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oh god make it stop

If you're interested in testing a build, sign up by sending an email to the address listed in Dial-a-fix.exe under the Contact/Visit section. Send an email to it with the subject "STL" and you will be notified when the first beta release of DAF 0.58 is ready.

Free STL registrations close 2006/03/31. Dial-a-fix v0.58 is scheduled for release sometime in early April (exact date to be confirmed).

Changelog:
* Thankfully, all of the problems triggered by Dial-a-fix were not actually Dial-a-fix's error; it was the new version of MSHTML.DLL that Microsoft released in an optional Windows Update package.
* Added a check for the MSHTML.DLL registration bug. Dial-a-fix will not register MSHTML.DLL if it is version 6.0.2900.2838, and will instead present a dialog explaining why.
* Box #5's "OLE" section and the "unregister before register" options will both return in v0.58, since they have been tested extensively and found to be safe.

Well, it wasn't Dial-a-fix, it wasn't the "unregistration" option, and it wasn't even OLE — it was the new version of mshtml.dll (which comes from MSKB912945). There is a bug in its DllRegisterServer or DllInstallServer which causes it to write many invalid entries into the registry.

Among other errors, it changes the path of mshtml.dll in about 30+ CLSID entries to "%_SYS_MOD_PATH%". If you search your registry for %_SYS_MOD_PATH% and find several entries in HTML-related objects, you are affected. You will also not be able to use System Restore (blank window), Internet Explorer (tries to download the root of a website instead of opening it), Help and Support (hit F1 after clicking on your desktop once – it tries to Open/Save "context.htm"), possibly Event Viewer, and probably many more things that use embedded HTML objects. It also seems to affect reinstalling of Service Pack 2.

The fix is posted below.

The previous version of MSHTML.DLL (which is NOT affected) is 6.0.2900.2802.

6.0.2900.2838 is the version of mshtml.dll that IS affected.

1. If you do not have a copy of the 6.0.2900.2802 version of MSHTML.DLL, you can download it here from this site (do not download this unless you have SP2 and all post-SP2 updates). It is approximately 3 megabytes.
2. Copy it to your Windows\System32 directory and overwrite the previous version. If you are not able to do this, close all programs that use embedded HTML objects, including Internet Explorer, Help and Support, System Restore, etc. If you are still unable to overwrite the file, do it in Safe Mode.
3. Run Dial-a-fix again, and checkmark everything in box #5 and hit GO.

The problem should be solved at this point.

At least I know now that it wasn't me!

"Thank you" to all those who have been patient with me and my software, and have allowed me to obtain system information and files from them.

Again, KB912945 is the update that causes this problem. You can install this update as long as you do not run the Explorer/Shell checkmark in box #5, which causes Dial-a-fix to register the broken file. If you do register the broken version, simply copy the old version over the newer one and register it using Dial-a-fix (or for the techies, regsvr32 mshtml.dll /i)

I have removed the OLE section and re-uploaded Dial-a-fix. It is now 100% safe to use again. I still have not determined which Microsoft OLE library is causing the issue (see the previous post). None of my 3 home machines are affected by this at all, so it is very hard for me to test. If anyone who was affected would like to help out, please submit a .zip file containing the DLLs from "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Shared\System\Ole DB" to the Dial-a-fix email address.

Dial-a-fix v0.57.6 changelog:
* Removed OLE registration section until further notice

Update: it wasn't OLE at all! Argh! See this post: http://djlizard.net/2006/03/14/139

There's a problem running around lately that is indirectly caused by Dial-a-fix. I was wrong about unregistration; it's not the unregistration option (which may come back in a future version after thorough testing), it's the OLE section in box #5.

The new OLE registration section, which was purported by technicians to fix various issues (and does, on most occasions) has the potential to break the OLE system in Windows, rendering System Restore, Help and Support, and Internet Explorer useless. I am working on a fix for affected systems, and I have already removed the OLE section from the current version of Dial-a-fix (but have not posted the download yet). I have also pulled the Dial-a-fix packages so that they cannot be downloaded until I resolve the issue completely. It seems that a certain file in the OLE subsystem ("%commonprogramfiles%\system\Ole DB\") contains a bug in DllRegisterServer().

If you have a previous version of Dial-a-fix, do not use the OLE section (in box #5). If you have already used it and have not had any problems (which is about 95% of the systems out there) you are lucky. For those other 5% who have been affected by this issue, I am working on a fix which should take care of all of the issues all at once.

The rest of Dial-a-fix is just fine, and this issue is really not directly Dial-a-fix's fault. It is a particular version of a particular file in the aforementioned "OLE DB" folder which has a bug in its DllRegisterServer() function. I will publish details on what file causes it (if I have time — fixing it is faster than finding the "why" sometimes) and how to fix it as soon as I know.

If you are having issues with Event Viewer, try registering the following DLL:
Start > Run… > regsvr32 els.dll

This will be included in the next incremental release of Dial-a-fix.

Changelog:
* Removed 'unregister before register' option as it can be dangerous
* Added itss.dll registration
* Fixed a typo in two policies : ("Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\Standard Profile\DisableNotifications" and "Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\Standard Profile\DoNotAllowExceptions")
* Added two new policies : ("Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\Standard Profile\Enabled" and "Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\Domain Firewall\Enabled")
* Removed a duplicate policy

http://mycroft.mozdev.org/download.html?name=DjLizard.net&submitform=Search