MS UPDATE FAIL causes api-ms-win-downlevel-user32-l1-1-0.dll MISSING

Re-installed IE now version 11 and no different i.e. can load IE

Hi

I am a newbie here and not a techie but....but seem to have got here by a somewhat different route.  Maybe this will help others and maybe some suggestions may help me too.

I use Outlook 2007 and - perhaps - 2 weeks ago I realised that I couldn't download the images associated with emails (always had in the past if I wanted). [ I have a red x or blank box in the email message].  When I answer YES to the do you want load images nothing appears to happen.  If exit the email it asks me if I want to save the changes - so it thinks it has made changes but they are not visible.

I tried to use a dll fixer to install api-ms-win-downlevel-user32-l1-1-0.dll but that said it could not access the internet (perhaps trying with IE).

I then found another 'solution'  http://www.msoutlook.info/question/588 which suggested the problem was with IE.  It is years since I used IE (Firefox / Opera and sometime Chrome) so tried to open IE and it tells me it can't open IE because api-ms-win-downlevel-advapi32-l1-1-0.dll is missing try a reinstall

I'll pursue and update - need to close all

+1 for having this issue and for mind it's related to the installation of IE10 and or IE11.

I didn't fully recitfy the issue but here's a workaround.

1. Perform a system restore (if available) taking you to a point before the IE10/IE11 insttallation attempt was performed.
2. Go the Control Panel > Windows Update > Change Settings
3. Set Important Updates to 'Never Check for Updates' to prevent IE10 from installing automatically
4. Download and install either Chrome/FireFox/Opera etc
5. Go the Control Panel > Programs and Features
6. Click 'Turn Windows Features on or off'
7. Clear the tick from Internet Explorer 9 then reboot

With this in place IE is removed/disabled and you use either Chrome/FireFox/Opera etc to browse the web. You can reset the Windows Update settings and run a scan. WU should not detect IE10 and install it automatically.

Now I have a hunch the following IE active-x/add-ons were installed

• Google Toolbar (not a suspect)
• McAfee (Maybe)
• Windows Live Mesh (prime suspect)

Unsure for certain if these were the root cause.

I had this same problem about a year ago. The only thing that worked was a clean re install of Win 7. Since it had come pre-installed on my computer it was a REAL hassle trying to get a disc from MS, but they finally relented. Once re-installed I occasionally got a "Windows not genuine" message, but after entering the code about a dozen times that stopped too.

ChrisPantaz is correct, I am afraid. The only way to fix this is to do a COMPLETE Win 7 re-install. Fixes don't work.

mine started as a clean install - then after several hundred MS updates I try to move to IE11 and get this issue.