COM+ Setup error 0x8007007f: failed to load catsrv.dll

A bad sector on my drive caused BSOD & forced me to do a repair install on
WinXP last night. Now I can start Windows but it takes longer than usual, and
all my dialup connections stopped working. I tried working through the MS
Knowledgebase troubleshooter on this problem
(http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp) and I'm stuck on step 5:

When I tried to add the TCP/IP services component from the Setup disk, I got
the following error:

Subcomponent COM+ raised an exception while processing the
OC_COMPLETE_INSTALLATION
setup message ... Error Code 0x8007007f

The specified procedure could not be found.
Failed to load the library 'C:\WINDOWS\System32\catsrv.dll'

This file is present and I Comp'ed it with a copy from another machine
running XP and it is fine.
But when I try to load it using regsvr32, I get:

LoadLibrary("catsrv.dll" failed - The specified procedure could not be
found.

I suspect this is a SP2 file which isn't present on my pre SP1 Setup CD, but
is being looked for on the CD. I'm caught in a chicken/egg loop, I can't
reinstall SP2 from MS via dialup, since I can't dialup, period. I've had no
luck with the MS KB or even Google on this issue, thought I'd ask here.

Appreciate any help that will save me from doing a clean reformat & install,
which I'm trying to avoid.


Prem

Hi Jan,

I was caught in a similar situation where I had to run the repair
install on my box. After the box had booted again, my IE froze when
trying to access windowsupdate.com.
This, I suspected, could be related to COM, so I did a component
install sweep via. Control panels = add/remove programs = add/remove
windows components, which as suspected resulted in the exact same error
as yours.

The problem occurs because Windows File Protection (WFP) is replacing
the catsrv.dll file with an SP2 version from a cache in between a
pre-SP2 COM+ installation routine. Only way around this is to
temporarily disable WFP for that file.

Now, to restore my box back to operational, I had to do this:
1) Goto \windows\system32\dllcache (if it's not there, do untick the
hide-system-files from explorer = [Tools] = Folder Options = [View]
= ...)
2) Find and erase catsrv.dll. If it isn't there, don't worry.
3) Goto windows\servicepackfiles\i386 and erase catsrv.dll
4) Goto windows\system32 and move catsrv.dll to your desktop (always
good with a backup)
5) Momentarily a dialog should popup with "Windows File Protection" in
the caption.
6) Click Cancel, and then Yes to the "You choose not to restore..."
dialog.
7) Goto control panels = add/remove programs.
8) Choose Add/Remove windows components.
9) At the "Windows Component Wizard" press Next. No need to change
anything.
WCW starts a component sweep, and will detect COM+ problems.
10) You should see COM+ being installed. If it asks for your xp distro
disk, insert it.
11) The COM+ should now install successfully.
If it didn't, try the above items again. (from step 1 that is.. WFP
is quite persistent in protecting its files) It is important that COM+
is installed correctly.
12) reboot windows. (No really.. reboot)

After reboot, try to see if you can use your dialup connection again.
If COM+ did succeed, you shouldn't be presented with the same error as
below.

Now, if it still doesn't work, try to reinstall SP2. I had to. IE still
could not contact windowsupdate.com, so my thought was that some files
from SP2 had not yet been restored. The reinstall was an .. experience,
involving a freeze just after install.. but after a couple of
hard-resets it turned out ok.. The box is now up working sweet again

If IE still doesn't like windowsupdate.com, remove the COM objects.
Goto "WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files" and right-click select "remove"
on all the files in there. Then go to windowsupdate.com and reinstall
the update service.

Other COM related problems, especially when launching third part
applications may require a reinstall of that application.

Hope it works out for you,
Let us know,
Philip Soeberg.

Hope it works out for you,

Thanks, Philip.
I was able to bypass the COM+ issues by using my (brand new) DSL service via
the ethernet port. I ended up doing a full reinstall, only to suffer another
bad sector days later. That HD is now history, and I'm running off a new one.

Appreciate your help,


Prem.