11.1.102.62 and Win2K install - SetDllDirectoryW not supported

[M_Miller12345]

I have been merrily upgrading Flash Player for Firefox over the years on my Windows 2000 SP4 machine, up through and including 11.1.102.55.

The installation program for 11.1.102.62 however, relies on the SetDllDirectory call, which sadly is not supported in Win2K kernel.dll.

Can you go back to using the LoadLibrary call so that Win2K users can continue to benefit from the latest patches and upgrades?

Thank you,

M. Miller

[Guest]

Wow, what a lovely bunch of people you are! Pat, I shall attempt the above tonight. Your instructions seems very clear, but my brain is something else (not clear, that is).

[pwillener]

Good luck!  Post back if you need more help (or when you are successfully done).

[AcroNot]

I used a "test" Windows 2000 pc and was able to download and install the "WRAPPER" program via its installation batch file.  On my first try I was unable to install the latest version of flash and got the same "SetDllDirectoryW..." error when I launched the installer, so I uninstalled the "WRAPPER" via its uninstallation batch file.  This particular test pc has two partitions (C: and S:) and I had extracted the zip file (using my favorite 7-zip program from http://www.7-zip.org ) onto the S: partition.  I thought it might not have liked that, so I copied it to the C: partition and tried the installation batch file from there.  Once again I got the "SetDllDirectoryW..." error, so I read over the README.TXT file.  (It always kind of scares me a little when I see typos and bad English in files like that, but I know programmers might excel in coding more than in grammar.)  I read something about needing to reboot, so I tried that.

Yes.  You need to reboot after installing the "WRAPPER" program via its installation batch file before you try to install the Flash Player.

I was hoping the pc would start up OK (it did), so I tried the installation again following the reboot.  Flash version

11.1.102.62 failed with the following "Unable to locate DLL" error:  "The dynamic link library d3d9.dll could not be found in the specified path ..."  So I decided to try flash version 10.3.183.15 instead.

OK.  Putting Flash v10's installation programs into the "bin" folder and running them from there worked!

Here are the MD5 hashes for the files I used (I put a "Z" at their beginnings so they'd go to the bottom of the list):

d515fa4149ef0d2d2f32aff4fd274aa4 *Zinstall_flash_player.exe

8f3c6c389b21d999ccbb079aa6e15c45 *Zinstall_flash_player_ax.exe

I think I tried the v11 files again but got the error about not being able to find the d3d9.dll file.  I then removed the "WRAPPER" program via its unistallation batch file and rebooted and all was well.  (I probably didn't have to do that -- I just wanted to see what would happen.)  Granted, this is a test machine and I would probably totally ghost any of my "good" pc's before I modify them like this, although I would think it's probably safe to throw caution to the wind with this "WRAPPER" thing and install it, use it, and then keep it installed.

In case you're wondering what you see when you install the "WRAPPER" program via its installation batch file, here are the lines I saw (I was a little anxious initially when I saw the "system could not find the file specified" line, but it was OK.):

---------------------------------------- TOP of what you can expect to see ----------------------------------------

This script will create a folder C:\XPDLL and add it to your

system's PATH environment variable.  Your registry will be changed so

ExcludeFromKnownDlls is 'KERNEL32 ADVAPI32 SHELL32 USER32'.

C:\XPDLL will be overwritten if already exists. Ok?

[y,n] y

Creating directory...

The system cannot find the file specified.

Copying files...

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\ADVAPI32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\ADVAPI32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\KERNEL32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\KERNEL32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\SHELL32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\SHELL32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\USER32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\USER32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\WS2_32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\WS2_32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\WTSAPI32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\WTSAPI32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\IMM32.DLL ---> C:\XPDLL\IMM32_ORG.DLL

        1 file(s) copied.

Wrapped system32 files installed

Setting PATH

C:\XPDLL added to the PATH

Setting ExcludeFromKnownDlls

Press any key to continue . . .

------------------------------------ BOTTOM of what you can expect to see --------------------------------------

So there you go.  You could probably safely use this route to update your Windows 2000 pc's version of Adobe Flash Player to the most up-to-date version 10 that you can get from these links:

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/completion/?installer=Flash_Player_10 _for_Internet_Explorer

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/completion/?installer=Flash_Player_10 _for_Other_Browsers

When I checked my Flash version at http://www.abobe.com/software/flash/about it was v10.3.185.15.

