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Can someone please help me? I'm having a really big problem involving Windows XP and this particular file called oleat32.dll. How it all began was that my sound card had been having problems and I had reinstalled it many a time with the same problems. Today however I did the same thing, except with catastrophic results. I went into my device manager and got rid of the sound card hardware, as I have done many times before. Then I rebooted my pc to get ready to reinstall, and at the Windows loading screen, I got a pop up asking for a sign in. I thought that was odd, considering I don't have my pc set up that way. after that I got a popup that said "Explorer.ece cannot load because oleaut32.dll is missing. Perhaps reinstalling the program can correct the problem." It said something to that effect. Same popup came up with several other programs mentioned. After the popups, I get nothing. My desktop shows, but no icons, no start menu, nothing. The only thing I can access is the Task Manager, and from there I've tried browsing for the oleaut32.dll file but have had no luck. I also have a special disk that is supposed to fix Windows XP (Got this from the company I bought the PC from) but it's truly of no help. With anything I try to do, this popup pops up and says I cannot do it. I can't go online to get the file or anything. I don't understand in the least bit as to why this file is missing. But I need help please. Is there ANY way I can get this file restored, or anything I can do OTHER than reformating all over again? I can't afford to lose all my data. I'm really frustrated and am at a loss. Can someone help me out on this fine Thanksgiving day? You'll get many "thanks" for "giving" your help in this thread. Thanks.
This is a windows system application DLL file that is a common resource for your video cards, applications as well as sound cards. I believe when you did repeaded uninstall and install of your sound card, you might have damaged that file permanently so windows thinks that the file is missing... I found a place where you can download the oleaut32.dll file.. go to:
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?oleaut32
Hope that will fix the problem... in the meantime, try getting a new soundcard.. preferably Creative SB Live! Compatible..Hope this is helpful
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Thanks for the help. Although I can't do anything at all on my pc (I'm using someon else's at the moment) so I couldn't download it. However I downloaded it on this pc and copied it onto a floppy. I hope I can upload it onto my pc. Does anyone know the exact directory so I can correctly place this file?
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Well I can forget about the floppy idea. When I try any floppy disk, it just says something to the effect of "No ID address on the floppy disk" so now I can't load the file. I'd try to burn it onto a cd but this computer I'm on at the moment does not have one...I guess this means I'm put of luck...
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Assuming you have an XP CD. Why not boot the computer up to the command prompt, eeh? Just toggle F8 on bootup and you should get a hidden menu. Chhose command prompt. Then. Once at the command prompt type "CD" and hit enter. You will now be at the root of C:>. Put your XP CD into your CDROM and type the following on the command prompt line:
sfc /scannow
Hit enter.
You will then be running your System file checker. It will search you HDD for altered or missing system files and extract them from the XP CD for you.Good Luck.
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Why not borrow a flash drive to put it on? The smallest flash is 32mb, about $15-20 dollars at most computer stores.
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Boot from the XP CD and go past the recovery console to the install menu. REPAIR EXISTING INSTALLATION. Yoi will have do reload all the window updates.
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Dave02, unfortunately your method doesn't seem to want to work on my pc. When I typed all of that in my command prompt, I got this message: "Windows File Protection could not initiate a scan of protected system files. The specific error code is 0x000006ba [the RPC server is unavailable]" So I have no idea what that means.
Gabep I tried your method but I'm not sure what to do. I booted from the CD-Rom and chose the option "To Repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R"
Then I got the screen "Which Windows installation would you like to log onto?" with the single option of "1: C:\WINDOWS" available. After that, it's practically just like the command prompt. I type the HELP command and get a list of commands but checked most of them and nothing seemed to relate to recovering files or anything similar. Can you clarify this for me as to what I need to do? Thanks.
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Using Gabep's suggestion of booting from the CD. Instead of doing a repair. Do a reinstallation of XP. It is basically an in place upgrade, and will make references to an upgrade. Do the installation of XP WITHOUT formating HDD. That should get it stable enough for you to backup all of your data. Once you have all of your data backed up then make sure you have your XP Product code key, and reformat the HDD and then reinstall a fresh installation of XP.
Good Luck.
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This article describes how to perform an in-place upgrade, or reinstallation, of Windows XP. This is also named a repair installation.
When you perform an in-place upgrade of Windows XP, you reinstall Windows to the same folder. You may want to do this if you need to repair your installation of Windows XP. This may be necessary for any of the following reasons:
You cannot start Windows XP in Safe Mode. For additional information about how to start your Windows XP-based computer in Safe Mode, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315222 A Description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XPThe problem is caused by a recently installed system update (Windows Update, hotfix, Windows XP service pack, or Microsoft Internet Explorer update), and you cannot solve the problem in any other way.
There is a registry problem that cannot be solved by using other tools, such as System Restore.
You need to apply default (file and registry) permissions to your Windows XP installation.
You need to register Component Object Model (COM) components and Windows File Protection (WFP) files.
You need Windows Setup to enumerate Plug and Play devices again, including the hardware abstraction layer (HAL).
To reinstall Windows XP, use the appropriate method in the "More Information" section of this article.
MORE INFORMATION
Before You Perform an In-Place Upgrade
IMPORTANT:
If your computer came preinstalled with Windows XP, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base before you follow the steps later in this article:
312369 May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling Windows XPIf you perform an in-place upgrade of Windows XP, all existing restore points are removed and a new System Checkpoint restore point is created after the in-place upgrade is complete. Do not perform an in-place upgrade if you may need to use System Restore to roll your system back to a previous state.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
301224 System Restore 'Restore Points' Are Missing or DeletedBackup copies of your registry files (in the %systemroot%\Repair folder) are also replaced after the in-place upgrade is complete. The registry files in the Repair folder are either from the first time you started Windows XP or the last time you used the Backup utility to backup your System State. Copy these registry backups to another location before you perform an in-place upgrade if you may need to use them after the in-place upgrade is complete.
Do not perform a repair or in-place upgrade to repair a component or program that is not currently installed. If you can, use Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel or reinstall the component or program instead of Windows.
If your computer requires a non-Microsoft mass storage device driver or HAL, make sure that you have a copy of the necessary files on a floppy disk before you perform a repair or in-place upgrade.
Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade to try to resolve a problem with a user account, password, or local profile. To determine if the problem is related to a user account, password, or local profile, create another user account (if you can) and log on to that account to see if the problem is resolved.
Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade to resolve a problem with third-party applications, files or registry entries.
Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade if you suspect disk problems.
Do not use a repair or in-place upgrade if you suspect a problem with a non-Microsoft device and the latest device drivers are currently installed for the device.
Method 1: Reinstall Windows XP from Within Windows XP
To reinstall Windows XP from within Windows XP, follow these steps:
Start your computer.
Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
On the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP page that appears, click Install Windows XP.
On the Welcome to Windows Setup page, click Upgrade (Recommended) in the Installation Type box (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
On the License Agreement page, click I accept this agreement, and then click Next.
On the Your Product Key page, type the 25-character product key in the appropriate Product key boxes, and then click Next.
On the Get Updated Setup Files page, select the option that you want, and then click Next.
Follow the instructions on the remaining pages of the Windows XP Setup Wizard to reinstall Windows XP.
Method 2: Reinstall Windows XP by Starting Your Computer from the Windows XP CD
To reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD, follow these steps:
Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer. When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.NOTE: Your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For more information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, see your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer.
You receive the following message on the Welcome to Setup screen that appears: This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.
On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.
Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.
Follow the instructions on the remaining screens to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may be required to reactivate your copy of Windows XP.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310064 HOW TO: Troubleshoot Windows XP Setup Problems When You Upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows MeAfter You Perform an In-Place Upgrade
After you perform an in-place upgrade or repair installation, you must reinstall all updates to Windows.
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HOW TO: Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt in Windows XP
View products that this article applies to.
This article was previously published under Q304449
IN THIS TASK
SUMMARY
Starting System Restore Tool from Command Prompt
REFERENCES
SUMMARY
Windows XP includes the System Restore tool, but you cannot start the System Restore tool from a Recovery Console prompt. Because of this, it may be useful to start the System Restore tool when you are unable to start your Windows XP-based computer normally or in Safe mode. This article describes how to start the System Restore tool when you are unable to start your Windows XP-based computer normally or in Safe mode.back to the top
Starting System Restore Tool from Command Prompt
Start your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt.NOTE: You must log on as the administrator or a user that has administrator rights.
At the command prompt, type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then press ENTER.
Follow the instructions on the screen to begin restoring your computer to a previous, functional state.
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Going_Insane, did you ever fix your computer? Mine is doing the same thing except I don't have my CD to try and reinstall. Is there another way to try and fix it? This is so frustrating!!!
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Mines doing the same thing, well actually my uncles, and i cant find the cd either anyone have any ideas or solutions?
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