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January 28, 2004 12:00 AM

I'm trying to install updates from WindowsUpdate on my Windows XP computer, but I keep encountering a winlogon.exe error. What's going on?

Windows IT Pro
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A. The full text of the error you're referring to is "Winlogon.exe. Entry Point Not Found. The procedure entry point AssocIsDangerous could not be found in the dynamic link library SHLWAPI.DLL." 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.

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Comments
  • Anonymous User
    7 years ago
    Aug 04, 2005

    i have the exact problem decribed here but windows xp was preinstalled on my 1st computer on this computer(the two pc's are connected on a home network) im running windows 98.....where can i find and download the file i need to burn on a cd so i can boot my windows xp computer?

  • Anonymous User
    7 years ago
    May 24, 2005

    I'm seeing this on a Windows 2000 Server w/ SP4 and MetaFrame XP

    Same Advice?

    All I can find is articles on XP for this error.

    Weird thing is when I login to the box from the console, over RDP, or over ICA, I get logged in but get no desktop. Its only when I CTRL+ALT+DEL and run task manager and then try to execute explorer.exe do I see the message.
    Nothing useful in EventVwr either.

  • Anonymous User
    7 years ago
    Mar 26, 2005

    "winlogon.exe" unable to locate.
    "shell32.dll" not found.
    "user interface failure". the logon user interface dll msgina.dll failed to load. replace or restore dll.
    probblem occured with xp sp2 installation. unable to install xp recovery cd to access recovery console. can anyone please help.

  • Anonymous User
    7 years ago
    Mar 10, 2005

    Great article. This saved me a lot of headache. Now to get SP2 installed (grumble grumble).

  • Anonymous User
    7 years ago
    Mar 04, 2005

    c:\\windows\\system32\\auto.exe c:nt
    the system file is not suitable for running
    ms-dos and microsoft windows applications.

    this is the message I get since updating
    to service pack 2 when I try to reinstall
    msworks

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