Of course, with all this said, I'd rather just have Adobe provide a working version of the Flash 10 installer so we don't have to jump through hoops provided by a benevolent stranger to update to a safe version on our Windows 2000 pc's.

Message was edited by AcroNot to correct the typo in the last URL listed.  The Flash Player version check should be ---> http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about

[andyross63]

AcroNot wrote:

I was hoping the pc would start up OK (it did), so I tried the installation again following the reboot.  Flash version

11.1.102.62 failed with the following "Unable to locate DLL" error:  "The dynamic link library d3d9.dll could not be found in the specified path ..."  So I decided to try flash version 10.3.183.15 instead.

D3D9.dll is a Direct3D 9 runtime file.

[chris.campbell]

Quick update.  Unfortunately this bug has been deferred internally at this time.  I've bounced it back but couldn't persuade our review board to reconsider.  At this point, the only way this will be addressed is via 3rd party wrappers (see above) or an overwhelming show of support on the public bug.

https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=3120661

Thanks,

Chris

[andyross63]

They should remove the reference to Windows 2000 support if the 10.x version will not be fixed.

[chris.campbell]

I did have it updated on our Archived Flash Player Versions page,  is there another location I should change?

Thanks,
Chris

[Guest]

Well, Chris, this is all very disappointing!

You might want to change the below

[J_Fortune]

Ok...For anyone that is interested.. I have Flash Player 11.1.102.63 installed on W2KSP4 using BlackWingCat's KnownDllsWrapper .96k EZinstall available at

http://www7.atwiki.jp/win2000/pages/17.html

I used the EZInstall method as follows:

Create a Temp folder and place the "install_flash_player_32bit.exe" and/or "install_flash_player_ax_32bit.exe" in there (It probably makes sense to make the folder a permanent location as you will be able to just place new install files in there when updates come out)

Run kdllinst from the KnownDllsWrapper package. Choose your Temp folder as the EZINstall folder in the top dialog section, choose kernal32 from the main installer window, and check EZ KD registry from the right hand side. (This will add registry entries for ExcludeKnownDlls and allow the installer to use the wrapper dlls located in the Temp install Folder)

REBOOT the machine. (This MUST be done)

Go into the Temp folder and install the update(s).

As of now it seems that only the installer has the SetDllDirectoryW dependency issue. If at some point down the line the flash executables start having Win2K dependency issues an EZInstall with the required wrapper dlls will need to be made to the flash install folder, but that is not the case at this point.

Hope this helps. Post if you run into any problems.

Message was edited by: J Fortune And of course if you have something installed that protects registry changes like spybot or webroot then you will have to allow the changes or disable before doing the EZinstall to allow the EZ KD registry patch to complete.

[AcroNot]

Well, if I earlier -- in error -- called Mark (M. Miller) "Mike" because I once knew a Mike Miller, I should call the kind poster above this note (J Fortune) "Joe" since I also once knew a Joe Fortune.  (He even sold me a new car!)

Anyway ("Joe"), does the kdllinst.exe file in the kdw096k.zip archive make permanent changes to the Windows 2000 pc on which it is installed, or can it be uninstalled the way the "WRAPPER" program could be?  I do appreciate these 3rd party workarounds, but at the same time I am a little skittish about installing something "unofficial" (especially an .EXE file) that comes from an unknown source.

I also see from your post (and from the most recent Flash Player Security Bulletin, i.e., www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb12-05.html ) that a new version (11.1.102.63) of Flash Player is now (for two days) out to address a priority 2 critical vulnerability.  Granted, keeping software "safe" cannot be the easiest thing to do, but it makes me wonder if we should approach the "latest and greatest" Flash release (not unlike Microsoft's monthly patches) as already being critically vulnerable (but we just won't find out how for a couple of weeks or months)!  Maybe Steve Jobs was right ( http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/adobe-kills-mobile-flash/ ) about Flash and maybe we might do best on our Windows 2000 pc's by installing the latest version of Firefox (for example) and hoping for more stable HTML5 content.

I wish it weren't asking too much to have a page with the latest working, able to be installed "official" Flash software for all different categories of still-used Microsoft OS pc's under headings like Win2000, WinXP, Windows7, etc.

Thanks for everyone who has tried to help out with this and thanks for "listening" to my little venting of frustration -- we'd just hope that the computers we buy should be able to safely run the programs they ran when they were new until the day they totally "bite the dust" and no longer work.  (Maybe that should be "byte the dust"!  ;-D )

[Guest]

Amen!

