Normaliz.dll missing on startup after MS updates

I wanted to get this topic on the forum in case someone else has the problem and doesn't know what to do. I have been updating Windows XP Pro SP1, up to SP2, since I had to reinstiall from an older disk. had a ton of updates yesterday and then again today, MS nagged at me to update. I did, and when the computer re-booted, right away an error message popped up that explorer.exe failed to start - can't find normaliz.dll. What the…???? Last known good didn't work, obviously if a file is missing, it's not going to work. So after a near-panic attack, I got onto my son's desktop and found a copy, put it onto a flash drive, and inserted that into the desktop. I opened a command prompt window (still had Task Manager, thank goodness) and copied the file from flash drive into system 32 folder. The syntax was a little tricky for me, the nervous, and son, the impatient. But we did it. Re-booted and… lo and behold! Another error message! Who would have thunk it??? Now explorer is asking for iertutil.dll. We did the same thing over again with the flash drive and command prompt. Ta-da! Like magic, the desktop appeared. What happened to those 2 dll files in the update??? I'd like to know. These errors seem to be in connection with IE7, but I still have IE6 right now. I am planning to download FireFox tonight and forget IE. Juliane

Errors: normaliz.dll and iertutil.dll

http://msmvps.com/blogs/spywaresucks/archi…/05/106769.aspx

Very interesting reading! I didn't think MS was putting any IE upgrades on today, but I will check and see if I have any information in the error logs. None of the updates mentioned IE7beta or any other upgrade. I have been very leery of changing browsers and have always stayed away from IE7 in particular, having seen many reports of bugs, failures, etc. Juliane

Though your problem does sound similar to the Article's topic, MS isn't pushing IE 7 beta anymore. Date of Article ——-> Published Saturday, August 05, 2006 9:32 AM by sandi

Yes, I still have IE6, so I know it wasn't that. I just have the most INTERESTING problems, don't i??? It sux, to quote my teenagers. At least we managed to fix it, thanks to knowing about command prompt and having a laptop to Google the problem with. And you guys, who hold my hand when I try this stuff.

In a PM you inquired if you could copy a .dll from your Son's machine and place it in your own machine that is identifying that there is a problem with the .dll file.

The answer is "probably".

Before inserting the new .dll file, browse your C:\windows\system32 to find any instance of the old corrupt .dll. If found – Rename the dll …. For instance: from normaliz.dll to normaliz.old

Then paste the new .dll into your C:\windows\system32 Folder.

Alternatively, you can download a fresh copy of Normaliz.dll from:
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?normaliz
Unzip the file and save to CD, then use the CD for copy/paste to your faulty machine.

Cautionary Note: While there is no "risk" in performing your proprosed operation, there is also no guarantee.
Please remember the sequence of "other problems" you have been struggling with.

To the best of my knowledge, the course of action that you decided to follow was an "over the top" Repair Installation, without format and clean install.

Your best course of action would be:
1. Follow the somewhat intensive recommendations provided to you in previous thread by Crow
or
2. If you hope for Repair Installation to correct your OS problems, then do a format and clean install.
________

Since you are still trying to piece things together, short of a format and clean install, there is no harm in copy/pasting the required .dll files.

Just don't be suprised if there are additional missing or corrupted files that later crop up to cause you problems.

Of course, I hope your immediate proposed action solves the problem completely, but again… no guarantees.

What you may not be taking into consideration is that Windows File Protection SFC, tries very hard to not allow Systems files to be changed. WFP keeps reference copies of current files (including .dll's in DLLCACHE, and also references the rather mysterious C:\Windows\$UninstallKBxxxxxxx Folders.

I do not know if WFP will interfere with your proposed course of action (probably not) So give it a try.

Best Regards

Thank you very much! I realize this may help others but I was concerned that if I replied to my own message again, no one would pick it up. Would another scan for problems help at this point? I can run chkdsk or scannow and see what happens…knowing there are no guarantees of course. I have the new Windows folder AND the old WINXPPRO folder, both on C drive. The new Windows Sys 32 contains both normaliz.dll and iertutil.dll and the old WinXPPro contains neither. Does Windows use any of the files from the old install? Or does it only seek from the current install folder? What say I get rid of the old WinXpPro folder? What is the best way to do that if you sanction it? I've gotten 99% of my data from that already - there are a few functioning programs in that Program list but nothing I can't either do without or reinstall. I know that a "fresh" install would have been better, but can I take it through the back door and achieve similar results, now that I am (fully) functional again? (knock on wood) Juliane

Quoted from TheElderGeek:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/repairing_windows_xp.htm

Repairing a current installation is not a substitute for reformatting a drive and doing a clean installation. It may help clear up some problems with the current installation, but it will not restore an ailing system to like new condition and performance that a clean installation will provide.

Your mileage may vary.

Best Regards

Well, I know I didn't wipe the HD but I didn't do a repair either - that never worked. It was a "new" install according to the options I had from the CD-ROM. So should I really just wipe out the whole mess and begin again? Even if all is functional right now? I guess you are saying things could go south again, eh? How do you back up your data? In the Annoyances XP book, the authors recommend to back up the entire hard drive, I guess that includes all programs. How do I copy the system volume files or back them up? Is there a really good, easy-to-use backup program you recommend? I used the one built into Windows but it is s-l-o-w…and I like to drag and drop files one by one so it's easy to pop them back into place.

