PRB: Running Tlbimp.exe or Aximp.exe on Shdocvw.dll in the Users Documents and Settings Folder Causes Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer to Stop Functioning

If you run the Type Library Importer (Tlbimp.exe) on Shdocvw.dll and you place the resulting assembly in the users Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings\username folder), Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer no longer work.

Tlbimp.exe converts the type definitions that are found within a COM type library into equivalent definitions in a common language runtime assembly with the .dll extension. Therefore, running Tlbimp.exe on Shdocvw.dll always generates another file that is called Shdocvw.dll from wherever you run Tlbimp.exe. If this new file is in the users Documents and Settings folder, Windows takes the Shdocvw.dll from there before it searches for it in the System32 folder.

If this occurs and then you restart the computer, Windows attempts to load the managed wrappers in Shdocvw.dll in the users Documents and Settings folder and it fails. As a result, Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer no longer work because they rely on the rendering engine in Shdocvw.dll.

This problem also applies to Aximp.exe because Aximp.exe also calls the underlying code that is inside Tlbimp.exe and it also generates a Shdocvw.dll file.

To resolve this problem, delete the new Shdocvw.dll file, and then restart the computer.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Type Library Importer (Tlbimp.exe)

Importing a Type Library As an Assembly

Windows Forms ActiveX Control Importer (Aximp.exe)