Easy fix for winscomrssrv.dll: There was a problem starting winscomrssrv.dll

A friend of mine had an error at the startup of his computer. RunDLL There was a problem starting winscomrssrv.dll. The specific module could not be found.

What happened before

Previously he’d been a victim of a trojan virus. His antivirus program quarantined three files from C:\Windows\System32:

• winscomrssrv.dll
• startupchecklibrary.dll
• winlogui.exe

Afterwards, his pc was running fine and smoothly. Windows Defender did not find any threats. Still he got these RunDLL module errors at startup.

How to fix There was a problem starting winscomrssrv.dll

The winscomrssrv.dll and startupchecklibrary.dll errors are definitely the dreg of the malware that was present before.

I was sure all threats were solved. I only needed to remove the references to the (missing) DLL files. Sysinternals Autoruns is a great free lightweight tool to help you with this.

Detailed steps to fix winscomrssrv.dll

1. Download and unzip Autoruns from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
   • It’s also an option to download the Sysinternals Live version of Autoruns.
2. Rightclick the downloaded Autoruns.exe and choose Run As Adminstrator
3. In the Filter box, type winscomrssrv
4. View the result. Any ‘File not Found’ image paths, are save to delete.
5. Do the same for startupchecklibrary. Any File Not Found results can be safely removed.

Community additions

From the comments below, I’ve learned some people still have the error after deleting winscomrssrv.dll and startupchecklibrary.dll.

I found out that there’s an additional scheduled task, named srvhost, that may lead to the error message. To fix, do the following:

1. Run Autoruns.exe as administrator.
2. In the Filterbox up top Enter: srvhost
3. You should see a Task Scheduler entry: \Microsoft\Windows\WDI\SrvHost
4. Right click on this entry and Delete.

You may also see the entry winlogui in Autoruns. As far as I’m informed, this entry should not be run at startup. On my pc at least, entry winlogui is not present. If you’re getting an error about winlogui, you could try to delete it. I think it won’t harm. However, I don’t know what the consequences are.

Final note

Malware often leaves traces behind. Even when the malware is removed by your antivirus program. However, errors like “The specific module could not be found” are not always caused by malware. An upgrade of Windows 10 or uninstallation of 3rd party software may also leave traces. A great example is Logitechs logilda.dll

In most cases, Sysinternals Autoruns.exe may help you remove these kinds of startup errors.