Having had several Laptop PC's I finally convinced my company to buy me a Toshiba M200. It was not on their "approved" hardware list but I persuaded them. It seems that was a mistake.

There were issues installing Cisco VPN software - but that was finally sorted out. What REALLY has me steamed is the following nightmare situation:

I made the mistake of trying to install Symantec's PC Anywhere on this laptop. Of course as soon as the M200 restarted I CANNOT LOG IN due to the "awgina.dll" not being found.

How can these !@#$^'s at Symantec release a product that can hose a PC like this???

So off I go - to boot to "Safe Mode" so I can remove the registry entries and fix this. Well, it seems that Safe Mode is also hosed somehow. I can boot into safe mode but the keyboard does not work, so I can't type in my password. Of course the tablet keyboard is nowhere to be seen in safe mode. So I am prevented from fixing this awgina.dll problem by XP Tablet - Tochiba.

So now I cannot log on and cannot fix it.
Thanks Symantec and Thanks MicrsSoft for such quality products.

The only option I have left is to try the system restore.

Any comments or suggestions on this would be appreciated.

Yes, this is a pickle. Symantec has a long history of using a chain saw to remove a splinter from someone's eye. It can get pretty bloody.

What is your model number? Are you using the SP2 RC2 or the original OS installed by Toshiba? Have you made changes to the BIOS?

Microsoft Support on change to GUI suggests the method you were going to use by booting into safe mode. The key to your situation is getting to the system to rename the Awgina.dll.

Now, how do you get into safe mode without a keyboard or the onscreen keyboard?

I might suggest attaching a usb keyboard and seeing if it is recognized in safe mode.

Now, if this still dosen't work then call (800) 457-7777, provide your model number, serial number, bank account numbers, first born, and wait (jk). Maybe they can help you rename that file.

Another option (just thinking off the top of my head without trying it or really thinking it through ...) may be to burn a boot CD with the basics of XP. Boot and then rename the file. Hmm.. I'm sure that would take some looking into details but might work for you.

Oh wait ... Here is another option. Duh. Download Knoppix, burn the CD and then boot off of it. Now, use it to surf to the Windows partition, rename the file and boom. You are done. Oh that should be much easier!

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Thanks for the reply.
I am not sure of which Model M200 it is - I just got it about a month ago.
I had XP SP1 - not the SP2 RC2 (which I installed and quickly uninstalled on a different PC).

The XP boot CD would probably not work due to security.

I do have a copy of Knoppix (very cool Linux NTFS support) - which is definitely worth a try.

Can this be fixed by just renaming files however?
I was under the impression that a registry change was needed to point back to the MS Gina.

If you remove the awgina.dll file windows "should" either error out and still go into safe mode or just automagically see the msgina.dll. This does not always work but in my job I have to try either/or because sometimes windows will not let you in. Today a MS Update failed on a XP box and every time we tried to logon all we got was ' a problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license.....' Man that was 2 hours just because MS thought we might be stealing the software. I used Knoppix to remove a dll and then safe mode allowed a rollback.

By the way in my opinion this a case of Symantec hell not M200 ;). I used Norton products for years until the NT and up versions came out from Symantec. Man they took a great product and creamed it. IMO never install 'System Works' cause it won't for long. :)

Linuxmon

You can boot to the command prompt (F8 followed by F8 again) and rename the file!

From the Symantec support site (this is for W2K but the same method should apply to XP)..

If you cannot restart the computer in Safe mode and Windows 2000 is installed on a FAT file system
Rename AWGina.dll in Command Prompt mode.

1. Restart Windows 2000 in Safe mode with command prompt. See the document How to start Windows 2000 in Safe mode for instructions on restarting in Safe mode with a command prompt.
2. At the DOS prompt, type cd\winnt\system32 and then press Enter.
3. Type ren awgina.dll awgina.old and then press Enter.
4. Type copy msgina.dll awgina.dll and then press Enter. This replaces the AWGina.dll file with the MSGina.dll file.
5. Restart the computer in safe mode.
6. Uninstall pcAnywhere. Please see the document How to uninstall pcAnywhere from Windows NT/2000/XP.
7. Restart the computer in Normal mode and then re-install pcAnywhere.
8. Near the end of installation, a dialog box appears with check boxes for LiveUpdate, the Readme file, and a desktop icon. Leave the LiveUpdate option checked. LiveUpdate will start immediately after the installation, and it will update pcAnywhere 9.0 to 9.2. Do not restart Windows until after LiveUpdate has run. After LiveUpdate finishes, restart Windows.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is not on a FAT file system and therefore these instructions will not work.

