Cannot Open the Dial-Up Networking Folder

When you try to open the Dial-Up Networking folder, the folder may not open. The folder may appear very briefly, or may not appear at all. Reinstalling Windows does not correct the issue.

Windows 95

This behavior can occur if the Wsock32.dll, Wsock32n.dll, Rnaui.dll, Msvcrt.dll, Msvcrt20.dll, Rasapi32.dll, or Rnaapp.exe file in the Windows\System folder is missing or damaged.

Note that the Wsock32n.dll file is installed by Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) and Microsoft Internet Explorer. It is not included in the retail version of Windows 95.

Windows 98

This behavior can occur if the Wsock32.dll, Rnaui.dll, Msvcrt20.dll, Rasapi32.dll, Msvcrt.dll, or Rnaapp.exe file in the Windows\System folder is missing or damaged.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

IMPORTANT: Microsoft Windows 95 users may not have any way to run the CD-ROM from MS-DOS. To avoid an issue create a directory and extract the files in step 2 to that folder. After you complete step 2, move the extracted files to the correct directory and restart the computer. This avoids potential no-restart with some original equipment manufacturer (OEM) computers.

1. Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.
   
   For Windows 98, restart your computer, press and hold the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup menu appears, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only.
2. Rename the Wsock32.dll, Wsock32n.dll, Rnaui.dll, Msvcrt.dll, Msvcrt20.dll, and Rasapi32.dll files in the Windows\System folder (if the files exist). To do so, type the following commands at the command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line:
   cd \
   cd windows\system
   ren wsock32.dll wsock32.xxx
   ren wsock32n.dll wsock32n.xxx
   ren rnaui.dll rnaui.xxx
   ren msvcrt20.dll msvcrt20.xxx
   ren rasapi32.dll rasapi32.xxx
   ren rnaapp.exe rnaapp.xxx
3. Restart Windows normally.
4. Extract a new copy of the Wsock32.dll, Wsock32n.dll, Rnaui.dll, Msvcrt.dll, Msvcrt20.dll, Rasapi32.dll, and Rnaapp.exe files from your original Windows disks or CD-ROM.

For additional information about using the Extract tool, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

This issue can also occur if the Dial-Up Adapter is not installed. Check the Configuration tab in the Network tool in Control Panel to make sure the Dial-Up Adapter is installed. If it is not installed, click Add to install it.