If you want a clean/non-conflicted Operating System and will be using format-Reinstall procedure, then what you want to have "backed-up" would be your: ChipSet Drivers Installation files Peripheral Device Driver Installation files Important Documents, media, pictures, etc. Your machine probably has a CD -Writer ???? Use that, and manually select the files you want to burn to Disk. I generally put documents, media, pictures, etc on a separate CD I generally put Chipset Driver, Peripheral Driver and Application Installation files on another separate CD. In your present situation, doing an entire "System Back-up" would be saving the very "junk" (please excuse my abruptness) that you are hoping to get rid of. There are many, many Back-up Systems, all of which have their pros and cons…. better GUI, better user selective control, faster, more automated, etc. It's really up to you, and you won't know until you try out a few and see how they suit you individually. For "Complete" backup, the only way to go is "Drive Image". A Drive Image is like a photograph of what your Hard Drive actually looks like at the moment it is taken. Drive Image is saved as an .iso format Disk that can be used with its associated bootable routine to "completely replace" "all" of the information on your Hard Drive "with exactly what was on the Hard drive" at the time the .iso image was taken. Good Software Applications for .iso imaging include: Norton Ghost Acronis Both cost money, and there are no (free) .iso image backup utilities that I am aware of to recommend. But, truly, if you want a fresh start, you don't want to be Restoring your machine from an "image" of how it is presently running (I mean right now today, since you are experiencing various problems with how it is today.) The time to use an Acronis or Norton Ghost to make a back-up .iso image is just after a clean installation and full installation of chipset, directX, peripheral drivers. That way if your system "crashes" in the future, you can simply use Acronis or Norton Ghost's bootable routine and .iso image to "restore" your machine to exactly the same way you had it when you first set it up the way you want it. You can also take an .iso image after you have installed your Application Programs (like Office and mediaplayer stuff) so that you don't have to reinstall those. Notice that I am not recommending that you use iso imaging to back-up documents, pictures, tunes, etc. IMO, those should be backed up to CD or DVD, separately. _________ Would I do a total system backup "right now" if I owned your machine………? No. Because I'd want a clean installation, not an installation that includes the problems you presently have, even though your system is running. (This presumes that you have the XP Installation CD, and have downloaded and saved the Chipset Drivers, peripheral Drivers, and Application Installation files to CD. And that you've Saved your important documents, pictures, tunes, etc. to CD. Caveate: Many more conservative/safety-minded, experts would tell you that you "should" create an .iso image backup, because any sort of backup (even if problematic) is better than "no backup at all". It's your choice.

Everything you have discussed makes perfect sense to me, except: Where would I find my chipset drivers? This is a dell build, they did include a driver CD-ROM with it. Is that what you mean? As for CD writer, the machine came with Roxio software which never worked, not from day one out of the box. I guess it was a problem with XP but I wish they hadn't pre-loaded it if it didn't work with the OS. So at present, I'd have to get some software to burn CDs. I guess that's preferable to an external HD? I have a beautiful 2G right here next to me… I've used a teeny bit of its capacity thus far…even with the entire C drive it's not even begun to be filled. Where is the ghost image stored? On an external medium or in Windows itself? I guess you'd want easy access in case of a crash… Your term "junk" was extremely diplomatic considering the circumstances. And if this computer goes down again, I think hubby will opt to just replace it. He doesn't have the patience with inanimate objects that I do. He was already going to throw away this computer but I told him it's fine for now and that Windows is Windows, whatever machine you use to run it.

Oh, and once again - Can I, or should I, delete the old install of Windows or just leave everything as is? Thanks a ton.

I can appreciate "hubby's" point of view. But there is "always" maintenance involved with machinery and electronics, even if it's only changing the oil or blowing out the dust-bunnies from inside the tower case. I'm not in the position of buying a new car, and then buying another one, if the first one needs an oil change (exaggeration) but most people are in my catagory and do the "cost of ownership" maintenance to keep their machine running as if brand new. ____________ Your Dell Driver Reinstallation CD probably has all the Chipset Drivers that you need…. however….. It is also quite likely that Dell has "updated" at least some of the Chipset Drivers. You can download the entire set appropriate to your machine, from the Dell Support - Download site, by gaining access by entering your Service Tag Number. They "know" what you have and will give you a selection of Chipset Drivers appropriate to your specific machine. Download them and save them……. somewhere separate from your C:\ Hard Drive. ________ I like External Hard Drive as an alternative to CD/DVD. I have one attached constantly to my own machine for saving backups, in addition to the CD backup routine that I use. Ghost Image is best stored on an External HD. Norton will give you a "bootable routine" from which to create a CD to pop into your machine to set it up to restore from the iso image………. It is a "two-part" thing. Restoration Routine CD, Restore .iso Image. RE: Delete the old Windows installation??? If you are going to do a clean install, the Format is going to wipe everything off that Hard Drive anyway. So don't bother. Best Regards If you decide to throw that machine out, please send it my way. I'll pay the postage. (that's just another way of saying, that your machine is valuable, and once you get things straightened out, you'll likely have years of good performance from it. Even if you also get another new machine.)

Roxio is a competent CD Burning tool. But yes, it has had its conflicts with XP. You probably have the install CD from Dell, which would reinstall the "not so good" version of Roxio. Once you've installed the "not so good version", go to the Roxio Website and Register it. You will then be entitled to Download a few "fixes" for Roxio to make it run better, and to make XP a happy camper with Roxio installed. (you might be able to get the Roxio updated versions without "Registering". I'm not sure) Best Regards

What if I don't do a clean install, but just keep things the way they are, except for deleting the old WINXPPRO file? Is that likely to cause problems or are the 2 installs together more likely to throw things off? You're a very good communicator about this stuff. Thanks for all of this. Juliane