I've been trying to help a friend install a wireless network adapter to his computer and have been running into the error message "windows could not load the installer for Net. Contact your hardware vendor for assistance," I've tried different adapters, both pci and usb with the same error message. I believe I've narrowed the problem down to the netcfgx.dll. I've tried using DAF but I keep getting an Error 126 telling me that netcfgx.dll can not be found even though it's in the system32 folder, it says that it is caused by a missing or corrupt dependency, or a dependency not present in the path or the current folder. I've tried replacing the dll and reinstalling service packs, but can't seem to get the netcfgx.dll to work or respond. The computer is running windows xp home edition.

meant to add that I'm using version 0.60.0.24 of DAF, sorry about the double post.

(Tarun or cluberti, please create a guide for using Dependency Walker for end-users. It could come in useful in these situations.)

I've run into similar situations with ClassInstallers and they can be quite a pain to repair.

The main network adapter ClassInstaller is here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}

It references NetCfgx.dll.

It should contain the following values normally:

Class - REG_SZ - "Net"

EnumPropPages32 - REG_SZ - "NetCfgx.dll,NetPropPageProvider"

Icon - REG_SZ - "-5"

Installer32 - REG_SZ - "NetCfgx.dll,NetClassInstaller"

Also make sure the file C:\WINDOWS\INF\netclass.inf exists and is readable.

In my experience these are usually all correct and Windows is broken elsewhere. These ClassInstaller problems can be pretty complicated. You can attempt to roll back the SYSTEM registry hive (if you're savvy/a fast learner or don't have much to lose) using the guide here: https://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/System_Volume_Information

I highly suggest backing up all of your data and preparing for a reinstall because that's infinitely easier than fixing this situation (unless we get really lucky).