- Sent from my HTC -

[J_Fortune]

Well Beucephous (I have an uncle named Beucephous AcroNot ),

To answer your question, as far as I can tell the KDW (Known DLLs Wrapper) project consists of new dlls created for each of the W2K dlls with missing function calls. These newly created dlls handle only the function calls that are missing from the W2K dlls and pass calls that do exist back to the original dlls.

The kdllinst.exe is included in the package just for ease of use and to verify that the dlls are copied and renamed correctly. With the EZINstall method described above, kdllinst.exe copies the kernal32.dll from the system32 folder into a temp folder of your choosing and renames the file kernal2k.dll. It then copies the "wrapper" kernal32.dll from the KDW package into the same folder. The EZ KD registry option just modifies the ExcludeFromKnownDlls registry entry to add kernal32.dll. After rebooting, this in effect makes it such that when the installer calls kernal32.dll it uses the kernal32.dll file located in the install folder, which parses all W2K calls to the kernal2k.dll (original W2K dll renamed) in the install folder and handles any of the missing calls itself (SetDllDirectoryW).

If you are wary of running an exe from an unknown source, but are OK with using the kernal32.dll supplied in the package you could do all this yourself manually without running the exe. Just create a temp folder, place a copy of kernal32.dll from your win2k install into that folder and rename it to kernal2k.dll, and then place a copy of the kernal32.dll from the KDW package in that same folder. Lastly you will need to use regedt32 (not regedit) to modify the ExcludeFromKnownDlls key located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager, adding kernal32.dll to the ExcludeFromKnownDlls list, reboot the system, and install the update.  The addition of kernal32.dll to the ExcludeFromKnownDlls list enables the installer to use the kernal32.dll located in same folder as the installer.

Seeing as the issue here is just for the necessity of running the installer, after the update is installed you can remove kernal32.dll from the ExcludeFromKnownDlls list (using regedt32) and reboot the system, not leaving any permanent changes.

There are a few different wrapper packages that exist and I believe the differences are in the number of new dll wrappers provided, the new functions they provide, and the naming scheme they use to reference the original W2K dlls. You could use the manual procedure I described above with any of the packages as long as you know what to rename the original W2K dll when you copy it into the temp install folder. I only investigated the KDW package, so can't help there.

[andyross63]

Instead of all this wrapper stuff, how easy (or hard) would it be to copy the installed Flash files from another install on XP or whatever and put them on the Win2K computer. Is that all that is really needed? We just need to find out where the files actually are and which ones need to be updated.

[J_Fortune]

andyross63 wrote:

Instead of all this wrapper stuff, how easy (or hard) would it be to copy the installed Flash files from another install on XP or whatever and put them on the Win2K computer. Is that all that is really needed? We just need to find out where the files actually are and which ones need to be updated.

and what registry entries need to be modified. I agree with this line of thought. I searched extensively for some information on a "manual installation" method.

Maybe if someone from Adobe could post a comprehensive list of the install files, where they need to be located, and any additional requirement (like modification to registry entries) we could create a "manual installation" method that would allow updates to be made to W2K installs without needing to resort to wrappers just to run the installer. Anyone have this information?

[Oldperl]

J Fortune wrote:

andyross63 wrote:

Instead of all this wrapper stuff, how easy (or hard) would it be to copy the installed Flash files from another install on XP or whatever and put them on the Win2K computer. Is that all that is really needed? We just need to find out where the files actually are and which ones need to be updated.

and what registry entries need to be modified. I agree with this line of thought. I searched extensively for some information on a "manual installation" method.

Maybe if someone from Adobe could post a comprehensive list of the install files, where they need to be located, and any additional requirement (like modification to registry entries) we could create a "manual installation" method that would allow updates to be made to W2K installs without needing to resort to wrappers just to run the installer. Anyone have this information?

You don't need any manuall installation if Adobe offers a special version with an older installer for W2K. Meanwhile using a wrapper is the easiest, and for me the best, way to update Flash Player on Windows 2000. It's easy enough so that anyone can follow the steps to get a working result.

I just updatet my Flash Player on my W2K-machine yesterday and it was just throwing the update file in the bin-folder of my still existing wrapper-directory from my first installation (http://www.ortwinpinke.de/2012/02/29/adobe-flash-player-11110262-unter-windows-2000-installieren) and starting the setup. Since only the setup and not Flash Player uses new dll-functions this will work perfect.

