“There was a problem starting C:\Program” “The specified module could not be found.”
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/12/02
If you get this error:
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RunDLL
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There was a problem starting C:\ProgramThe specified module could not be found.
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OK
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Then it is likely a process trying to run an unquoted path like this:
"C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe" C:\Program Files (x86)\ThinkPad\Utilities\PWMTR64V.DLL,PwrMgrBkGndMonitor
Searching did not reveal anything unusual, nor did [WayBack] ProcExp (there were no parent processes), or [WayBack] AutoRuns:
Assuming it was some kind of power management, I started searching the installed applications with appwiz.cpl.
Uninstalling this one got me the same dialog, but now I could trace it down:
But now I knew the name and found [WayBack] Lenovo Power Manager does not work in Windows 10 – ThinkPad – NL indicating
There is no Lenovo Power Manager for Windows 10.
This meant this was an artefact left over after upgrading to Windows 10.
Searching the registry found it under Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run with name PWMTRV:
Running rundll32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\ThinkPad\Utilities\PWMTR64V.DLL,PwrMgrBkGndMonitor" did not fail, but did not do anything either.
So I started searching how to uninstall which also indicated a wrong path:
Key
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{DAC01CEE-5BAE-42D5-81FC-B687E84E8405}had nameUninstallStringwith valueRunDll32 C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InstallShield\Engine\6\Intel 32\ctor.dll,LaunchSetup "C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{DAC01CEE-5BAE-42D5-81FC-B687E84E8405}\Setup.exe" -l0x9 -AddRemove
Running with quotes as RunDll32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InstallShield\Engine\6\Intel 32\ctor.dll",LaunchSetup "C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{DAC01CEE-5BAE-42D5-81FC-B687E84E8405}\Setup.exe" -l0x9 -AddRemove got me
--------------------------- Confirm Uninstall --------------------------- Do you want to completely remove the selected application and all of its components? --------------------------- OK Cancel ---------------------------
Confirming the dialog worked: after a reboot no more messages.
–jeroen
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