Xp near crashing...can't use Sys Restore

[Moth]

Hi to all. I hope some one can help me with this:

I'm running Win Xp pro. Everything was well maintained and in great shape (anti-virus updated and scanned recently, same for adaware & spybot, 3 good System Restore Points created in the last week ).

Well, I was just downloading a few shareware/freeware type applications (for various audio editing stuff)...I'd install one, find it wasn't what I wanted, uninstall & delete it....I did this for 5 or 6 programs.

Abrubtly....all of my system-related functions are at a crawl, when they work at all. In theory, nothing should be any different than yesterday, when everything worked great. (Oddly, internet browsing is one thing that seems to still work perfectly.)

I've tried to use System Restore and it won't function (same results even in Safemode). I get a message regarding rstrui.exe failure saying the application won't work because framedyn.dll wasn't found-- try reinstalling.

Well I looked for that file, and I found it at C:\windows\system32\wbem\framedyn.dll

I'm assuming that it's in the right place, as I wouldn't have moved it. If I could use Restore, maybe I could undo whatever damage I've mysteriously incurred.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

[Cricket]

See if anything in the following links help...

Error in Rstrui.exe When Starting System Restore or Creating a Manual Restore Point

"Application Has Failed to Start Because Framedyn.dll Was Not Found" Error Message When You Open the System Properties Dialog Box

Cricket

[Moth]

Will do. Thanks Cricket.

[Moth]

See if anything in the following links help...

Darn...those definitely seemed promising. But the first link is meant for Win ME - I tried it anyway, and I got a warning that turning off Sys Restore would delete all of my restore points, so I figured I'd better not.

The second link was right on the money - exactly my error and meant for Xp...it just didn't work. I was able to confirm the path as directed (didn't fix anything), but I was not able to replace the file (the other instruction there). I can copy it (so it appears) at the location they specify, but when I try to paste it into WBEM folder as instructed, I get a message: "Cannot copy framedyn: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)."

Any other ideas?

[Moth]

Incredibly....I actually stumbled onto a solution on my own after a while, so in case this happens to anyone else, I'll describe it here, as I might never have found it.

While searching google for framedyn.dll, I happened upon instructions for installing some misc. application, which included writing a path to that framedyn file....OR...JUST COPYING framedyn.dll TO C:\windows !

There was the answer. AN ANSWER, anyway. Of course my file was corrupt, but it's not hard to find it for download.

There's a lesson here I think....now if I can only remember it.

Thanks Cricket - your time is very much appreciated, as always.

[Moth]

Hmm. Ok, putting Framedyn.dll in the windows folder isn't a perfect fix. It does allow me to open the properties on "My Computer" again, the system is back to speed again, and it appearently allows the System Restore program to open, although the program still isn't functional, as it just locks up when I try to use it.

Not bad, since I thought I was going to lose everything reinstalling the OS. Still, it'd be nice to have the security of the restore program.

Does anyone know what would happen if I went to the recovery section during the boot stage, and simply copied a large part of Windows....say for example, all of the System32 folder, or all of the subdirectory "C:\windows\system32\wbem" ?

Would that bugger up something else? Other applications that I've installed, perhaps?

[andyms18a]

your best option wood be a repair install of windows xp over the top of its self this wood fix any errors and still keep all your programs working check out this link for detailed instructions
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

[Moth]

Very cool. Thanks andyms18a.

[Confused]

You will need to reinstall SP1 and all critical updates that you have downloaded and installed after running the reinstall.
Chas

[Moth]

Thanks Chas. It probably should be obvious to me, but what is SP1?

[Confused]

Service Pack 1

Chas

[Moth]

Right on. Thanks