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First - thanks to all for posting and trying to help.
The situation is not good.

When I boot into safe mode - or safe mode with command prompt - I cannot use the keyboard. I type but nothing happens. I tried a USB external keyboard - but that did not work. Thanks Toshiba-MicroSoft-Symantec.

I appear to be *very* locked out of my laptop.

The M200 also does not have an internal CD-DVD drive. I have the external USB DVD drive that was purchased with it. Of course, in order to boot from the restore DVD I need a 'pc-card' DVD drive - *not the USB*. Thanks Toshiba.

Toshiba has been no help at all. They insist that the keyboard not working is not their issue - but because of the PC Anywhere install. Knowing Symantec I can't say for 100% that Toshiba is wrong, but I think they are. I don't see how a PC Anywhere could affect safe mode - I get the sign in screen at least.

I guess I'll have to get a pc-card drive, use the DVD restore of the factory image and then see if, in safe mode, the keyboard works.

I tell ya, I'm ready to go back to a clay brick and a piece of bamboo.

I've thought about this and have concluded that Toshiba is not to blame. The GUI was replaced and this would be out of the hands of toshiba. I also suspect that the PC Anywhere developers never tested safe mode and the keyboard on a Tablet PC.

Did you try the Knoppix? I suspect that will work to rename the file.

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Being that I am not able to boot from a CD I can't use Knopix or the system restore cd. I have to obtain the pc-card DVD drive before I can try either one of those options.

As to Blame - Symantec obviously deserves the lions share of that. It is their piece of crap software that caused this whole issue.

MicroSoft is to blame for a generally crappy OS that lets situations like this happen.

Toshiba deserves blame only for not even mentioning that the restore CD will be useless unless the pc-card DVD drive is used. I could and probably would have purchased the pc-card drive instead of the USB if I had been aware of that.

However if I find out that the keyboard still does not work in safe mode after I have fixed this (done the system restore_ then Toshiba will have some explaining to do.

OK - when all else fails it is time to step back.

I booted up the M200 and let the Error screen display.
Then I tried to map a drive to the laptop using another machine - which worked!!

Then the msgina.dll file was copied to the system32 folder as "awgina.dll" .
The awgina.dll file was not there at all.

Much to my relief the PC booted - but the keyboard still did not work.
Fortunately the tablet virtual keyboard was there and allowed me to enter my password. Why this is not displayed in safe mode is still an issue.

There was no entry for PC Anywhere in the "Add - Remove Programs" function - so I ran the install msi. This prompted me to remove or re-install.
I removed and when I restarted the M200 was back with a functioning keyboard.

Needless to say Symantec PC Anywhere will never be installed on this machine.

Thanks to all for offering your assistance.

I am glad it is working. This is good news except we really aren't done. Would you please boot your Tablet PC into safe mode and see what happens. Make sure it is functioning properly.


I will move this thread to troubleshooting.

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Yes, when restarted in Safe mode the keyboard is now working.
I am able to log on and run programs (like regedit).

Thanks for the follow up.

Took the day off and missed being able to make a suggestion or two.

FWIW, the USB drive I got from Toshiba with my M205 is bootable. I'm not sure if you have the same unit, but I have been able to boot both the M205 and another laptop which has a broken internal slot-loading CD drive using the Toshiba external unti.

I agree with Linuxmon, BTW. Sytem[Won't]Works is typical of the shoddy products coming out of Symantec. Their Internet Security Suite is so good it secures the PC from you being able to boot! We had three seperate callers to my radio show who had hosed their system or net connectivity with a Norton product this morning. Just say :no: to Symantec.

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Just curious, what is the model number?

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Layne P. Heiny / Administrator for Tux Reports Network

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I'll check on Monday when I'm in the office.

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