1. Most important: Cannot access/open many programs [e.g. Quicken;
Printer,etc.]; problem juststarted: get a notice stating that the
particular program's exe file = "bad immage"; this is followed by the
statement: "The Application or DLL c:\WINNT\System32\MCF42.DLL is not
a valid Windows image. Please check against your installation
diskette." ? Don't have a clue? Using Windows 2000 ver. 5.00.2195
2. When trying to close Internet Explorer a pop up comes and states
"Printhood is a Windows system folder and is required for Windows to
run properly. It cannot be delted." What is happening? I just click it
and it goes away but am worried.

Hello crossway,

Thank you for your question. 

You may have more than one problem going on here, but let's see what
we can find. I hope your important data is backed up, and if not, it
is messages like this that sometimes prompt you to adopt a healthy
backup strategy. Do consider it once this problem is solved.

mfc42.dll is a Microsoft Foundation Class dll, or Dynamic Link
Library. Many programs access this dll and sometimes installing
software will overwrite the current version you have on your machine.
Sometimes it is as simple as replacing the original dll and the
problems will clear up.

However, I have not seen the actual error message you are seeing
before. I searched "not a valid windows image" and found that this
happens with other dll's as well, as you will see below:

Very interesting note at Quickbooks:
http://www.quickbooks.com/support/faqs/qbw2002/203120.html

"Question: How to I resolve one of the following error messages I
receive when starting QuickBooks?

qbw32[xxx].exe application error the application failed to initialize
properly 0xc000007B

Title Bar: QBW32 Bad Image Body: The application or dll
C:\Windows\System32\avifil32.dll is not a valid Windows image
 
  
Possible Cause: These error messages may be caused by the WORM_KLEZ.E
virus, or one of its variations. The executable file name
"qbw32[xxx].exe" may vary, where "[xxx].exe" is a randomly generated
and false executable name.
  
Answer: For more information about this virus, please visit the
McAfee® or Symantec® Web sites. "

Hmmm. Could well be a virus. Do you run AntiVirus Software? Do you
have current virus definitions? If not, I would suggest doing that
immediately. Norton and McAfee are both good products.

I searched Microsoft's Knowledgebase and found that there were similar
errors in articles there, but nothing close enough to properly
diagnose your problem. In an odd way, that tends to confirm to me that
you may well have a virus.

I would most definitely run a virus checker with current definitions.
If that fails, you can try replacing mfc42.dll as noted below. If the
error changes to another dll, or continues as it is now, we will have
to search a bit further to try to find the cause.

Take a look at this page from TechAdvice on mfc42.dll:
http://www.techadvice.com/w98/M/mfc42_dll.htm

Note: New MFC42.dll problem as of January 12, 2003, that prevents
Explorer/Outlook/Control Panel and other programs from opening.

This is a common problem with windows. In most cases, the correct
version of this file was overwritten by another version with the same
name causing the problem...

Read the entire article and note that it is written for Windows 98. In
Windows 2000, the proper location for this dll is c:\winnt\system32

Symantec has very good instructions for using the SFC utility to
restore mfc42.dll. Read the Windows 2000 section here:
http://service1.symantec.com/support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001011114021106?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=4,2#_Section4

You might also wish to look at this page on mfc42.dll errors, but I
strongly suspect that you will find either a virus or a wrong version
of this dll that was installed by a third party program.


Do let me know what you find and I will be happy to search further if
you can provide any new information, error messages or details.


Search Strategy:

"not a valid windows image"
mfc42.dll errors
windows 2000 +sfc

If a link above should fail to work or anything require further
explanation or research, please do post a Request for Clarification
prior to rating the answer and closing the question and I will be
pleased to assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

---

Request for Answer Clarification by crossway-ga on 18 Mar 2003 19:20 PST

sorry but am a luddite not a tech;
do not understand your answers, saw the links, but could not apply
them to my situation and have no clue on how to proceed, since most of
the links presuppose a level of knowledge appropriate to a higher
level of expertise.
have prevously run a full norton virus scan earlier this pm;
everything ok;

---

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 18 Mar 2003 19:50 PST

Hello again crossway,

Are your virus definitions for Norton reasonably current? If so, then
perhaps it is not a virus. To be very sure, I would visit this page
from Symantec, download the tools they recommend which will do no harm
if you do not have this virus, and see "just in case" if this does
solve the problem.
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.klez.gen@mm.html

Other than that, I am not sure how to proceed. You have a technical
problem that requires a bit of expertise to solve. The articles and
information cited are as simple and clear as I think we will find. For
example, the Symantec instructions for restoring mfc42.dll should be
understandable if you spend a little time reading through all they
have to say. If not, perhaps you have a more technically inclined
friend that you can show this answer and have help you through the
steps necessary. The only other alternative I can think of is to have
a computer repair shop solve the problem for you. If the articles
cited below are above your comfort level with working with your
computer, I don't think I will be able to post an answer that will
actually be able to help you further.

I'm a bit stymied. If you can think of a way I can help further,
please post another clarification and I will be happy to assist.

-=clouseau=-

The solution to main problem # 1 was of scant value; ultimately
accidently solved the problem on my own; since I could not access my
Quicken files I decided to try to reinstall my Quicken 2001 Deluxe;
after the reinstallation all programs became immediately accessable
and worked perfectly. So much for technical expertise.

I'm no tech expert so take my ideas with a grain of salt, but I'm
reasonable computer literate so...  First of all, I'd run a back-up
now of whatever you have.  That way if something gets worse as you are
trying to fix this, you'll at least have something.

Whenever my computer starts acting wierd, I try reinstialling my major
programs (e.g., Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, etc.)  This
essentially takes the program itself back to its original form, but
does not erase any of the actual files/documents you saved to your
hard drive.  It sounds like "clouseau" is saying that your .dll files
has gotten screwed up along the way and is now causing problems.  If
all the software on your computer came pre-loaded, check to see if
there is some kind of recovery (or application recovery; NOT a
"driver" recover disk) disk that came with it.  That might be helpful
in restoring things back to their original state...just be careful to
read and follow any instructions so you don't wipe your hard drive.

I know for myself that whenever my computer isn't working everything
in my life just seems more stressful, so I can empathize with your
frustration.  Best of luck!