Re: Cute FTP ver 9 case 00097708

On 2/10/2022 1:05 AM, Robert Baer wrote:
>     Way back about Jan 7 2022 I bought Cute FTP version 9.
> 
>     Got the msi, it installs but there was a missing dll so it will not run.
> 
>    Since then, i have trying (maybe 6 times or so: case # 00097708) to get support to do something to get it running.
> 
>    I have been asking then pleading for resolution to no avail.
> 
>    The missing dll is api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll; if anyone has that, please e-mail it to me.
> 
>    Can anyone help?
> 
>    Thanks.  R. Baer

These are Microsoft DLLs, as you might guess.

And I believe Microsoft may have got a patent for
what is in those DLLs.

At one time, there was a thing called "DLL Hell".

The file    api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll   is a "mapping" DLL.

It maps something CuteFTP needs, to something a particular OS
and DLL contain. You will notice, from the files with that naming
convention, that the files are tiny.

api-* do not contain code, they contain linkages, and the file extension
of DLL is just a sham.

Just as the EXE on a Metro app is a sham and it's just a manifest.

That's my understanding of the "theory" of these things.

*******

But I'm not really sure these are OS materials. I tried
to find copies of some of these before - I found one already
on the machine. A second one "wasn't available... anywhere" :-/

So if these are static resources dumped by some Cumulative OS Update,
it's not apparent they're all getting dumped, or something.

As far as I'm concerned, this has traded one "DLL Hell" for
a second "DLL Hell", and is not an advancement of the arts.

There was some installer for a program I unpacked once, where
it had several sets of those kinds of files. And I figured
"well, that means these groups support individual OSes". Yet,
on other programs, there's only the one set. Like Firefox has a
single set of those. You could then run the Firefox EXE through Virustotal
and see what DLLs it actually calls. Hopefully not the mapped ones,
but the layer underneath.

I'm guessing there are a limitless number of them.
If this was a static resource, you'd think Microsoft would
just put the whole shitload in a single ZIP and give it to us.

And what should happen, is you'll ask us for   api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll
and we'll find it. Then, 5 seconds later, the program will ask
for a second one you don't got. You'll place another post on
USENET. Rinse and repeat. Until we hit a brick wall, and one
of the ones you need, we dond gots. I've been to this
horror show already.

*******

I'm getting hits on Win7, Win8, Win10 for that file.
Firefox, Thunderbird, Seamonkey plus some other places.

On Win10, the file is in here:

C:\Windows\System32\downlevel

The folder contains 112 files, including your requested file.

*******

( https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/apiindex/windows-apisets?redirectedfrom=MSDN )

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/apiindex/api-set-loader-operation

    Reverse forwarding:

    Imported DLL: feature1.dll

    Windows PC -> feature1.dll
    HoloLens -> feature1.dll forwarder -> api-feature1-l1-1-0.dll -> feature1_holo.dll
    IoT -> feature1.dll forwarder -> api-feature1-l1-1-0.dll -> feature1_iot.dll

    Direct forwarding:

    Imported API set: api-feature1-l1-1-0.dll    [see files like this in Firefox folder]

    Windows PC -> feature1.dll
    HoloLens -> feature1_holo.dll
    IoT -> feature1_iot.dll

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_Walker

   "As of October 2017 an Open Source C# rewrite of Dependency Walker called

    Dependencies.exe   <===

    has been released on GitHub. It does not yet offer the full range of
    Dependency Walker features, but has been updated to handle Windows API-sets  <===
    and WinSxS (side-by-side assemblies).
   "

What that may help with, is make a "list" of the missing goods,
so you won't be asking for one at a time. It does not guarantee
they are on the machine or anything.

Like maybe

    Dependencies.exe cuteftp.exe      # try scanning the main executable

There should be a coloring scheme that tells you shit is missing.

*******

Next, note on Github

https://github.com/lucasg/Dependencies

The downloads are here. The first one will set off your AV, because it
uses "peview.exe" to examine the file. The second one should be allowed
to download by your AV, because "peview.exe" is missing.

https://github.com/lucasg/Dependencies/releases/download/v1.11.1/Dependencies_x64_Release.zip

https://github.com/lucasg/Dependencies/releases/download/v1.11.1/Dependencies_x64_Release_.without.peview.exe.zip

"Thank you for flying Microsoft, now Buh Bye already"

    Paul