When i went to the computer this morning, an error message was looking back at me. It says "winlogon.exe - unable to locate component... this application has failed ot start because ODBC32.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix the problem." When I click okay, it says "User Interface failure... The logon user interface DLL mafina.dll failed to load. Contact your system administrator to replace the DLL, or restore the original DLL.

How do I fix this. I don't want to reformat the hardrive and loose everything that I have on it.

Thanks
Jason

Helps if you tell me what version of Windows you're running :)

'mafina.dll' is not a known Windows system DLL, which leads me to believe your computer may have been infected with who knows what. A lot of people don't adequately protect their computer.

Is it possible to boot in safe mode? If you can, I can help more. More details on how to boot in safe mode can be found here:

http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

I do not suggest using the "MSCONFIG" method, myself. I think the F8 method is much easier.

Windows XP

I did try safe mode and got the same result.

I spelled the second error incorrect. It should be msgina.dll.

Got a couple questions and some links for you.

Apparently, Windows is really finicky regarding the MS GINA DLL file. Any replacement or removal of it will cause massive problems. Did you install any software recently before the reboot? If so, what was it?

Having multiple DLL files go bad so closely in name to each other (even from the same folder) is uncommon, unless you have a bad sector on your hard drive. Do you have the original install disk for your computer? You would need to specifically boot up to a Windows XP bootdisk. I would run "chkdsk /r" command (there's a space between them) to scan and repair any bad sectors on your disk. I have seen this fix several "no boot" situations in the past which were caused by file corruption.

If you can boot to a boot disk or recovery console, you can follow these instructions to replace the old MSGINA.dll file:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/maintain/security/msgina.mspx

You will find a backup copy of the old one at C:\Windows\System32\dllcache folder. XP keeps copies of all old/replaced/etc. DLL files in this folder. You just need to boot into the drive to replace it.

You may also attempt to boot to your XP install CD and expand the files manually using the Recovery Console. This can be done by using the following commands:

Boot using F8 to Safe Mode. From the prompt, type (where x: is the CD letter):
Expand x:\i386\odbc32.dl_ C:\windows\system32\odbc32.dll
Expand x:\i386\msgina.dl_ C:\windows\system32\msgina.dll

If you have a C:\i386 folder, you might see if the files are there as well. Sometimes people will copy the folder from the CD onto the hard drive for safety's sake. I do it often.

Last, but not least, you can just do a repair install of XP. Here are instructions:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

NOTE: A repair install should get you back up and going, but I don't like doing them because you're required to re-enter your serial number and reactivate. You shouldn't lose any settings or programs if you repair install. If you don't know what your serial # is, it should be posted on a sticker somewhere on the computer, assuming it's from a legitimate vendor.

NO MATTER WHAT CHOICE YOU MAKE, LET ME KNOW if you get back up and running. There are some followup steps we need to take here :)

The only thing that I did prior to this problem, was that windows updated itself automatically.

The original install disk is the Windows XP install disk. Yes I have it.

I will work on your directions and keep you posted.

Thank you very much

Jason

No problem. Use any of the items above and you should be OK. I would do the 'chkdsk /r' item first and foremost (from the recovery console) and see if it gets you up. After that, anythign listed above is fair game.

I have run the chkdsk /r once. It found an error and corrected it. However this did not fix the problem. I am not great in dos so I am having trouble with the commands that you instructed me to perform. As well I am lost when following the MS link.

Boot the auxiliary system—potentially by using a boot disk.

2. Go to the System32 folder where the new, failed GINA DLL is located. Under the recovery console, the command prompt says C:\windows. I can not change it to c:\windows\system32

3. Move the failed GINA to a different folder.
I don't know how to move this either

4. Copy the original MSGINA DLL in the System32 folder and rename it with the name of the failed GINA.

5. Restart the computer and the original MSGINA DLL will load under the new name. At this point fixes can be made in the modified GINA.

