[drfirebird]

When I go to control panel and double click on the "systems" icon I get the following message:
Windows cannot find 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe.' Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.
I am clicking on the icon that came with the computer and not typing in an address. what can I do?

[Lance1]

Here, give this a try---> Cannot find the Rundll32.exe

[drfirebird]

1. Put the Windows XP CD ROM disk in the CD ROM drive. I'm assuming you mean the Operating System CD? Correct? When I do this it opens and wants to run something..should I exit it?
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. Type expand X:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe in the Open box, where X is the letter of your CD ROM Drive. Is the "X" a capital and is there a space before the X? ..."where X is the letter of your CD Rom Drive" makes no sense...what "X"?
4. Restart the computer
5. Not able to follow these instructions can you clarify? thanks

[Lance1]

Put the Windows XP CD ROM disk in the CD ROM drive. I'm assuming you mean the Operating System CD? Correct? When I do this it opens and wants to run something..should I exit it?

Yes it is the OS CD and yes you can close whatever opens.

Click Start, and then click Run.

If you don’t have the run command in the start menu you can just use; Windows Key + R to bring up the run command.

Type expand X:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe in the Open box, where X is the letter of your CD ROM Drive. Is the "X" a capital and is there a space before the X? ..."where X is the letter of your CD Rom Drive" makes no sense...what "X"?

No it lower case.
Yes there is a space; expand “Space” X:\
The X just represents your CD Rom drive letter. If your drive letter is D E or F use the appropriate letter.


After you are done with the above commands restart the computer.

[drfirebird]

I put in the CD, closed it when it opened, went to RUN and typed in the message as you listed with a small x and a space in front. I clicked on OK and there was a flash of a black box and then nothing. I checked the Systems icon and it still gives that message of a bad address....? now what? and THANKS for helping me on this.

[TheOutcaste]

Double click My Computer
What is the drive letter shown for your CD drive?
Then open a Command Prompt first, then type the expand command into the Command Prompt Window, that way you can see any messages.

Click Start | Run (or press WinKey+R), type cmd, press Enter.

If it's D, use this
expand D:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe
If it's E, use this:
expand E:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe
If it's F, use this
expand F:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe
and so on.

It can be upper or lower case, but it most likely won't be X.

[drfirebird]

it shows that "i" is the CD so I did as you indicated with the "i" instead of an "x" and hit OK. there was a flash of a black box and then it just went back to the desk top....? and the problem remains....?

[TheOutcaste]

Open a Command Prompt first:

Click Start | Run (or press WinKey+R), type cmd, press Enter.

then type the command into the Command Prompt, not the Run box. That way the window will stay open so you can see any error messages.

[drfirebird]

OK. did that and it just went to C:\documents and settings\owner>

now what?

[pubtech]

hi, post here exactly what you typed into the command window.

[drfirebird]

expand i:\i386\rundll32.ex_c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe

and it said "no destination specified for: i:\i386\rundll32.ex_c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe.

and then the C:\documents and settings\owner>

???????

[pubtech]

expand I:\i386\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe
Microsoft (R) File Expansion Utility
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Can't open input file: i:\i386\rundll32.exe.

i suspect input error. change to> J:\i386\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe

first you have to enable access to system files first or give it a different destination,ie; desktop ?

[TheOutcaste]

Originally Posted by drfirebird

expand i:\i386\rundll32.ex_c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe

You are missing the space between the _ and the c

There must be a space between the colored sections:
expand SourceFileName DestinationFileName

expand i:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe

[drfirebird]

i put in the space and it says: "can't open input file: i:\i386\rundll32.ex_."
???????

[TheOutcaste]

Double click on My Computer
Double click the I drive
Double click the i386 folder
Check to see if the rundll32.ex_ file exists. Some OEM disks may have it uncompressed, as rundll32.exe

In that case, you would use this command:
copy i:\i386\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\

If prompted to overwrite, choose Yes
.
If you can't see the file extension, you'll need to change your view options
To change View Settings to show hidden and system files:
In Windows Explorer/My Computer, click on Tools | Folder Options -> View tab

Check the following:

• Display the contents of system folders
• Show hidden files and folders

Uncheck the following:

• Hide extensions for known file types
• Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)

.
If the file is not on the disk, or if there is no i386 folder, then it might not be a Windows Installation disk. When you put the disk in, you said it tries to run something, what exactly does it want to run?