Share via

Error - Windows shell common dll stopped working

Anonymous
2010-05-02T22:23:08+00:00

Upgraded a 4-yr old Dell XPS 600 with original NVIDIA MB and dual GeForce 6800 SLI graphics cards from Win XP x32 to Win 7 x64 Ultimate N and boosted RAM to 8G.  Clean install of Win 7 went smooth and the computer was stable and fast.  Then upgraded all hardware drivers to Win 7 x64, reinstalled all apps that Win 7 Advisor said were compatible, and found everything worked - EXCEPT the audio.  After trying everything suggested on multiple Forums I finally uninstalled and reinstalled all hardware, graphics, and Sound Blaster X-fi ExtremeMusic drivers.  Now I have noticed that when I access Control Panel-Sound-Speakers-Properties-and clk on the Sound Blaster tab I get the error message shown in the Title of this thread.  I have recently acquired some updated settings info for the Sound Blaster sound card, but with the error message coming up whenever I access the tab noted, it is not possible to configure the sound card.  I have already tried running the Win System File checker from the Command Line prompt via  sfc /scannow , and that reports no file problems.  Likewise I have purchased and scanned the system with two different recommended reg and sys file fixers with no positive results.

So, the question is: how can I reconfigure or fix the OS software to eliminate the "Windows shell common dll stopped working" error message when I attempt to configure my sound card?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
  1. Anonymous
    2010-05-08T15:09:37+00:00

    I found the fix for my problem with "windows Shell Common Dll has stopped working", and it could be a fix for other related issues posted in this forum section.  In a nutshell the problem had to do with Certificants and the running of Scripts to allow Certificates.  According to Win 7 help, Certificates "are used primarily to verify the identity of a person or device, authenticate a service, or encrypt files.  In my case I had upgraded a number of older device drivers after installing Win 7 x64 onto an older Dell computer, and also installed several x86 applications -- some of which apparently had issues involving Certificates for authentication of identities after the install.  The fix involved using the new Win 7 Power Shell Scripting capability to alter which Certificates are accepted by Win 7.  The link below will take you to an excellent explanation of Power Shell and how to easily alter Win 7 to accept some or all Certificates.  Turns out the default setting on my Win 7 was "Restricted" which blocks all Certificates, and via some very simple Command Line entries one can check their Win 7 setting and alter the default setting.  Use of Power Shell completely eliminated my problem.

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176949.aspx

    100+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

14 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-27T04:32:44+00:00

    I would appreciate the Powershell commands that I can use to resolve this Issue.

    Thanks.

    I, too, would appreciate this. Receiving this error message when clicking on Options under Mouse Settings>ELAN. Following a Win10 upgrade on a Samsung NP900X3D, mouse/touchpad are out; upon reboot touchpad is disabled, requiring enabling thru the above menu before I can navigate without using an external mouse, and even then right clicking is disabled on the touchpad. 

    I'd love to have a better solution than running a disk, as I don't have an internal drive for that. It would be so much easier to type some lines of code than having to deal with running an external drive and dealing with this silly gui!

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-05-03T11:14:21+00:00

    How long have you been receiving these error messages?   Have you made any changes to your operating system prior to thses errors?  Any new software/hardware installed or any new Windows Updates?  

     It sounds that a dll is missing. you can repair it easily if you have a vista's bootable disc.  Just boot from the disc and then click on repair your computer and then click on start up repair option and it will do the rest.

    or, if the problem is not solved then insert the vista dvd and then open the command prompt as administrator and then execute the following command..

    C:\sfc scannow

    and then hit enter.

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2012-11-04T20:29:10+00:00

    The certificate fix worked for me without any need to reinstall drivers

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2010-05-03T16:27:41+00:00

    I have been seeing this error message for perhaps a week now, and as I think I remember, it followed an uninstall and reinstall of my HP printer driver and apps.  I will try to boot from my Win 7 x64 disk.  I have run sfc scanner from the Command Prompt and it reported no problems.  I will also try a search for the dll file or files involved.

    0 comments