DLLs
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Below is a list of DLLs you can unregister to remove functionality that has been hooked into your system. Paint/photo programs, for example, can use a DLL shell hook so that explorer.exe is able to create thumbnails for proprietary graphic file formats. There are many reasons for a developer to create a shell extension, and just as many reasons to unregister it.
To unregister a DLL, click on Start, then Run..., then type: regsvr32 /u [path-to-DLL] and press Enter or click OK. If the path to the DLL contains spaces, enclose the entire path in quotation marks. To re-register the DLL, use the same command but without the /u flag.
DLLs listed below which have no path are in your system PATH and don't need to be referenced by a full path when registering/unregistering.
| Company/product | DLL name/path | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 7-Zip | "%ProgramFiles%\7-Zip\7-zip.dll" | 7-Zip context menus for batch packing/using |
| Adobe Photoshop | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Adobe\Shell\psicon.dll" | Explorer.exe .psd thumbnail capability |
| Adobe Photoshop | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Adobe\Shell\aiicon.dll" | Explorer.exe .ai thumbnail capability |
| Ahead Nero 7.x | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Ahead\Lib\MediaLibraryNSE.dll" | "Nero Scout" icon in My Computer |
| Ahead Nero 8.x | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Nero\Lib\MediaLibraryNSE.dll" | "Nero Scout" icon in My Computer |
| Ahead Nero InCD | "%ProgramFiles\Ahead\InCD\incdshx.dll" | UDF CD-RW format shell extension |
| Alwil avast! antivirus | "%ProgramFiles%\Alwil Software\Avastx\ashshell.dll" (where x is a version number) |
avast! shell extension (NOTE: path is version-specific) |
| America Online | "%CommonProgramFiles%\aolshare\shell\us\shellext.dll" (where us is a region, such as "us" or "uk") |
My Computer icon (NOTE: path is region-specific) |
| Apple iTunes | "%ProgramFiles%\iTunes\iTunesMiniPlayer.dll" | iTunes MiniPlayer |
| ATI Control Center | "%ProgramFiles%\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static\atiacmxx.dll" | Desktop context menu extension |
| Compuserve | "%CommonProgramFiles%\csshare\shell\us\shellext.dll" (where us is a region, such as "us" or "uk") |
My Computer icon (NOTE: path is region-specific) |
| Corel Paint Shop Pro X | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Corel\PSPThumbShellExt\PSPThumbShellExt.dll" | Explorer.exe .psp/.pspfile thumbnail capability |
| Corel WordPerfect Office X3 | "%ProgramFiles%\WordPerfect Office X3\Programs\PFSE130.DLL" | "QuickFinder" shell extension and QuickFinder .idx file format handler |
| ewido anti-spyware | "%ProgramFiles%\ewido anti-spyware x.x\context.dll" (where x is a version number) |
Context menu extension (NOTE: path is version-specific) |
| FileZilla Client | "%ProgramFiles%\FileZilla FTP Client\fzshellext.dll" "%ProgramFiles%\FileZilla FTP Client\fzshellext_64.dll" |
FileZilla shell extension |
| Grisoft AVG | "%ProgramFiles%\Grisoft\AVGx\avgse.dll" (where x is a version number) or "%ProgramFiles%\Grisoft\AVG free\avgse.dll" |
Context menu extension (NOTE: path is version-specific) |
| Grisoft AVG Anti-Spyware | "%ProgramFiles%\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware x.x\context.dll" (where x is a version number) |
Context menu extension (NOTE: path is version-specific) |
| Hewlett Packard | "%ProgramFiles%\Hewlett-Packard\HP Share-to-Web\hpgs2wns.dll" | "HP Share-to-Web" desktop icon shell extension |
| Intel Graphics Accelerator drivers | igfxpph.dll igfxhk.dll |
Desktop context menu and hotkey functionality (respectively) |
