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Winsock.dll Repair For Win95a (pre-OSR2)

Winsock.dll is a major networking component in the Windows 95a (pre-OSR2) operating system. If it is missing or damaged then you will be able to connect but you won't be able to surf or do e-mail. You will also have problems if there are multiple copies of winsock.dll installed on your computer. Reinstalling dial-up networking, the dial-up adapter or TCP/IP won't fix this problem. This page will tell you how to find and fix that file.

Warning: If you are used to repairing wsock32.dll for Win95b then please note that this file is installed in C:\Windows rather than C:\Windows\System.

1. Begin by locating winsock.dll. Open Start -> Find -> Files or Folders and have your computer search for winsock.dll in the C: drive. It should be located in C:\Windows. It will probably be about 42 kb in size if it is uncorrupted.

2. Remove any extra copies of winsock.dll so that there is only one copy. Restart your computer and see if you can surf the Web now. If you still cannot surf or do e-mail then put in a new copy of that file as described below. Your fix will depend upon whether you have the Win95 installation CD or cab files on your computer. Choose the correct option.

3-A. Using the Win95 Installation CD: You will have to be booted into DOS mode to do this. Using the MS-DOS prompt in Windows mode won't work. The problem is that you can't access your Win95 installation CD while you are in DOS mode. As a result, you will need to pre-copy the winsock.dll file from your installation CD to a folder before rebooting into DOS mode. We recommend that you copy it to your temp folder as follows: Put the installation CD into your computer. Click Start -> Find -> Files or Folders -> set the "look in" box to look in your CD-ROM drive (probably D: or E:) -> type in Win95_02.cab as the file to find and start the search. Once you find the file, double-click it open from the find window and locate the winsock.dll file. Right-click on it and choose "copy." Next: Open My Computer -> open the C: drive -> open the temp folder -> click the Edit menu and choose "paste" to copy the file to that folder. Remove the Win95 CD and proceed to step #4.

3-B. Using Cab Files: If you never received a Win95 installation CD then you probably have preloaded cabinet files (called "cab files") on your computer. You can find them by clicking Start -> Find -> Files or Folders -> type Win95_02.cab in the file name box -> make sure that the "look in" box is set to your C: drive -> start the search. Double-click open that folder from the Find window. Locate the winsock.dll file and right-click on it to choose the "copy" option. Next: Open My Computer -> open the C: drive -> open the temp folder -> click the Edit menu and choose "paste" to copy the file to that folder. Go to step #4.

4. Reboot the computer in DOS mode by clicking Start -> Shutdown and then choosing the "reboot in DOS mode option." Type the following command at the command prompt when you've rebooted. This page puts J smiley faces for each space in the command. Just type one empty space wherever you see a smiley face.

extractJ/aJC:\temp\winsock.dllJ/LJc:\Windows

5. Reboot the computer into regular Windows mode after you've made these changes to make them take effect.

6. Note: There are other ways to do this. We've tried to pick the easiest route.