Uninstall SP4 from repair utility

[brian057]

Hello,

I have a computer which BSOD's on start-up with the message:

Stop: c0000135 {Unable to Locate DLL}
The dynamic link library winsrv.dll could not be found in the specified path Default Load Path.

I have found many forums which state that you must uninstall SP4 to fix this. I am able to start up the repair utility using the W2K install disk. However, all the instructions state to navigate to:

C:\WINNT\$NTservicePackUninstall$\spuninst

and to run the command: batch spuninst.bat

There is, however, no spuninst.bat, but a "spuninst.exe" . It is not letting me run this file in any way. Everything i try results in "The command is not recognized."

Does anyone know what i need to do to uninstall this, or possibly another solution to my problem without re-installing.

I thank you in advance for reading my post.

 

[Guest]

Can't you just replace the file from the Recovery Console? I have Win 2K SP4 and the version is 5.99.2195.6699.

Grumpy

 

[brian057]

Thanks for the response Grumpy.

I have tried to replace the file from a good installation of W2K with SP4.

I copied the file from the good installation onto a floppy (luckily the laptop with the corrupted file has a floppy drive). Then overwrote the corrupted file through recover console. When starting up, it still says its unable to find the file via the stop error.

I have found this Microsoft Knowledge Base article referring to this issue:

<a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839517">839517</a>

Basically, it says that SP4 fails to update this file when it installs.

It, however, refers to W2K Server, but says it also applies to W2K. From what I understand they are the same except for a few "minor" differences (active directory, etc...).

I have also read some other forum threads which state that the problem is occurring in the registry. From what I can take from all this is that when SP4 updates winsrv.dll it also makes changes in the registry to reflect this. If it is making changes in the registry, I would assume that is why replacing the file didn't work.

It also seems that this is a major issue in many companies that were using W2K. In a company with 3000 workstations this happens to about 50 workstations per month. The system admins and microsoft apparently have not come up with a fix for the cause of this issue. Just to uninstall SP4, then reinstall SP4.

**NOTE**
If I could just get to the "outlook.pst" and save it, I would be happy to reinstall the whole OS. But, of course, recovery console does not allow me to browse those directories. And, removing the hard drive from this laptop has proven to be an issue.

Laptop: HP Pavilion XH455-F2419M

Thanks again