| Jasc Paint Shop Pro | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Jasc Software Inc\JascThumbShellExt\JascThumbShellExt.dll" | Explorer thumbnail capability for Paint Shop Pro file formats |
| Logitech (multiple programs) | "%ProgramFiles%\Logitech\ImageStudio\namespc.dll" "%ProgramFiles%\Logitech\Video\namespc2.dll" |
"My Pictures" or "Gallery" icon in My Computer |
| Microsoft Office | msimtf.dll msctf.dll |
Alternative User Input Text Input, ctfmon, Language Bar |
| Microsoft Windows Live Messenger | "%ProgramFiles%\MSN Messenger\fsshext.x.x.xxxx.xx.dll" (where each x is part of the version number) |
"My Sharing Folders" icon extension for My Computer (NOTE: filename is version-specific) |
| Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 | wmpshell.dll | Controls these entries on the context menus of media files: Add to Sync list, Add to Burn list, Add to Now Playing list, Add to Playlist..., and Play with Media Player |
| Microsoft Windows XP | audiodev.dll | Portable Media Devices Menu shell extension |
| Microsoft Windows XP | cabview.dll | Internal cab file functionality |
| Microsoft Windows XP | cscui.dll | Client Side Caching UI (Offline Files Folder Options / Offline Files Folder) |
| Microsoft Windows XP | msutb.dll | Microsoft Language Bar shell extension |
| Microsoft Windows XP | msieftp.dll | Internet Explorer and Explorer.exe FTP view functionality |
| Microsoft Windows XP | photowiz.dll | Photo Printing Wizard functionality and DropTarget Object for Photo Printing Wizard |
| Microsoft Windows XP | shimgvw.dll | Explorer.exe image thumbnails, Windows Picture and Fax viewer, and many more (unregistration not recommended) |
| Microsoft Windows XP | shmedia.dll | Explorer.exe video thumbnails, .mp3 ID3 tag support, other .wav/.avi/.midi functionality, and generic audio/video metadata support |
| Microsoft Windows XP | "%WinDir%\srchasst\srchui.dll" | Animated Search Assistant |
| Microsoft Windows XP | webcheck.dll | "Web Site Monitor" - Subscription/synchronization manager |
| Microsoft Windows XP | zipfldr.dll | Explorer.exe zip file support |
| NetZero Internet | "%ProgramFiles%\NetZero\Toolbar.dll" | Internet Explorer toolbar ("ZeroBar") |
| NetZero Internet | "%ProgramFiles%\NZSearch\SearchEnh1.dll" | Internet Explorer SearchHook ("search enhancements") |
| NVIDIA display drivers | nvshell.dll | nView Desktop Context Menu / NVIDIA Desktop Explorer |
| OpenOffice.org | "%ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org x.x\program\shlxthdl.dll" (where each x is part of the version number |
Support for displaying thumbnails of OpenOffice files (NOTE: filename is version-specific) |
| RAR Labs WinRAR | "%ProgramFiles%\WinRAR\rarext.dll" | Context menu, Drop Handler, and Property Sheet shell extensions for WinRAR-supported file formats |
| RealPlayer | "%ProgramFiles%\RealPlayer\rpshell.dll" and
"%ProgramFiles\RealPlayer\rpshellsearch.dll" |
RealOne Player context menu extension and search extension, respectively |
| Sony Ericsson PC Suite | ""%ProgramFiles%\Sony Ericsson\Mobile2\File Manager\fmgrgui.dll" | Sony Ericsson File manager desktop icon |
| TortoiseSVN | "%ProgramFiles%\TortoiseSVN\bin\TortoiseSVN.dll" | Tortoise SVN context menu extension |
| Webroot Spysweeper | "%ProgramFiles%\Webroot\Spysweeper\SSCtxMnu.dll" | Spysweeper context menu extension |
| Webroot Window Washer | "%CommonProgramFiles%\Webroot\shellw~1.dll" | Window Washer context menu extension (Note: the long file name of "shellw~1.dll" is not known at this time) |
| WinZip | "%ProgramFiles%\WinZip\wzshlstb.dll" | Context menu, Drop Handler, Drag and Drop Handler, and InfoTip extensions for WinZip-supported file formats |