Error "Computer must be restarted" | Shockwave installation

You receive the following error at the end of the Shockwave Player installation:

"Your computer must be restarted in order to complete the installation of Shockwave Player. Would you like to retart now?

Restarting the computer is not required for the Shockwave Player installation. Users get stuck in an endless loop and restarting doesn't help. The error message comes up every time the browser calls the Shockwave Player. The Shockwave Player doesn't work, and no content is viewable through the player.

Remove all dirapi.dll and iml32.dll files that are not in the macromed or Director application folders. The following locations are examples of the correct locations for these files:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Shockwave 10
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Shockwave 8
C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Director [version number or name]

Search for Dirapi.dll and iml32.dll (Director runtime files) on your hard drive. Make note of the files outside these locations:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Shockwave 10
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Shockwave 8
C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Director [version number or name]

Note the locations and move the files into the Recycle Bin. The files can be restored if necessary.

Test the Shockwave Player

In some cases, it's necessary to uninstall and reinstall the Shockwave Player. If going through the normal download is not an option, follow these steps:

Uninstall the Shockwave Player using the uninstaller or the Add/Remove programs, depending on Shockwave version.

Uninstaller for Shockwave 8.5 can be found in the Web Players page
Uninstaller for Shockwave 10 is located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Shockwave 10, see the UNWISE.exe. Users can also use the Add/Remove Programs function located in their control panel.

Delete all folders inside the Macromed folder except the AUTHORWA folder or Flash folder.

Reinstall the Shockwave player using the stand-alone installer. For links to the stand-alone installer, see Stand-alone installers for Shockwave Player or the standard download of the Shockwave player.

Test the Shockwave player

This issue happens because old or duplicate DLLs are installed on the end user's system. The following DLLs are in the system32 folder:

dirapi.dll
iml32.dll

The files dirapi.dll and iml32.dll should only exist in the Shockwave player folder (example: C:\Windows\system32\macromed\Shockwave [version number]). Director developers also find copies in the application folders of the Director application (example: C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Director [version number or name]).

These files could also be mistakenly located in temp folders, example: C:\Documents and Settings\userName\Local Settings\Temp\TempFolder.aaa

Note: This issue applies to Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP only.

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Error "Computer must be restarted" | Shockwave installation

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Issue

Solution

Locate and remove extra DLLs

Reinstall the Shockwave Player

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