessories … then click on File\New in the tool bar, and select Shortcut … then just browse to the location of CALC.exe in the “wizard” … rename the shortcut to “Calculator” … and you’re done!


  4. leanne said on : May 14th, 2010 at 4:42 am

    i cant find it in my system 32 folder, or when i click “run” and seach for it. Help?


  5. Rob Ramos said on : July 27th, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    My Windows XP calculator has disappeared/missing. My currently installed Windows operating system (XP, Service Pack 3) is newer than my setup CD (Service Pack 2). I cannot reinstall the calculator.

    Please help.


  6. Jojo said on : August 31st, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    This was perfect. Thanks so much – I’ve been trying everything. bankerjohn’s resolution of making a shortcut in the accessories folder worked for me. Thanks!


  7. Kay said on : September 2nd, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    I have been trying for over a week to restore my ‘calculator’ and ‘games’ back to my Accessories, ETC….
    Thanks to you I have FINALLY been able to restore the calculator…. am still working on the games, but not having much success….any suggestions? REally appreciate your help. Thank You…


  8. FuRrY321 said on : October 23rd, 2010 at 5:29 pm

    I replaced the XP calculator with the Windows 7 look-alike, not realizing that it was so poorly programmed, not only did just the standard mode work, but it couldn’t even add two decimal numbers together! So, using your guide, I was able to replace it with the original, fully functional (if not as pretty) XP Calculator. (Remember kids, always back up files you are going to replace, even if they don’t seem that important!) Thanks!


  9. Partosh Sharma said on : January 28th, 2011 at 8:40 am

    It’s great. Thank you very much.


  10. Christian said on : July 14th, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    Calculator still missing, tried everything you mentioned. Running XP 64.
    Cant search it, not in control panel etc… dont have another pc to copy it on from.


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