Windows keeps deleting iconv.dll

Question

I'm having a frustrating problem with my Windows 7 setup. When my computer boots, AppleSyncNotifier.exe (which is the MobileMe control panel) complains: "The program can't start because iconv.dll is missing from your computer. try reinstalling the program to fix this problem."

And sure enough, if I try to open the MobileMe control panel, it fails.

So then I run the MobileMe installer, click "Repair," and it reinstalls the files it needs, including (presumably) iconv.dll. Then I can open the MobileMe control panel, it syncs everything like it's supposed to, etc.

Until I boot again. And then iconv.dll is deleted again... so this means I have to do the "Repair" job every time I boot my computer. Grr.

Question: how can I tell what's deleting the iconv.dll file from my system every time I boot? And how can I stop it? :-)

thanks-- E

Answer 1

I've seen poorly-written installation software that adds cleanup tasks (such as deleting files) to the boot process and then never removes them. I don't have Windows 7, but in Windows XP I would fire up REGEDIT and look in the following places for suspicious items:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

There are easier ways of toggling these startup items on and off in Windows XP, such as MSCONFIG, but I don't know if that program is still around in Windows 7.