Regards from germany

Ortwin

[pwillener]

andyross63 wrote:

Instead of all this wrapper stuff, how easy (or hard) would it be to copy the installed Flash files from another install on XP or whatever and put them on the Win2K computer. Is that all that is really needed? We just need to find out where the files actually are and which ones need to be updated.

I don't think it is that easy.  If I follow the Flash Player installation process with Process Monitor, it produces several thousand lines!  This is not something I would like to do manually...

On the other hand, I don't think it is that hard to make a manual installation (but the wrapper method definitely is the easiest way). Basically what you need is

• the target folder %WINDIR%\system32\Macromed\Flash
• the Flash Player files, for the latest release 11.1.102.63
  • Flash11g.ocx
  • flashplayer.xpt
  • FlashUtil11g_ActiveX.dll
  • FlashUtil11g_ActiveX.exe
  • FlashUtil11g_Plugin.exe
  • NPSWF32.dll
• then you need to register all DLL and OCX files
• there may be a few registry entries that need to be created manually; I can tell you more when I get home

If Flash Player was already installed, before installing you need to

• unregister the existing DLL and OCX files
• delete all files in %WINDIR%\system32\Macromed\Flash

[AcroNot]

For what it's worth, the "regshot" utility (see http://sourceforge.net/projects/regshot/ ) may be helpful in identifying registry and system changes by taking appropriate "snapshots" both before and after Flash player is installed.

J Fortune -- "Beucephous" here (how did you know?  ;-D ) -- with respect to the removal of kernel32.dll from the ExcludeFromKnownDlls list (assuming someone later wanted (for whatever reason) to "undo" the changes that "kdllinst.exe" makes), do you think the "UNINSTALL_WRAPPER.BAT" file (which uses the "ClearExcludeFromKnownDlls.reg" and "FixPath.vbs" files in the "install" subdirectory of the "win2k_xp_v1_10" program suggested above in this thread) would do the trick as well with the "kdw096k.zip" archive that you suggested?

I'm thinking of trying your suggestion ("kdw096k.zip" archive) on my "test machine" to see if I can install the very latest version (11.whatever) of Flash without getting the "dynamic link library d3d9.dll could not be found in the specified path" error I got when I tried the "http://oldcigaret.info/win2k/files/win2k_xp_v1_10.zip" method.  If when I try it I still get that error, is it as easy a getting a "d3d9.dll" file from somewhere (e.g., a nearby WinXP pc) and copying it into the "temp folder of my choosing" with all the other DLLs?

[J_Fortune]

Acro,

I am not familiar with the "UNINSTALL_WRAPPER.BAT" from the OldCigarette Wrapper Pack v1.10 as I have used the KDW. You can get some info on the OCW here: http://oldcigaret.info/win2k/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7 and there is info on the KDW here: http://oldcigaret.info/win2k/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=292 . But I do believe that the creators of both these wrapper packs have included the option to remove the changes that are made. If this is a high concern you should test the install/uninstall on your "test machine". In the end I think you could always use regedt32 to remove any dlls from the ExcludeFromKnownDlls list if need be. 

I think the two wrapper packs are similar in their capabilities, but different in their implementation. The OCW I think was created initially for installing games on win2k systems and the KDW has more of an emphasis on application support, but in the case of the flash installer I think either will work as they both have support for the SetDllDirectoryW call.

I started looking into the wrapper APIs originally because my install of Dropbox on win2k machines was missing the context menu. There was a dependency issue in DropboxExt.14.dll for a missing call in the win2k version of dbghelp.dll. Through some helpful posts on the dropbox site (http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=32134&replies=9) I was informed of the KDW which has a utility called rplbfile.exe. This will rewrite the dependency tree. With this I was able to take a dbghelp.dll file from a winxp install (which has the calls needed for implementing the context menu), rename it (dbgheXP.dll), place it in the dropbox bin folder, and use rplbfile to patch the DropboxExt.14.dll file so that it uses the dbgheXP.dll file in the bin folder instead of the win2k dbghelp.dll. So after having the KDW files and investigating it I thought it was easier to just use those to attempt to fix the issue with the abode installer.

To answer your last question I have checked my machines and I do have d3d9.dll in the %WINDIR%\system32\ folder. You may want to check if you have the file located there as it may be missing from your "test machine" install or need to be re-registered. It also should work if you place the file in the same folder from which you are running the installer. I have done my own testing and in the end have used the KDW wrapper method on my real win2k install. I have the current (11.1.102.63) update installed and running.