I tried to use the expand command like you suggested as well, but all I get is an error. I am assuming because I am in C:\windows and not c:\

GRRRRRR!!!! Very frustrated. I am almost to the point where I will reinstall windows. However, last time I reformated my hdd, windows told me I exceeded the number of activations and had to contact MS. Somehow I got around this. Is this a big ordeal?

Thank You Shifty. You are the best.

Jason

ok....

i dunno how to explain this but it's something i could do in 5 seconds if i was there.

i will say these two things in the state of mind i'm in right now:

1) your frustration is understood. if you could boot from the XP install CD and enter the "recovery console", once you get in there, see which directory it has you in. this is usually in the prompt you're given - like C:\Windows or C:\winnt or something. there is a command named cd and this is short for "change directory". the original msgina.dll file should be in C:\windows\system32 or C:\winnt\system32, whichever applies to your system. So, from the command prompt, you could do the following list of commands to take you to the root directory, then go into windows (be sure you use the correct slash! there's a diff'ce between \ and / !!):

cd \
cd windows or cd winnt if cd windows doesn't work.
cd system32
del msgina.dll (or whatever the name of that file is - if error happens, it's ok)
del ODBC32.dll (or whatever - if error occurs, it's ok)
cd dllcache
copy msgina.dll ..\ (should not get an error here! if so, see below)
copy ODBC32.dll ..\ (should not get an error here! if so, see below)


** if you get an error in those last two, type this command and it should locate the files you want, then just figure out how to copy them into C:\Windows\System32: dir \ /s msgina.dll please notice there are spaces in there - example: dir[space]\[space]/s[space]msgina.dll - this command will scour your hard drive for the file you need. the general syntac for the copy command is:

copy [location of file to copy] [desired location of the file]

so, if you wanted to copy the file C:\whatever\filename.txt to C:\windows, you would type:

copy C:\whatever\filename.txt C:\windows

this should do it for you.

After this, restart your system (assuming no errors)

2) if you're just going to say "screw it" and you have a name brand computer, do the repair install using the instructions above - print them out before you start so you have a reference. when you are prompted to activate Windows, choose "activate by phone" and call Microsoft at the 1-800 number provided - i have done this several times before and it is very, very easy. they never ask questions, they will just help you get reactivated so the prompt will go away. i've even done this with "gray" versions which weren't exactly legitimate and they still let me register it.

when you call the 800 number, you will first get a computer. you will need to tell it the installation code you're given when you choose "activate by telephone" once group of numbers/letters at a time (i think there are 6 groups). i have yet to see it actually activate my copy correctly using the automated computer. if the automated system fails, you will get a human. just hang in there. it's really not that bad.

if you don't want to screw with it anymore, just do a repair install. be sure to go to Windows Update afterwards to patch up your system. Once that's done, you should be good to go.

Shifty, i got windows up and running by doing a repair install. One issue that I have run into now is that when i try to open Outlook Express, An error occurs that says outlook express could not b started because MSOE.DLL could not be loaded. When I get the opportunity, I will try the above ideas on this file.

Jason

ok -

pop your install CD in the drive. click Start>Run and in the run box, type sfc /scannow and click OK (there is a space between those two things!) this will scan and repair all of your windows system files.

reboot afterwards and try to open OE again. if it still fails, try this (but i won't gaurantee your settings will remain):

1) try to run this program: C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\setup50.exe

if it does nothing when you doubleclick it, proceed to #2 below

2) go into control panel.
choose 'add/remove programs'.
click 'add/remove windows components'.
uncheck 'outlook express' and click OK.
next, repeat this process, but put a checkmark next to the box for OE and click OK.

You asked me to let you know once the computer is operating again as you have some further instructions. Go ahead,

Thanks
Jason

the followup steps were listed in the last post - wanted you to do the "sfc /scannow" thing and i thought it would also be a good idea to click on the Start Menu, choose "Run", type chkdsk /r into the box and click OK to have it scan your computer (you'll need to reboot). if you already scanned the hard drive for errors, you could skip this chkdsk thing.

i would backup anything massivelly important to you now, just in case the hard drive really is crapping out on you.