It wouldn't hurt to check though.

Dependency Walker says I have Service Pack 2.

You possibily have this version (Windows XP SP2 Release Candidate 2) of the XP update, which could explain some things. If anyone thinks they have this version of SP2, some input would be appreciated.

I'm assuming this RC2 version is what accounts for the difference in MSCTF.DLL, the file I believe is the main problem. Unless somebody has version 5.1.2600.2575 of MSCTF.DLL (as opposed to version 5.1.2600.2180 on the XP computer I was using) and can run JJ2, it would appear your version has to be downgraded for JJ2 to work. Either you can try uninstalling your version of SP2 and download the currently available one on the Microsoft (simple, but could take a while), or you could replace your MSCTF.DLL version with this one (more complicated, but could save time).

I guess as downgrading SP2 isn't an option for me (my brother'd kill me =P) replacing the MSCTF.dll file with the other one would be a good thing to do. Now the only thing I need would be assistance as how to replace it, as I don't exactly know where the MSCTF.dll actually is.

I'll wait for you to be on ICQ Blur. =P

Start Menu -> Search :rolleyes:

I didn't do a search because I didn't await to find anything (I didn't now that I tried it). As far as I understood, the MSCTF.dll is part of the JJ2 library or some other file that affects JJ2 and no single file, thus it can't be found using the search function. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

MSCTF.dll is a .dll file affecting Internet Explorer and (unintentionally) JJ2 as well.

LF, you could also use Dependency Walker to find where MSCTF.DLL is. Just look for the dll in the same place I told you to find the last time, right-click -> Properties (or whatever equivalent).

You could use CopyLock to make the replacement if the dll is in use. When you go to Add -> Files to replace, make sure the file you add (Source) is the MSCTF.DLL file I gave a link from before and the destination folder is the same as for the file you want to replace (you may want to make a backup first). You may also need to check Allow downgrades.

^^;;;;

Right-click on what? I tried to right-click on MSCTF.dll after loading the JJ2 thing I saved, but the properties field is grayed out so it can't be that.

I need to learn writing down such things so I can see what to do next time and people don't need to tell me everything a hundred times. ;)

Ugh... I just remembered this:

So the destination folder for you is c:\windows\system32\.

I asked my brother about it. He said I should send him the downgraded MSCTF.dll file (the one you gave me the link to) and he'll have a look at what it changes. If it doesn't change anything important, I'm allowed to replace it. Otherwise, goodbye JJ2. ;(

My brother says he doesn't have any idea what the MSCTF.dll actually does, and what replacing it with an older version would change.

Does anyone of you computer experts have an idea of what it does and/or what difference it makes to downgrade it?

i have no idea :(

It would seem the version that you have serves no extra purpose. If you still don't want to downgrade the dll manually, you should just install a different version of SP2 like the current one from microsoft.com (You might not even have to uninstall your current version).

I've been making a lot of assumptions though, so I'm curious as to when and where your brother got your SP2 update.

I'll send him an e-mail and ask him.

It's possible that it's some file that fixes a security hole of Windows though, so that's difficult to say.

If I remember correctly MSCTF.dll is something to do with alternative input systems (voice recog, handwriting). I would make sure you've got the correct version, otherwise it could cause problems with patches and updates.

Late Response...
 

I doubt that since from what I can tell the dll version isn't the same as in the latest SP2 release. I'm making more assumptions though. My advice would be to just install the newest microsoft.com version of SP2 since it couldn't hurt to try.

By the way, have you heard anything from your brother?

Well, he told me to find out what the thing does. If it really fixes a security hole, I could forget it. =/

I still have to find a source of what the thing does.

It appears you don't have to reinstall SP2 after all (sorry about that, although it would not have hurt if you did). I found this forum, which has a link that leads to Microsoft's Download Center with a Windows XP update (KB890831). You should note that this update isn't a security fix (or else it would say so in the title) and it's optional.

Unless if I'm mistaken, you should be able to uninstall this update through Add/Remove in your Control Panel. MSN Messenger should be the only thing affected if you remove this update, and unless you're using IME you won't notice any difference.

I got my brother to sit down and look through this with me. He says he doesn't want to replace anything, except inside the JJ2 folder, in which case it won't influence the rest of the PC. So we placed the correct msctf.dll in the JJ2 folder, but it had no effect (logical, there aren't any other dll files either so JJ2 reads them from somewhere else).

Nothing more can be done. Thanks for all the input anyways.

Well, my last post was all you really needed to interpret. I don't see any problem with uninstalling one optional update, unless someone in your household did in fact occasionally type with Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, or Korean characters (or in another language requiring complex characters and symbols).

If your brother thinks it would be unsafe to uninstall that update (it is from Microsoft after all, of which he had to trust in the first place), a valid reason for why would be appreciated as the uninstallation would only affect MSN Messenger and it would still work as usual. Although if it's because the update can't easily be uninstalled from where I specified, that's a different story.

I don't know what else to say if your brother won't change his mind. I'll try to find another solution in the meanwhile.

I told him the same, but he doesn't change his mind.

Maybe you had to register the dll in your JJ2 folder first. You can try going to Start -> Run and typing REGSVR32 C:\(path of your JJ2 folder)\msctf.dll. I can't say it will work, but it's worth a try.

No effect. =/

Maybe you could try running JJ2 while your computer is in Safe Mode.