ERROR: Unable to Open Msvcrt40.dll

ID: Q185433

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft SNA Server, versions 3.0, 3.0 SP1, 3.0 SP2, 3.0 SP3, 4.0

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you trying to install the Windows 95 SNA client on a computer running Windows NT, it may cause the following error with Msvcrt40.dll:

Unable to open <drive:>\path\system\MSVCRT40.DLL.
File may be in use by another application.

CAUSE

This problem occurs after detecting mismatched versions of Msvcrt40.dll, which are dependent during the setup process.

WORKAROUND

Make sure there are no applications running that may have a lock on Msvcrt40.dll by doing the following:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update you Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

Start Registry Editor (REGEDIT), and go to the following subkey:


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Export the Run key by selecting it, then from the Registry menu, click Export Registry File, and then save it to the root of your hard drive as Run.reg.

Delete all the keys on the right-hand pane in:
```
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run 
```
except for the <Default> key.

Restart the workstation, log back on to the domain, and press the Shift key to bypass the Startup group entries.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, and click Task Manager in the Windows NT Security dialog box, and then end all tasks except Explorer.

At this point, any applications that might have had a lock on Msvcrt40.dll are not in use. If an older version of Msvcrt40.dll is located in the system path, this version should be renamed and replaced with the default version of the .dll file included on the Windows NT 4.0 or SNA Server CD.

To do this, perform the following steps:

Run the PATH command at an MS-CMD prompt to check the current system path.

Locate all instances of Msvcrt40.dll that exist in the system path.

NOTE: The system path may span several drives.

Run the DEPENDS program against these .dll files and compare their versions with the ones listed in this document.

Rename any old versions of Msvcrt40.dll that may exist, and replace with the one on the Windows NT or SNA Server CD. If multiple copies of the same .dll file exists, in the system path, rename all duplicate copies and leave a single instance in the <ntroot>\system32 directory.

Proceed to install the SNA Client.

After installation is complete, double-click on Run.reg to import key used by other applications back into the registry.

MORE INFORMATION

The following Microsoft VC++ .dll files are the ones that ship with Windows NT 4.0, SNA Server 3.0 and 4.0. The Base and Product Version can be viewed using the DEPENDS program, or right-click on each .dll file and click Properties, then click the Version tab:


   Module        Base        Product Version  Product

   MSVCRT40.DLL  0x779D0000  4.20.0.6172      Windows NT 4.0
   MSVCRT40.DLL  0x779D0000  4.20.0.6164      SNA Server 3.0 and 4.0

The setup error occurred because the following Msvcrt40.dll was installed on the system by another application (with the other .dll files matching the versions listed above.


   Module        Base        Product Version  Product

   MSVCRT40.DLL  0x10200000  4.0.0.5270       Unknown

Msvcrt40.dll supports C runtime library functions, which may be used and distributed by other applications developed using Microsoft Visual C++. If other applications happen to install MSVCRT40.DLL and replace the version installed by the Windows 95 SNA client, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q182882 Upgrading SNA 3.0 to 4.0 May Cause Failure on File MFC42U.DLL

Q168006 TN3270 Fails with Access Violation in ntdll!RtlFreeHeap

You can obtain the Dependency Walker (Depends.exe) from the Platform SDK CD-ROM that comes with the MSDN. It can also be downloaded from the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdktools.htm

Additional query words:

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0 SP1,3.0 SP2,3.0 SP3,4.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto