Need to update riched32.dll in windows system folder

McAfee Security Center – will not initiate. I found out that I need to replace riched32.dll – downloaded zipped file from McAfee – Security Center/Error Messages - http://ts.mcafeehelp.com/?siteID=1&resolution=1024x768 (I never received an error message but I found this by browsing through all the categories)

My question is, how do I save a .dll file into the windows system folder if it already exists? Why is the new file so much smaller than the existing one? (I really have a thousand questions but I’ll just take them one at a time ) I really enjoy your site, lots of fun, I keep getting side-tracked and forget why I came here.)

Existing file: RICHED32.DLL - 184kb – Modified 02/03/2001 2:00pm
New file: riched32.dll – 3.76kb – Modified 05/26/2002 2:47pm

This is exactly what I tried & errors I’ve gotten.

1. Downloaded to desktop – unzipped to C:\unzipped\riched32 – checked overwrite matching files automatically just in case.
2. Closed all programs - Opened Windows Explorer – right click & drag to C:\Windows\System – chose Move here – Confirm file replace – yes – Error Moving File: Cannot move riched32: Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
3. Opened Windows Explorer – right click & drag to C:\Windows\System – chose Copy here. Confirm file replace – yes – Error Copying File: Cannot copy riched32: There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use.
4. So then I tried unzipping to C:\Windows\System – Error WinZip: Can’t create output file: C:\Windows\System\riched32.dll. Please press F1 for help. F1= Message WZ50 - An error occurred opening, writing to, closing, or deleting the specified file. Possible causes include a misspelled filename, a full disk, a read-only or locked disk, or a read-only or locked file. The operation in progress will be aborted. Another dialog box with more specific information may be displayed. This message may also be displayed because of an invalid archive. For example, if an archive is damaged (possibly due to line noise while downloading from a BBS) it may contain invalid pointers or corrupted header information.
5. So I tried deleting the zipped & unzipped files and starting all over with a new download had the same problems, same errors.
6. I even tried copying to clipboard and pasting to C:\Windows\System - Confirm file replace – yes – Error Copying File: Cannot copy riched32: There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use.
7. I tried to delete the existing riched32.dll so I could replace it but it says: Error Deleting File: Cannot delete RICHED32: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.
8. I’ve tried everything I can think of, even dragged the folder riched32 that contains the new riched32.dll file to C:\Windows\System. ) I can’t find anything anywhere that lets me “Save As” or even “Save”. Do I have to do this in “Safe Mode”?

System Properties: General tab - OS: Microsoft Windows 98SE 4.10.2222A
Computer *** (OEM) Authentic AMD Athlon™ Processor - 256.0MB RAM
Don’t see anything in device manager that is yellow so I’m pretty sure the hardware is ok.
Hardware Profile is Original Configuration – no other choices there
Performance Tab says 256.0MB of Ram 45% free – file system 32 bit – virtual memory 32 bit – disk compression not installed – pc cards (pcmcia) no pc card sockets are installed.
I have a 40 GB hard drive partitioned to 4 separate drives c,d,e & f – they each say - File system FAT32 under properties.

I have installed every critical update that Windows Update told me I needed and probably all the ones that weren’t critical too, before I became a little more computer literate. Office Updates won’t work for me anymore but that’s another issue I’ll deal with when I have time. This machine has many dozens of issues (there is not enough paper in this state to write down all the error messages I’ve seen) and if you need more information from me, let me know. You might have to let me know where & how to find it. :O I just found Microsoft System Information, just not sure what it all means. I’ll be reading it and/or the frequently asked questions until I get side-tracked again. I have just today found out that you can browse the Internet through Windows Explorer and Microsoft Outlook. ) I am having a little trouble with your site in that I can’t search the forums all the time, I get page cannot be displayed which is making me crazy. Last night before I could finish setting up a profile I started getting messages telling me I had no internet connection but I had no trouble opening & surfing other web pages. I have DSL so it’s on all the time. I know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to fix this thing.
Thank you for any help you can give me,
Joltin’ Jill

 

To install that file, boot up in Safe Mode, then go to the folder and rename the existing file from riched32.dll to riched32.old

Copy and paste the new file into the folder and reboot. (If it's in a zip container then just unzip it to your desktop and copy the file from there)

If you are sure that it's the correct file and needs to be replaced then don't worry about the size difference. It will probably grow when it's used and virus definitions are updated.

 

Well that didn't work, I mean I got the new file in there ok, but McAfee Security Center still won't open. I'm going back to McAfee to see what they say. But I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!! First time I ever saw Safe Mode on this thing ) it was awesome looking - kinda like a cartoon - Looney Tunes Windows ) but now I feel a lot braver about using it. I'll let ya know what happens. Joltin' Jill

 

If you are entitled to McAfee support then that is your best option.

Only other thing I would try is to uninstall it, then reinstall.

Good luck.

 

Yup according to McAfee - "You are facing this issue due to corrupt settings of the Security Center which are not letting the download of the updates to occur." That scared me I had to uninstall everything McAfee, including virus scan and personal firewall. They gave me a link to reinstall - http://us.mcafee.com/root/package.asp?pkgid=113 - everything seems to work now and yes McAfee is provided as an additional service with our dsl package from verizon, along with MSN 6 which drives me crazy because I spend more time sending error reports to microsoft so I just stopped using it. ) Thank you again for your help now on to the next issue. ) Joltin' Jill

 

Glad it's working.

McAfee is very good and underrated, certainly as good as anything else and better than most.