msvcrt.dll XP problem

[Alley Cat]

I uninstalled Silverlight, since I did not need it for the photo sharing site anymore.

Since then, every single program I launch gives this error "entry point was not found" msvcrt.dll

I started in safe mode, fixed the Premissions settings. I copied the original DLL from the windows cd, I cannot fix this problem.

I reinstalled Silverlight, problem still here, then installed Visual Basic.

I cannot figure out how to fix this. Its been 4 weeks, I am going nuts.

[spikey_richie]

Maxmem.exe is Malware. I just searched Google for it, and AVG stopped me from visiting 2 sites.

Get yourself MalwareBytes and a decent AV program.

[Alley Cat]

Every single program I launch, gives this error: Firefox, WS FTP, Winamp, Perfect World, xfire, Legends of Legends, Libre Office, The GIMP, Skype, Edit Pad, MSN, Steam, Vent, Team Speak.

[fhpuqrgrpgvirzhpujbj]

Every single program I launch, gives this error: Firefox, WS FTP, Winamp, Perfect World, xfire, Legends of Legends, Libre Office, The GIMP, Skype, Edit Pad, MSN, Steam, Vent, Team Speak.

If it is a virus then they're infected.

[Frylock86]

You're going to want to nuke your machine ASAP. Pay attention to your credit cards if you have ordered anything offline recently. Then follow through with at least the last two steps below.

Install Windows 7 :shiftyninja:

Install MSE

Install Firefox w/ Noscript & Adblock

Think back to what you have recently done. Anything shady, avoid doing in the future. If it was just casual browsing, then it is time to follow through with steps 2 and 3 above if anything else.

[DeadEndAccount]

You're going to want to nuke your machine ASAP. Pay attention to your credit cards if you have ordered anything offline recently. Then follow through with at least the last two steps below.

Install Windows 7 :shiftyninja:

Install MSE

Install Firefox w/ Noscript & Adblock

Think back to what you have recently done. Anything shady, avoid doing in the future. If it was just casual browsing, then it is time to follow through with steps 2 and 3 above if anything else.

Even Firefox isn't a sure thing; no matter which browser you use there will be some vulnerability with the largest being layer 8 (aka the end user). When ever I've fixed up computers in the past, 9/10 you find that what the person has been infected with is the result of social engineering rather than brut force cracking a system.

[Farstrider]

Maxmem is a switch in Windows XP and some viruses can disguise themselves as this process! If a program accessing the Msvcrt.dll is unable to find the procedure entry point in the file, you may receive error messages! What actually happens on boot, anything at all or nothing..

What happens when you restart your PC, have you checked for viruses and malware? What Antivirus program do you have installed on your PC? What service pack? SP3 with all the latest updates I hope!

I see it looks like you have tried this already:

Boot your system using the Windows XP installation CD.

On the Welcome to Setup screen, press R to access the Recovery Console.

In case you have more than one operating system installed on your PC, then you will have to select the number key that corresponds to the operating system you wish to repair.

Logon to the system as an administrator.

In the Recovery Console screen, type the commands listed below. Press Enter after each command to execute them.

cd system32

ren msvcrt.dll msvcrt.bak

X:

cd \i386

expand msvcrt.dl_ Y:\windows\system32

exit

Note: X here represents the drive letter of your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive and Y stands for the drive in which Windows is installed.

[Frylock86]

Even Firefox isn't a sure thing; no matter which browser you use there will be some vulnerability with the largest being layer 8 (aka the end user). When ever I've fixed up computers in the past, 9/10 you find that what the person has been infected with is the result of social engineering rather than brut force cracking a system.

True, but Adblock blocks anything that could come through hijacked ads, and NoScript prevents any kind of script from running unless it's a white listed page. It pretty much eliminates all chances except user error.

[Alley Cat]

I downloaded maxmem from the AnalogX website. Been using maxmem for many years now.

I run F Secure antivirus and Peerblock.

My hosts file will block most known malware networks along with Open DNS.

Anti spyware programs: SuperANTISPYWARE and Malaware Malwarebytes and GMER. I have not seen a virus and spyware warning in 3 months.

[Hum]

I would run an Error Check on your Windows hard drive --- it may fix the missing system files.

[Gerowen]

You could use a BartPE CD with your choice of anti-malware loaded to clean your drive from outside the installed OS.

You could also use any of a number of Linux distros that have LiveCDs to do the same thing. There's Linux versions of Avast and a couple other Windows anti-virus programs complete with GUIs. Just make sure you've got plenty of RAM as it may take a bit to run the LiveCD and install an anti-virus with updates using only your RAM.

[kryten]

In a command prompt, type the following: regsvr32 msvcrt.dll :rolleyes:

[Alley Cat]

I guess I will be nuking my HDD.

This is not the first time I tried to register the DLL from cmd prompt.

