"entry point SHRegGetValueW could not be located in the dynamic dynamic link library SHLWAPI.dll"

Here's another person who was helped by this:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_21176061.html

SheharyaarSaahil,

Is there some trick to get into the Task Manager if you can't get to the desktop.  It pops up the error message at the login screen... the big blue screen that asks you what user you would like to log in as.  When I click "OK" on the error message it just beeps and pops back up.

When I press control-alt-delete keys, it just brings up a different-looking login prompt... it does not, however, take me to the desktop or any place that I could access the Task Manager from.

was ur welcome screen enabled or do u have multiple users ??
if yes then that can be reason... coz if it wud be booting straight in desktop... then it must give the error on the wallpaper without having any icons or taskbar !!

>> When I press control-alt-delete keys, it just brings up a different-looking login prompt
u must be using XP Pro,,,, its the classic logon dialog box where u can manually enter the username and password to login :)

Yes, there are multiple users on this machine.

And, no, it's XP Home edition.  I'll try going in and uninstalling through the Recovery Console.

>> And, no, it's XP Home edition.

then upon hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del how can u get a classic login prompt,,,, must be some other box, what does it contain ??

Well, I was finally able to get to the desktop (I was able to choose a user and login faster enough before the 1st error popped up).

I hit ctrl-alt-del and started a new task... and typed in c:\windows\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst\spuninst.exe [ENTER]

It brought up a window saying "These programs will not work if you uninstall SP2" The list contained just about every program or driver on the computer.  Sheeesh!  I clicked OK anyway.  Then it popped up a message saying "The file could not be found"  I clicked OK, and it popped up another window saying "SP2 was not uninstalled"

Any suggestions?

check here the lateset suggestions from MS on this problem,

You receive an "Explorer.EXE - Entry Point Not Found - The procedure entry point SHCreateThreadRef could not be located in the dynamic link library Shlwapi.dll" error message after you install the MS04-038 security update
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888162

This client is fixed... here is the story.

I tried removing SP2 a couple of different ways from the desktop... through the Control Panel, and also by creating a "New Task" from the Task Manager as mentioned above... "c:\windows\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst\spuninst.exe [ENTER]"  Neither process was successful... must have something to do with the procedure on the GUI side of things.  Both methods complained about missing files and aborted the removal process, cold-turkey.

I tried going into the Recovery Console using Windows XP Home CD-ROM (OEM), but the problem there was that the owner of the machine never uses the Administrator account and he had NO IDEA of what the Admin password was.  I take that back... he had about 10 ideas (all of which were wrong), but I could only try 3 times before making me reboot.  After going farther down this rabbit hole than I should have, I reset the password using a Linux Boot CD-ROM found here:  http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/  What a great tool!

So, FINALLY, after getting a prompt in the Recovery Console I was able to follow the recommended procedure provided by VirtualJay here:  http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_21169927.html (God bless em').  The computer complained like hell about missing files and other such nonsense, which freaked me out a little, but finally started copying the files (exactly as VirtualJay described).

After rebooting, everything was okay... No Error.  I reinstalled SP2 from a CD-ROM I had made previously, rebooted and everything was fine.  Yippee!  Drinks all around!

wow.. wow..... Good Job !! :)

Just so you guys knew - the Classic log-on prompt (where you manually enter all the log-on info, username/password) can be turned on and off not just in Pro but in Home, as well.

Control Panel -> Users -> Change the way users log on and off.  Having "Use the welcome screen" unchecked will have you log-in with the Classic prompt.

Now with how it was requiring Ctrl+Alt+Del first , that is a Local Security Policy on the computer that I only know how to get to with a Pro machine - Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Local Security Policy -> Local Policies (expand out Security Settings) -> Security Options, and it is "Interactive logon:  Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL.", and you can double-click it to change it.  Just because Home may not include this GUI or allow you to do a Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc, etc., it doesn't necessarily mean the settings aren't apart of the some policy settings somewhere within Home and aren't able to be edited or changed, since they obviously were since you say it was an XP Home machine.  Might be an idea to open a thread to find out if anyone knows how they could be changed....

I have seen this error right after and only after log-in into AOL's browser (yes, I use AOL - nobody gives them enough credit...anyway...) after a downgrade from SP2 back to SP1 (just uninstalled SP2 from Add/Remove Programs - no need for fancy scripts or commands, jeez) because of a display problem I was having I didn't feel like spending all day to figure out.

All I did was uninstall AOL and re-install AOL.  No more Shlwapi.dll error.  But again, this pertained to AOL only - I never got the error anywhere else.  

Now I just have other things (4 debug errors whenever I open a webpage to click through, MS Word 2003 will error out and say it needs to close spontaneously while typing a document, or just close with no error after printing - uninstalled/re-installed that several times).  Getting a new system together, anyway, so I'm just getting my data off and starting afresh..... always the best in these cases, anyway, if there's no readily apparent uninstall/re-install to perform, or reg-hack or dll-swap.  Best of luck to all.  -Tom