OldPerl  wrote:

I just updatet my Flash Player on my W2K-machine yesterday and it was just throwing the update file in the bin-folder of my still existing wrapper-directory from my first installation (http://www.ortwinpinke.de/2012/02/29/adobe-flash-player-11110262-unter -windows-2000-installieren) and starting the setup. Since only the setup and not Flash Player uses new dll-functions this will work perfect.

I agree with OldPerl that this is an option. If you set up a folder (either with his method or the EZInstall from KDW) in the future you can just drop the update files in there and run the installer. This would be one reason to not uninstall the wrapper. It is my belief (from feedback from BlackWingCat, the creator of KDW) that the wrapper dlls will only be used by APIs making function calls that are located in the folder to which the wrapper dlls have been installed. All others will use the win2k original dlls located in the %WINDIR%\system32\ folder. I am guessing this would be a higher concern for someone who actively runs installs on a win2k machine. My "installing" these days, at least on the win2k machine, is really only updates for flash, java, firefox, and a few other previously installed packages.

I hope this helps.

[AcroNot]

Yes, J Fortune -- that information is helpful.  I do appreciate it and will look into those links you provided later.

I have an update.  I found a copy of the "d3d9.dll" file on "my" Windows 2000 pc (in case anyone is interested, it has the MD5 hash of:  "0e51bd586d186f61a9e4453db8aec774"), and I copied it into the same place (the system32 folder) on my test machine.  I was then able to successfully install the very latest version (11) of the Flash player on it for both Internet Explorer (using the original OCW method) and for non-IE browsers like Firefox and Opera (using the KDW method, just for fun).  I'm not sure why the d3d9.dll file was missing from my test machine.

The interface from the KDW method has quite a bit going on there, so thank you again for the tips on using it to perform the EZ install.  I'm not sure which method I like better (both have their merits), but I do like the built-in ability of the OCW method that allows its removal if desired.  The KDW method is easy to remember, too -- just remember the kernel32 topmost setting, the EZ checkbox, the installation location and finally the Ez Install button.  I'm not sure what its "uninstall mode" button is for, but as I said above I'll check those links provided for more information.

[J_Fortune]

Acro, The way I understand it: If you re-run the EZ Install with all the same options as the first install, but check the "Uninstall mode" it will reverse the changes. I have not tested this. It might make sense for you to check it out on your "test machine" and post back. I will try to contact BlackWingCat and verify also.

[wkitty42]

i just wanted to add to this thread... i did go over to the bugs entry and voted even though it has been closed, withdrawn and set as a featureremoval... i also followed J's post from over there about using the wrapper... it works well and i have just updated one of my w2k machines from whatever it was that broke before to 11.2.202.233 as can be seen in the attached photo...

i also wanted to add that from my reading, the wrapper package by old cigarrette was an inspiration to that used in the KDW package that J Fortune found and used... i like that there are wrapper dlls like these that handle the new calls and pass on to the old calls when necessary... excellent work to those involved and a big thanks... one can see my comments in the bug entry, too... there are some there that i've not made here

[chris.campbell]

I understand how you feel!  I've updated my previous post in this thread to remove the reference to 10.3 and instead reference the "official" last build for Win2k.

Mrs Clift wrote:

Well, Chris, this is all very disappointing!

You might want to change the below

Re: 11.1.102.62 and Win2K install - SetDllDirectoryW not supported

[AcroNot]

Thanks, Chris, for helping us out to the degree you are able.  It is appreciated.  🙂

Here's something else I just found today from which the rest of you Windows 2000 users might get a chuckle:

Yep.  Good old Windows 2000.

The door to the new economy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCzBS11xPkQ

[AntD00d]

Chris, that web page says Flash Player 10.1.102.64 is the latest but how come Adobe's web site's http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=BUIGP gives me this in Firefox v12?

"Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.235 (3.94 MB)

Your system: Windows 32-bit , English, Firefox"

Obviously, this installer gives me the same error.

Chris Campbell wrote:

I did have it updated on our Archived Flash Player Versions page,  is there another location I should change?

Thanks,
Chris

[andyross63]

Technically, Win2K is NOT supported for Flash 11.x, and never was. We were just lucky that it did work.

The real issue is not with Flash itself, but the installer.