Jonathan,
As I said in my post in your other thread, I think you may be able to copy the file from it's backup location on the C: drive to the right place once you boot to the Recovery Console C:\ prompt with your XP CD. You can't just copy it from the XP CD.

Here's what I'd try at the Recovery Console C:\ prompt:

copy c:\I386\shell32.dll c:\windows\system32 /v
(It's the capital letter I in I386, not the number 1, and there's one space before /v)
Then press enter.

Caveats:
1: This assumes a valid backup copy of shell32.dll exists on your hard drive.
2: I'm not 100% certain the /v switch will work in Recovery Console, so
if you get error message (other than "file not found"), omit /v
The /v switch is supposed to verify the copy is correct once it's made.
3: If you get error message 'file already exists', then type at c:\ prompt
del c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll
press enter and then repeat the copy command

Ron

Message Edited by RoHe on 04-22-2005 11:24 AM

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@RoHe wrote:
Jonathan,
As I said in my post in your other thread, I think you may be able to copy the file from it's backup location on the C: drive to the right place once you boot to the Recovery Console C:\ prompt with your XP CD. You can't just copy it from the XP CD.

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Actually, you can copy it directly from the CD but not from an I386 directory on the hard disk (if such a directory exists). The copy command in Recovery Console specifies that the source must be removable media, any directory within the system directories of the current windows installation, the root of any drive, local installation sources, or the CMDCONS directory.

Copying it from the XP reinstallation CD is an option, although the source file should be shell32.dl_ since that is its name in the I386 directory on the XP CD, but if expanding it from that location did not work I am not confident that copying it will, either.

Denny is -of course- absolutely correct. :)

I have XPpro on single user system so I edited group policy to enable access to all files/folders and to allow file copy onto removable media using Recovery Console, as a precaution against a potential system failure. It's too late for Jonathan to do that now, and wouldn't work if he has XPhome. Obviously, editing the group policy this way opens a huge security hole so must be done with caution.

Only other solution I can suggest is go to www.dynamiclink.nl/frames/dll.htm
and download shell32.dll and burn onto CD (8.3MB) with hope of copying that over into the c:\windows\system32 folder on the HD. The version available is v6.00.2800.1556. It might not be the same version that was on his system, but it might just let the PC boot. Then, assuming it's there, the backup of correct version can be copied from c:\I386 on the HD into the c:\windows\system32 folder to replace the other one.

Ron

Message Edited by RoHe on 04-22-2005 06:27 PM

I attempted to do this copy command (and got the "do you want to overwrite the current file" prompt); are we saying that the command would not have been accepted ?

copy c:\windows\system32\dllcache\shell32.dll c:\windows\system32

NB: I did run it from the Recovery Console installation.

maxd,

Not at all, we are saying that you cannot copy it from within C:\I386. Recovery Console provides access to everything within the system directory (Windows folder).

Understood. One step further. If you moved/put i386 into a newly-created system32 folder (and name that folder (eg) "Usable") the source files would be copyable ?