Microsoft KB Archive/837431

= You receive a &quot;DLL initialization failure&quot; message when you start a DirectX program in Windows 2000 =

Article ID: 837431

Article Last Modified on 10/26/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

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SYMPTOMS
When you try to start a program, you may receive the following error message:

- DLL initialization failure

Initialization of the dynamic link library c:\windows\system32\ddraw.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.



CAUSE
This problem occurs when one of the following conditions is true:
 * You have switched to a different user account by using Fast User Switching, and the program that you tried to start is already running under the other user account.
 * A service is using DirectX and has loaded the Ddraw.dll file.

When you try to start a DirectX program that is already running in another user account instance, the Ddraw.dll file is already loaded in memory and cannot be initialized again.

Each process that links with the Ddraw.dll file creates a thread synchronization object, or mutex, that is used internally by the Ddraw.dll file. If two instances of the same executable file are run at the same time, the instances will share the same mutex. The permissions on this mutex will not permit the mutex to be opened by a thread that is running under a different user account than the thread that created the mutex, unless the second user is a member of the local administrators group.



Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement
You do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information
This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information
The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name --  06-Apr-2004  20:48  5.0.2195.6920     267,536  Ddraw.dll



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

816915 New file naming schema for Microsoft Windows software update packages

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Additional query words:

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbbug kbfix kbqfe kbwin2000presp5fix KB837431

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