How to fix VSINIT.DLL missing root certificate

LImbeck and Zeus,
Thank you for that suggestion. I purchased, installed and ran RegCure. I ran the rootsupd.exe from Microsoft. These did NOT solve my problem.

The following is more information regarding my problem. The OS on my home PC is Windows 98 service pack 3. With this PC I am trying to connect to my office PC via Cisco's VPN client 5.0 application. Whenever my home PC boots, the program (c:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\VPN Cliet\cvpnd.exe) reports the following error: "Validation failed for c:\windows\system32\VSINIT.DLL. You probably are missing a necessary root certificate. Warning 201: The necessary VPN sub-system is not available. You cannot connect to remote VPN Server." I have learned that this is somehow tied to a problem commonly seen with Zone Alarm because Cisco uses something from them in their VPN client. All the solutions I have found are either way too technical for my comprehension or suggested links are broken. I do not have Zone Alarm installed on my system. I have tried asking my work IT administrator but he is on vacation for two more weeks. This is really critical because I need this because I work for a public safety department and need to access work applications 24/7. Thank you for your response and any additional efforts.

ok, one bit of extra info please. Has this connection worked before on this pc or are you installing a new vpn connection?

im wondering if your windows 98 isnt the problem here

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/vpn_client/cisco_vpn_client/vpn_client500_501/release/notes/51client.html#wp1024664

check requirements

Limbeck,

Yes, this connection was working fine. Then stopped. Tried all the fixes I could find. Uninstalled, installed new version, updated root certificates, fixed registry with RegCure. Darn, I provided wrong info regarding OS. I have Windows XP service pack 3, not 98.

The solution to the same type of "201" error found by somebody named Bonj is addressed in his blog.  The first link just provides the solution, ie. stopping and restarting the related Service, and the 2nd one is the original blog article with a number of comments confirming that the proposed solution also worked for them:

http://bonj.blogspot.com/2008/12/warning-201-necessary-vpn-sub-system-is.html

http://bonj.blogspot.com/2005/09/warning-201.html

When I start or restart the Cisco System VPN Service, I get the error stating:
C:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\VPN client\cvpnd.exe

Validation failded for c:\windows\system32\vsinit.dll. You probably are missing a necessary root certificate. <OK button>

This has got to be one of the most frustrating problems I have ever dealt with.

ok, time for longshots :)

did you do a recent upgrade to Internet Explorer 8?

ps be carefull with that batchfile, open it in notepad to see if you agree with what it does

i should have included the link here ;)

http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-2000/windows-file-protection-again/60980.html

argh the batch file didnt work

anyway, this might be the problem, this following link seems to apply for 2000 and xp

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296241

hm ignore my last few posts, i doubt any good will come of them. maybe this will help


http://www.a-cert.at/static/microsoft-troubleshooting-certificate-revocation.pdf

I uninstalled IE 8 but this didn't solve the problem. I started to read the PDF from the linx provided by Limbeck. I got through a couple of pages and the technical level of the discuss was WAY over my head. This seems like such a common problem that a step-wise solution to obtaining and installing the necessary root certificate should be made available from Zone Labs and Cisco. Why haven't they provided this?