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Error Message: User32.dll Was Relocated in Memory...

Article ID: 165152

Article Last Modified on 4/16/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q165152

Note For information about this issue on Windows XP-based computers, visit the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

935448 Certain third-party applications may not start, and you receive an error message when you start the computer: "Illegal System DLL Relocation"

SYMPTOMS

During Setup, you may receive the following error message:

User32.dll was relocated in memory. The application will not run properly. The relocation occurred because the DLL C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\RPCRT4.dll occupied an address range reserved for Windows NT System DLL's. The vendor supplying the DLL should be contacted for a new DLL.

When you click OK, the following error message may occur:

An error has been encountered that prevents setup from continuing. Setup was unable to initialize network installation components. The specific error code is 2.

When you click OK, the computer reboots and the sequence is repeated continuously.

CAUSE

During an upgrade from Windows NT 3.51 to Windows NT 4.0, the Rpcrt4.dll file may not be upgraded. If for some reason this file is not updated to the 4.0 version and the User32.dll file is updated to the 4.0 version, the files conflict in memory. Rpcrt4.dll loads in an area of memory in which User32.dll tries to load. User32.dll is then relocated in memory but fails.

The Windows NT 4.0 version has the following properties:

   11/18/96  01:38a 302,352 rpcrt4.dll

The Windows NT 3.51 version has the following properties:

   05/26/95  10:57a 229,648 rpcrt4.dll

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

If you have access to another computer with Windows NT 4.0, copy the Rpcrt4.dll file from the %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers folder on the other computer to the corresponding folder on your computer.

NOTE: To use this method, Windows NT must be installed on a FAT partition and you must be able to access the hard disk using MS-DOS, Windows 95, or a boot disk.

Method 2

If you can dual-boot Windows NT and Windows 95 on your computer, follow these steps:

Start Windows 95.
From a command prompt in Windows 95, expand the Rpcrt4.dll file from the I386 folder on the Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM to the %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers folder of your original Windows NT installation. For example, type the following command:

expand rpcrt4.dl_ %systemroot%\system32\drivers\rpcrt4.dll

NOTE: To properly expand files from the Windows NT CD-ROM, you must use the Expand.exe utility included with Windows NT. The Windows NT Expand.exe utility can only be run from a command prompt in a 32-bit environment such as Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT.
Restart your computer and complete the Windows NT installation.

NOTE: To use this method, Windows NT must be installed on a FAT partition.

Method 3

Install Windows NT to a different folder on your hard drive.
Copy the Rpcrt4.dll file from the %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers folder in the new Windows NT installation to the corresponding folder in the original installation.
Restart your computer and complete the original Windows NT installation.
When the upgrade process is complete, remove the temporary Windows NT installation, and then delete any entries in the Boot.ini file that are entered for that installation.

Additional query words: error

Keywords: kberrmsg kbsetup KB165152

Microsoft KB Archive/165152

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