But first time I seen this message:

[+BudMan MVC]

"I copied the original DLL from the windows cd, I cannot fix this problem."

And was your CD on the same SP level as your install?

The file is not really on the CD you would have to have done an

expand msvcrt.dl_

And booting into safe mode is not going to cut it to replace a system DLL, you going to have to boot from recovery console, etc.

[PsychoDoughBoy]

I guess I will be nuking my HDD.

This is not the first time I tried to register the DLL from cmd prompt.

But first time I seen this message:

It's not an ActiveX DLL, so registering isn't going to work.

[Alley Cat]

I located msvcrt.dl_

The versions match, XP Home.

I reformatted, DLL hell gone.

I rhymed !

[niente0]

I solved with this command:

expand C:\i386\msvcrt.dl_ C:\windows\system32
[/CODE]

Hope it helps! :D

[Detection]

Hope it helps! :D

I'm sure it would have done...... 2 years ago :p

[Guth]

I'm sure it would have done...... 2 years ago :p

since this is bumped I wanted to ask, why are they saying "msvcrt.dl_"

whats the .dl_ all about?

[Karl L.]

since this is bumped I wanted to ask, why are they saying "msvcrt.dl_"

whats the .dl_ all about?

On older versions of Windows NT (pre-Vista) Microsoft used per-file compression to keep the size of the install disk as small as possible. (This is in contrast to the way Microsoft has done compression since Vista - compressing the entire install image as one file.) Their naming convention for compressed files was to replace the last letter of the file extension with an underscore. Therefore msvcrt.dll compressed to msvcrt.dl_. Any of the compressed files on the installation disc may be expanded back to their original, uncompressed state using the expand utility built into Windows.

Therefore the One Post Wonder who necroed this thread is suggesting replacing the damaged copy of msvcrt.dll with the original one from the Windows XP installation disc. However, he is making the assumption that the i386 directory has been copied from the installation disc to the root of the C drive. While that was once common practice for many OEMs, it is far from standard. If C:\i386 doesn't exist on your machine, you could substitute the path for your CD drive (i.e. D:\i386 or E:\i386) once you have inserted your original Windows XP installation disc.

In general in a situation where you need to replace a corrupt file installed on your system with a good copy from the Windows installation disc, it is probably better to run an SFC scan than to expand the file manually. System File Checker will check to make sure that each Windows system file is valid and replace it automatically if not. (It does still require your Windows installation disc, however.) As an additional advantage, while you cannot replace individual system files in Windows Vista and later the same way you could in earlier versions of Windows due to Vista's more modern installation method, SFC is supported by Microsoft and has been included with every version of Windows since Windows 2000. Enter the following command at an administrator command prompt to initiate an SFC scan:

sfc /scannow
[/CODE]

[Detection]

On older versions of Windows NT (pre-Vista) Microsoft used per-file compression to keep the size of the install disk as small as possible. (This is in contrast to the way Microsoft has done compression since Vista - compressing the entire install image as one file.) Their naming convention for compressed files was to replace the last letter of the file extension with an underscore. Therefore msvcrt.dll compressed to msvcrt.dl_. Any of the compressed files on the installation disc may be expanded back to their original, uncompressed state using the expand utility built into Windows.

sfc /scannow
[/CODE]

It's still done now, check AMD driver folder

[Guth]

thanks for the reply guys.

I knew about sfc but I didnt know that the .dl_ meant it was compressed.

I see what you are saying but why? why rename it? whats wrong with a compressed msvcrt.dll? Is it just so that its easy to tell whats compressed and what isn't?

[Karl L.]

It's still done now, check AMD driver folder

I was not trying to claim that no one compresses files that way anymore. It is absolutely still done. When Microsoft depreciates a technology they will still support it 20 years (give or take a decade). They are very good about maintaining legacy support. My claim is that the aforementioned method of compression is no longer used on Windows installation discs (since Vista). Driver manufacturers are free to package their code however they see fit. In fact, full image compression (similar to what Microsoft uses on modern Windows installation discs) wouldn't make much sense for installation or backup files which are rarely accessed but may need to be decompressed individually.

Is it just so that its easy to tell whats compressed and what isn't?

That's it exactly. File extensions are just a way to assoicate files with programs that can manipulate them. They have no more significance than that.

[techbeck]

Whenever I find a missing DLL on an old system, I am always able to find it by doing a Google search and downloading hte file.

[Karl L.]

Whenever I find a missing DLL on an old system, I am always able to find it by doing a Google search and downloading hte file.

That sounds like an exceptionally terrible approach, especially if the library in question shipped with Windows. It is very easy to end up with much bigger system problems by downloading an incompatible version of the library. Not to mention that fact that I'm not sure I trust the vast majority of the "DLL DOWNLOAD!" sites on the Internet; they just look shady. Unfortunately those websites exist because many people do exactly that: Google the DLL and download a copy from the first website in the search results.