Illegal System DLL Relocation Problems

Did you start receiving the following error message when booting your computer this week?

"The system DLL user32.dll was relocated in memory. The application will not run properly. The relocation occurred because the DLL C:\Windows\System32\Hhctrl.ocx occupied an address range reserved for Windows system DLLs. The vendor supplying the DLL should be contacted for a new DLL."

The error message may be accompanied by a variety of problems: no Internet, DNS lookups not working, some applications refuse to run, etc. The problem was caused by the Microsoft hotfix "925902" that was released on Tuesday.

You can quickly get back in business by doing a System Restore, but the next time you get Windows updates, it will happen all over again. There is a hotfix for the hotfix. I've run it on 2 computers without a hitch so take heart and take the plunge.

Microsoft's support page for this problem is very cleverly called:
"Certain third-party applications may not start, and you receive an error message when you start the computer: 'Illegal System DLL Relocation'". Go ahead and download the 935448 package found there and install it. Your problems should magically disappear.

Use Vista ReadyBoost To Improve Performance

Vista flavored Windows introduces some methods to improve your system's performance: ReadyBoost, ReadyDrive, & SuperFetch. Here's a short synopsis of ReadyBoost.

ReadyBoost permits you to use a USB flash drive as virtual memory. At present, you may only use one drive from 256MB up to 4GB in size (there are also speed requirements - some drives can be too slow).

The information that is stored on your flash drive is also stored on your hard drive, but Vista will search for it on the flash drive first because it can be as much as 10x faster (for small amounts of random data access) than the hard drive.

If you remove the flash drive, Vista is smart enough to go back to your hard drive in order to find the info. Since security is often a concern, 128-bit encryption is used to write your data to the flash drive.

Here's a great blog post on the subject:
ReadyBoost Q&A on Tom Archer's Blog

Windows Vista Beta Expiration Date

I'm still running an RC2 (Release Candidate 2) version of Windows Vista Ultimate.  Recently, I received a message from Windows that Outlook had crashed and restarted.  It also said that Vista had caused the crash, and mentioned that it would soon expire.

Oops!  I had a plan where I saved my money for several months, and then I purchased the upgrade.  It's worth knowing WHEN I can expect Vista to drop to "limited functionality" mode.  Here's an easy way for you to find out this important little tidbit:

1. Click Start
2. Search on "winver"

The resulting dialog box will display the version that you are running AND its expiration date.  Fortunately, mine doesn't expire until early in May.  Maybe I can purchase Vista with my income tax refund...

Office 2007 Breaks Spell Check: French Only

I ran across a little bug the other day that will affect a lot of people. A fellow brought his computer to our club for help.  He had installed the new Office 2007: Student Edition on his Windows XP computer.  After the install, the spellchecker in Outlook Express would only spell-check in French (technically "en Francaise" <grin>).

Well, I'm not worried.  I'm running Vista (Beta RC2 Build 5744) and the FULL version of Office 2007 that Microsoft gave us for attending the Vista & Office Launch, and I use Outlook instead of Outlook Express.  Oops!  I was wrong -- BOTH my Outlook and FrontPage XP were indeed affected.  Outlook appeared to spell check, but it only found misspellings - it didn't correct them.  When I tried to force a spell check from within FrontPage, it told me that it couldn't find the English dictionary.  Heavy sigh...

After searching, playing, and praying, I offer the following fix.  It has worked to correct both of the above problems.  You need to install the Proofing Tools from a previous version of Office.  You'll be cured if you follow these instructions:

1. Run Setup from another Office installation disk.
2. Select "Custom Install".
3. You'll have to insert your Product Key.
4. Turn Off ALL of the product installations. (Right-Click icon and select "Not Available")
5. Under "Office Shared Features", set "Proofing Tools" to "Run all from My Computer"  This should install the English, French, and Spanish dictionaries.  English alone would probably solve the problem, but what the heck?

That should fix it.  Enjoy!