DLL Initialization Failed

[Tahseen Shahzad]

After restarting my pc, I am getting an error message that states "dwwin.exe - DLL Initialization Failed. The application failed to initialize because the window station is shutting down." I dont know what is this error, so can anyone tell me how to fix this issue? Thanks for any information.

[Jerry]

The dwwin.exe is related to Doctor Watson. It is a windows error checking program so it is not affecting the way windows or other applications work. You will need to check programs list for Doctor Watson and see it it will run. I think that you can always go to add & remove programs list and remove it from there. Also check the startup folder and registry for programs that are starting automatically at boot.

[Scott2580]

Even I was facing similar issue so I removed Dr. Watson, but still the prolem persists. I noticed that when I open msconfig then in startup I have some "Startup Item" and "Command" without any name, so can I remove this to solve the issue?

[wjveno]

I am new to the forum and just wanted to post a quick reply.
I have done some research on this and found that most people's solution is to delete Dr Watson, and disable it in the Registry. Either that or disable the "Error Reporting Service" from the administrative services.

I do not believe that this is a valid option, as error reporting services usually alert you to more serious problems before it is to late.

I had the same error on my system, and tracked it down to update software for my APC finger print reader (biometrics). The program was called weblink.exe and started in the HKLM (RUN) folder: HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Please do not modify the registry without some experience, and unsure to back up the entire registry!

I would suggest looking at the run list in the registry (using regedit command)
and one startup at a time, look for the actual command (like file.exe) at the end of the command (ex: "C:\Program Files\somename\file.exe").
Then run the Task Manager (taskmgr) and in the process tab try and find the command, click onto it, and press on the "end process" button. If it does not terminate, try right clicking on it and left click on "end process tree".
Now restart your computer and see if the error still shows on shutdown.
Repeat the process until you find the process (by not getting the error on shutdown). If you can get the system to reboot without the error, then you can remove it from the registry key below, ONLY: HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

By right clicking on the command then left clicking on delete. Make sure you have a backup of the registry first! By right clicking on "My Computer" at the top of the registry, and left clicking on "export". Save it where ever you like.

If you are not finding the process in the registry, then try your windows startup under your profile, and the "all users" profile. Also you can try your current user profile "run" in the registry at the following location: HKey_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Its a bit of manual work, but I think it best to fix the problem and not the alert telling you theres a problem.
I hope this helps you in some small way, or at least for reference.