msgina.dll & shlwapi.dll Error

[Gunter]

I am having Windows XP Home installed in my computer. Today when i started my computer i got an error at booting... "WinLogon.EXE - Entry point not found".
The procedure entry point AssocIsDangerous could not be located in the dynamic link library SHLWAPI.DLL. If i click OK, then i get this one..."User InterfaceFailure. The logon UserInterFace DLL msgina.dll failed to load.
Contact admin ect...Replace DLL or restore original DLL".

I have a Recovery disk so i booted that up, it gave me the chance to try xp restore option and rebooted, only to be told that hal.dll was missing so could not run restore.

Cant boot into any safe modes....!

Please Help!

[Eric B]

This problem is typically the result of installing XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) without restarting the computer when prompted, then attempting to access other updates from the WindowsUpdate site. Performing these actions corrupts certain DLLs. Because the corrupted DLLs are core files, you can't repair them while Windows is running. To repair the damaged files, you need to boot into the Recovery Console (RC), which you might have installed locally or which you can access from the XP installation CD-ROM, by performing the following steps:

1. Reboot your computer.

2. If you've installed the RC locally on your computer, select "Recovery Console" from the boot menu; otherwise, access the RC from the XP installation CD-ROM.

3. Select R to repair your installation, then select C to start the RC.

4. When prompted, review the available XP installations and enter the number that appears next to the XP installation that you want to repair.

5. Enter the Administrator account password.

6. Navigate to the System32 folder. For example, type
cd \windows\system32


7. Rename the winlogon.exe, msgina.dll, shell32.dll, and shlwapi.dll files with the .old file extension by typing
ren winlogon.exe winlogon.old
ren msgina.dll msgina.old
ren shell32.dll shell32.old
ren shlwapi.dll shlwapi.old

8. Copy the service pack version of these files to the System32 folder by typing

cd ..\servicepackfiles\i386
copy msgina.dll c:\windows\system32
copy shell32.dll c:\windows\system32
copy winlogon.exe c:\windows\system32
copy shlwapi.dll c:\windows\system32

9. Reboot the computer.

[Sam.D]

Here is Microsoft's instructions on how to fix that issue. They are pretty intricate though.

Seems like an issue with Service Pack 1. If need be you can perform a system restore/reinstall windows.

[Raine]

When you logon a GINA is used for the purpose of the logon, be default msgina.dll however it can be changed. Recently I installed Lotus Notes, rebooted and could not log on because of an error, ngina.dll could not be found.

After some research I found this was the Lotus GINA which somehow had been set to be used but not installed!

To remedy I booted with the recovery console, went to system32 and copied msgina.dll to ngina.dll and rebooted.

Once I rebooted and could log in I changed the GINA it was trying to use as follows:

1. Start the registry editor (Regedit.exe)

2. Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

3. Double click GinaDLL and set to msgina.dll

4. Close the registry editor

Another approach would be to install a second copy of Windows NT/2000 on the machine and perform the following:


1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

2. Go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window.

3. Select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key entry.

4. From the Registry menu, click Load Hive.

5. Browse and select the failed Windows NT installation path, for example, Winnt.

6. Go to the System32\Config directory, and select the Software file.
NOTE: Software file with no extension is the correct one.

7. Click OK, and type a key name of test.

8. Double-click the new test key and follow this path:
Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon

9. Modify the entry Ginadll:REG_SZ:MSGINA.DLL

10. From the registry menu, click Unload Hive.

11. Restart into the original Windows NT installation

[ThoMas321]

This is due to the installation of MS's Windows Updates, specifically (in this case) Service Pack 1 for XP (There are also reports of Service Pack for IE causing a similar problem). MS's technical support line (US 1-800-936-4900) will provide free technical assistance in correcting the problem IF you have your Windows XP recovery CD (usually you get this with a new computer). Of course, you are going to have to insist on getting support from MS for the problem, because Microsoft typically attempts to refer you back to the computer manufacturer who is contractually obligated to provide support for all preloaded software, Windows included. Nevertheless, as this is a problem caused by a MS update to Win XP and not by the original software installation, MS is totally responsible - and you should demand that they assist with resolution of the problem.

What appears to have happened during the "update" is that some critical files failed to be copied to the Windows\System32 folder during the installation of SP1 (shlwapi.dll and msgina.dll among them). The winlogon process WAS updated by SP1; when winlogon.exe runs, looks for these dll's, and finds mismatched versions, it fails to execute and XP fails to load.

Basically what it boils down to is that you won't be able to boot to a previous good configuration or boot into safe mode (other than Safe Mode with Command Prompt, and that only IF you're lucky). If you can boot to the NTFS command prompt, find the .cab file containing the Windows XP Setup program (setup.exe) and extract that file and run it, you should be able to do the repair installation (aka in-place installation) and restore XP to a usable condition. If your system originally came with XP preinstalled you'll typically lose all data in the All Users folder and default program templates and settings in the Default User folder, and you may be missing user-added Start menu shortcuts, items you've added to the Startup group, and documents, pictures, and music files in the Shared Documents folder. If you have made backups, of course, those can be restored without difficulty. There is actually a way to prevent these items being lost after a repair installation or recovery; it's a simple matter of deleting a .txt file from the \System32 folder *prior to the repair operation* (this can be done from the command prompt in Safe Mode with Command Prompt, or from the Recovery Console after booting from the Win XP CD). The command for deleting this file - a file created the first time Win XP was run on your computer, usually by the manufacturer - is as follows:

del /a /f C:\Windows\System32\undo_guimode.txt

(This assumes that C:\Windows is the folder where
Windows XP is located on your system. Replace with the correct path to the file, if necessary.)

Here is a more simple resolution:

To fix the problem without losing data due to a reinstall, you need to boot into a command line vai recovery disk or other means... You can go into recovery console with the XP disk or maybe even boot from a win98 floppy... not sure on that one-

Anyhow, you'll have to rename old files on the command line and then copy new ones back from another dir- once that is done, XP works as expected- well, it starts without error anyway.

Here are the steps...

XP / shlwapi.dll error after installing windows updates.
After installing service pack 1, and then installing some other updates (possibly without rebooting) you get the error.

"Winlogon.exe. Entry Point Not Found The procedure entry point AssocIsDangerous

could not be found in the dynamic link library SHLWAPI.DLL."

************************************************************
Resolution

"Winlogon.exe. Entry Point Not Found The procedure entry point AssocIsDangerous

could not be found in the dynamic link library SHLWAPI.DLL."

You can only reboot after that.


1. Boot to Recovery Console.

2 . type the following commands
cd system32 [enter]

ren winlogon.exe winlogon.old
ren msgina.dll msgina.old
ren shell32.dll shell32.old
ren shlwapi.dll shlwapi.old

cd.. [enter]
cd servicepackfiles\i386 [enter]
copy MSGINA.DLL c:\windows\system32
copy SHELL32.DLL c:\windows\system32
copy WINLOGON.EXE c:\windows\system32
copy shlwapi.dll c:\windows\system32

if not there, expand from the cd

3. Type EXIT and hit enter

That should do hopefully do it.