need help with ntdll.dll file

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Your problem probably isn't with ntdll.dll which is protected against
being incorrectly replaced or altered by Win Me's system file protection
(SFP) mechanism (unless of course you have chosen to disable that
mechanism) but possibly with the file winmm.dll which is not protected by
SFP and could well have been replaced by a file intended for use with XP
(which uses a different version of ntdll.dll from Win Me). In other words
each time that winmm.dll is called it is looking for the XP version of
ntdll.dll and not finding it outputs the error message you are seeing.

So how to proceed? Check that the data cable software you installed is
compatible with Win Me and if not, install a version that is. I would have
suggested using system restore but you mention that is having problems.

What is the version of the file winmm.dll and also of ntdll.dll? Locate
the files, There should be one copy only of each in the windows\system
folder. Locate the file, right click and then Properties. The details
will be on the version tab. Depending on what you find you should be able
to restore the correct Win Me copy from the Win Me cab files.
Winmm.dll should be v4.90.0.3000 and ntdll.dll the same.

To replace winmm.dll:
Winmm.dll is contained in WIN_16.CAB of the Win Me cab set and can be
restored using MSConfig | General | Extract File ... and following the
prompts. The "cab" files are in the Win9x folder on the Win Me CD and
also in either the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs or C:\Windows\Options\Install,
which depends on the media from which Win Me was installed. See MS
KB129605 - "HOW TO: Extract Original Compressed Windows Files"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=129605).

To replace ntdll.dll:
Ntdll.dll is contained in WIN_14.CAB of the Win Me cab set and can be
replaced by booting to Safe Mode and using MSConfig | General | Extract
File and following the prompts. The "cab" files are in the Win9x folder
on the Win Me CD and normally also in either the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs
or C:\Windows\Options\Install folder on your hard disk. See MS KB
265371 - "How to Extract and Replace a Protected File in Windows Me"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=265371) for details of how to extract
files from the cab set.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mike.maltby@gmail.com


orngeline6@yahoo.com <orngeline6@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I installed some data cable software and I think it changed my
> ntdll.dll file to an older version. Now my computer gives me error
> messages when I try to open basically anything. For example, when
> attemtping to open AIM, or even system restore, it says: "the
> winmm.dll file is linked to missing export ntdll.dll:strspn." I have
> ME, so I though maybe someone here could help - does anyone know
> which file I should download to fix this problem? Thanks for any
> help you can provide.
> -Kelly

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Kelly,

Thanks so much for posting back and letting us know you've solved the
problem. It's also nice to read that my initial suspicion as to the cause
of the problems was correct. Hopefully you should now be able to use
system restore if necessary to roll your system back to before this
problem started but if all is OK it might be worth resetting system
restore to clear the archive as it is just possible that not all files
were being archived correctly whilst you had the wrong version of
winmm.dll installed.

Regards,
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mike.maltby@gmail.com


orngeline6@yahoo.com <orngeline6@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Brilliant! You were 100% right - it was the winmm.dll file. I did
> exactly what you said to replace it and now I'm up & running again.
> Thank you so much! -Kelly