Slow Boot, Blue Screens; & Duplicate .dll’s

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My machine has slowed to a snails pace when I boot (using Win 98SE.) I work a lot w/ digital audio apps; & noticed growing conflicts between open apps (system lock-up, fatal exeptions, etc.) An article in PC World not too long ago that points the blame for issues such as these at duplicate .dll files. Their instructions are to find & compare all the.dll’s; & delete all but the highest numbered version. They then state that more than likely, the highest numbered version will be in the system folder; & that when the duplicates are deleted, the apps are forced to look in the system folder when launched.

I found all my duplicate .dll files per their instructions, but in a lot of cases (especially in the case of audio apps), none of the dups reside in the system folder; & the highest numbered dup will reside in the most recently installed app’s folder tree. My question is; should I still delete the low numbered .dll’s & move the single higher numbered .dll to the system folder? I truly believe that this dupicate .dll file issue is the root cause of my ills, as I have noticed that other apps (besides audio) that share .dll’s also have conflicts. In almost all cases where I have cross app conflicts, the dups do not reside in the system folder. I want to fix this problem without causing others. Can anyone help with this? Thanks.

Sincerely,

mark4man
Dell 700
Win 98SE
512 RAM

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>An article in PC World not too long ago … duplicate .dll files.

Have you a link or a reference to this please?

I’m currently using EasyCleaner version 1.7f for Windows 95/98/NT and enjoying its efforts.

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Chrisgreaves,

http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,41661,00.asp%5B/url%5D
Edited by DaveA to add url code

mark4man

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Copy newer versions to your windowssystem folder. Generally speaking, do NOT delete anything from system folder until you’re ABSOLUTELY sure what you’re doing and save a copy somewhere else.
It is better to save copies of all replaced files, say, in your temp folder and delete them later (after you double-check that everything’s allright).

BUT I would recommend to do regular maintenance of your hard drive first: delete IE cache (Control Panel | Internet Options | Delete Files and check Delete All Offline Content), clean temp folder (delete all files two days and older) and empty Recycle Bin; then run Scandisk and Defrag.
I bet your computer’s performance will improve significantly after these operations.

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Kaplinb,

I don’t want to delete from the system folder, I want to delete the older dups in the apps folders. Are you saying it’s OK to copy the newer versions to the system folder & remove the older versions by moving them to a temp folder?

Also: When I select “Delete Files” in Internet Properties & check “Delete All Offline Content”, what gets deleted? (I realize both of these questions seemingly have obvious answers, but I’m a little thick tonight & want to make sure.) The reason I ask about offline content is that I save quite a few web pages relative to tech support, for example, I’ll probably save this thread. Are these the types of files that would be deleted? Thanks.

mark4man

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DO NOT delete, alter, or otherwise change anything in your system folder unless YOU know absolutely for certain what it is, and certainly not without a backup. Copy ing new versions to your system folder is also a very bad idea – many system files are dependent upon one another, and altering one may break several others. It’s akin to taking apart a car engine and hoping to be able to put it back together when you’ve never seen one before – an extreme example, surely, but save yourself the grief.

Programs will install duplicate DLL, OCX, and other system files in their installed location to prevent stomping on existing system files and to ensure their operability. It’s good coding practice since “DLL Hell” is a very real phenomenon and is even documented on Microsoft’s website. The programmers are doing you a favor by not wrecking your system files with differing versions.

The reasons I noted above are one reason that Windows File Protection and Driver Signing exist in the newer iterations of Windows. WFP protects the core system files by replacing them with known good versions when an application replaces them. Anyone who has spent time on Windows 2000 or XP will testify to the reliability of the operating system, and this is a major reason why.

As far as deleting “offline content” you’re removing a locally cached version of the web page. If you right click on a favorites icon, you’ll see an option to “make available offline”. It’s also used in networks from time to time, since it eliminates the need to connect to the network/internet to view content. If you’re saving web pages using IE’s file – save menu, it’s a whole different ball of wax. Those saved files are not affected by deleting offline content, so you should be safe. Offline content should only exist if you explicitly tell it to be there in the first place.

Hope that helps!!

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WyllyWylly,

Thanks much. I believe you saved me from a nightmare. I solved a majority of the problem by running System File Checker & replacing corrupted or missing system files. I guess for a total fix, it’s time to move up to XP? Thanks again.

mark4man

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Thanks. Got it.

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