riched20.dll

[Brian Linn]

I have an emachine w/Windows XP Home, which came w/Works.
I installed 2000 SBE, so I could have Outlook, Excel, and
Word. Recently I got an error message
involving "riched20.dll", which now makes it impossible
to open any of the 3 applications. Outlook will almost
open - long enough to see messages in my In Box with odd
fonts. I changed the file extension to .old as the MS
website suggests, then ran the disc in the
repair/reinstall mode, but the problem still exists.
Did a virus cause this, and how can I fix?
Help.....please
thank you,
Brian

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Yes, it is probably the result of a virus as there was one last year that
pretty much rendered Office unusable.

Go to the Symantec AV knowledgebase and search on the term "riched." While
you are there, download a trial of their AV software or use the Trend Micro
House Call (Free web scan) to scan your system.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Brian Linn asked:

| I have an emachine w/Windows XP Home, which came w/Works.
| I installed 2000 SBE, so I could have Outlook, Excel, and
| Word. Recently I got an error message
| involving "riched20.dll", which now makes it impossible
| to open any of the 3 applications. Outlook will almost
| open - long enough to see messages in my In Box with odd
| fonts. I changed the file extension to .old as the MS
| website suggests, then ran the disc in the
| repair/reinstall mode, but the problem still exists.
| Did a virus cause this, and how can I fix?
| Help.....please
| thank you,
| Brian

 

[Alan Edwards]

I agree with Milly and here is an old response of mine that may help:

Without trying to alarm you, that message can come because of the
Nimda virus. Check it out thoroughly with an up-to-date scanner.
Nimda
http://msn.zdnet.com/zdfeeds/msncobrand/reviews/0,13828,2811488-hud00025ab,00.html
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]
http://vil.nai.com/vil/virusSummary.asp?virus_k=99209
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32nimdaa.html
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/topics/nimda.asp

If this is not the answer you might try a replacement of riched20.dll
from your CD

.....Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html


In microsoft.public.office.misc, "Brian Linn"

 

[Beth Melton]

I think Milly and Alan provided you the crucial details but I had some
info on Nimda handy if you need additional information:

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]

Make sure you note the bit about extracting a new Riched20.dll since
this step is commonly overlooked.

Also, even though your virus scanner may not report Nimda, you might
want to try extracting a new Riched20.dll anyway. There have been some
reports of Nimda not being present but extracting a new DLL resolved
the problem. I suspect that in these cases the virus was eradicated so
it could no longer infect but Riched20.dll is corrupt.

If you do not have the installation CD and your OS came preloaded (OEM
version) then hopefully they placed the *.cab files on your HD. You
can use the following instructions to extract a new one:

Search for *.cab and locate those for your OS. They should show up in
a folder such as: C:\windows\options\cabs

Follow the instructions in the above referenced article for extracting
a new Riched20.dll except substitute the path to your *.cab files on
your HD in place of the reference to the CD.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/