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donsullins

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Boot Problem

Within the past year I finally upgraded from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. Everything installed okay and I had no problems, until I set up My Connection in Dial-up Networking. I got the connection set up okay. I set up Eudora Pro and Netscape Communicator and had no problem making My Connection and getting logged onto the net. The problem: When I power up I receive the following message while Windows is starting:

Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.

The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer exists.

If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.

If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file.

vredir.vxd Press a key to continue

I press a key and Windows continues to load. When it gets to the desktop a box appears with the following message:

Windows Networking Unable to load the dynamic link library: msnp32.dll The system cannot find the file specified. Some or all of the following features is not available: Microsoft Network OK

I click OK and Windows completes loading, and everything works fine from then on. These two files are not addressed to in the SYSTEM.INI file. I found them in: C:\WINDOWS\INF\layout.inf and C:\WINDOWS\INF\netcli.inf (The INF sub dir is a hidden directory) I was reluctant to edit these files as I'm not that familiar with Win95 to be messing with these files. I don't use any of the programs that I know of associated with Microsoft Network. Does it have anything to do with my Dial-up Networking and My Connection? I have removed MS Network, but the problem still exists. At the time I set up My Connection, I had to, as per instructions insert a couple of the installation disks to complete the setup. The error messages started after My Connection setup. Everything works okay, but I just want to get rid of those annoying error messages. I would just like to disable the call up of these two files. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
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TXShaman

I know it mentioned SYSTEM.INI, but just for grins, check your WIN.INI file and make sure you delete any reference there to these files.  (I've had this error before, myself, and it went away after I checked the WIN.INI file).  Reboot and see if you get the error...

jim
Delete the lines that contains the line vredir.vxd in the SYSTEM.INI file and reboot and the problem would be solved.

nanju
vredir is a Microsoft networking library. Remove all the networking components in Control Panel / Network, restart, then add them back in.
this file might also be in your registry, and will need removing... I have had this problem with I printer
Avatar of donsullins

ASKER

Thanks to TXShaman, NANJU, kschang, and borris. I appreciate the quick response, however none were the correct in my case. One of the first things I did when this problem surfaced was to check the WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files, but neither one of the files (vredir.vxd and msnp32.dll) were in the .INI files. I've addressed the problem at numerous help sites, but unfortunately haven't found the solution yet.
Dear Don,

The short fix: remove and reinstall Dial-Up Networking. As part of the reinstallation, ensure (via the Network applet in Control Panel), you have installed Client for Microsoft Networks, Dial-Up Adapter, an appropriate Protocol (TCP/IP to surf the net) at a minimum. If you're thinking about networking multiple computers, then add File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Did a little detective work, and here's some help with your mystery files:

As kschang correctly stated, vredir.vxd (and msnp32.dll) are networking components. Reinstalling networking components should have placed both files in the Windows\System directory. By starting up the Win 98 Registry editor and searching on vredir, I was able to find four references to it; with msnp32.dll, 10 references.

Using the extract command, you can (re)install these files.
A great Microsoft Knowledge Base article on this subject can be had at support.microsoft.com; search for Q129605.
The extract tool is OS specific (that is, you can't use the 95B extract.exe with Win98 cabinet files)

Here's the syntax and file location for using extract. In all these examples, I'm using J: the drive letter my CD-ROM uses. Adjust the letter to fit your situation.

Win95 (in all cases /l means /"lower case L", not number 1)

extract /a j:\win95\win95_12.cab vredir.vxd /l
c:\windows\system (note: this all goes on one line)

extract /a j:\win95\win95_11.cab msnp32.dll /l
c:\windows\system (note: this all goes on one line)

Win95B

extract /a j:\win95\win95_19.cab vredir.vxd /l
c:\windows\system (note: this all goes on one line)

extract /a j:\win95\win95_18.cab msnp32.dll /l
c:\windows\system (note: this all goes on one line)

Win98 (the hard way)

extract /a j:\win95\net9.cab vredir.vxd /l
c:\windows\system (note: this all goes on one line)

extract /a j:\win95\net7.cab msnp32.dll /l
c:\windows\system (note: this all goes on one line)

With 98, if you install the resource kit (J:\tools\reskit\setup.exe), one of the included applets is the System File Checker (sfc.exe). This gives you a graphical tool to accomplish the same task.

Hope this helps.

Ron
One small oops:

In the Win98 example, the folders should say Win98, not Win95

Ron
ramcomp's got the details... essentially what I had suggested. I'd he if his suggestions work, he gets the points.
Dear Ron,

Thanks loads for the help. I'm running Win 95, so will use the instructions you provided. It will be several days before I'll be able to do this as I'm leaving town on vacation this afternoon. As soon as I have completed the process I'll post a comment as to if it worked or not.

kschang, I really don't understand the "point" system and I surely don't want anyone to get "shorted". If needed, and, if possible, I'll transfer any points I have to whomever was involved in providing a solution to my problem.

Again, I thank everyone who has provided feedback to my problem. This is the only place I've found that you get feedback in a very, very short time. I'm really grateful for that.

Don

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Bastaard

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Thanks for the great help.

Don