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Fix MMC Cannot Open the File C:\WINDOWS\system32\dfrg.msc Problem

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

Jul
13
2008
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One of my client’s computer encountered a problem which is unable to run Windows Disk Defragmenter. Windows Disk Defragmenter is a computer program included in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed (and sometimes increase the amount of usable space) by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, or defragmenting. The purpose is to optimize the time it takes to read and write files to/from the disk by minimizing head travel time and maximizing the transfer rate.

The problem is whenever he tries to run the Disk Defragmenter shortcut from Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter, only an error window “MMC cannot open the file C:\Windows\system32\dfrg.msc. This may be because the file does not exist, is not an MMC console, or was created by a later version of MMC. This may also be because you do not have sufficient access rights to the file.” appears.

MMC cannot open the file C:\Windows\system32\dfrg.msc. This may be because the file does not exist, is not an MMC console, or was created by a later version of MMC. This may also be because you do not have sufficient access rights to the file

Here are some suggestions on how to fix running disk defragmenter problem in Windows.


One of the methods below should be able to help you restore Windows Disk Defragmenter. Try the first solution and then run Disk Defragmenter. If it didn’t fix the problem, continue with the second one and etc.

Solution 1: Make sure you have rights to run Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and MSC file.

Solution 2: Go to Start > Run, type regsvr32 msxml3.dll and click OK.
MMC cannot open the file C:\Windows\system32\dfrg.msc. This may be because the file does not exist, is not an MMC console, or was created by a later version of MMC. This may also be because you do not have sufficient access rights to the file

Solution 3: Go to Start > Run, type regsvr32 dfrgsnap.dll and click OK. Then again go to Run, type regsvr32 dfrgui.dll and click OK.

Solution 4: Go to C:\Windows\Inf, right click at dfrg.inf file and select Install.
Install DFRG.INF

Solution 5: Go to Start > Run and type sfc /scannow. Make sure you have your Windows XP installation disc in the CD/DVD drive.

Solution 6: Download and apply .MSC association fix.

Solution 7: Download and apply Defrag SnapIn registry fix.

Solution 8: Download and install latest MMC 3.0 from Microsoft.

One of the methods above should be able to help you restore your disk defragmenter. But for my case, I’ve gone though all methods above and it still doesn’t restore Windows Disk Defragmenter. Every time I run defrag, I still get the error MMC Cannot Open the File C:\WINDOWS\system32\dfrg.msc. After days of trying, finally I just decided to rename the dfrg.msc file at C:\WINDOWS\system32\ to dfrg-renamed.msc. I ran dfrg-renamed.msc, and I was shocked to see that it was able to run! So I created a shortcut for dfrg-renamed.msc and place it at Start menu and desktop for my client.

Until today I still couldn’t figure out what is causing this weird behavior but this workaround allows me to run Disk Defragmenter without getting the MMC Cannot Open the File C:\WINDOWS\system32\dfrg.msc error. I’d appreciate if you can share with me what might be the cause of this problem and how to really fix it.


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    • Prashanth

      Great Raymond. You have done lot of analysis on this. Maybe the cause is here –
      http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326574

    • http://erwin.ried.cl Erwin Ried

      Never seen this problem on my systems

    • miden

      ooh! i acutally have had this problem before! thoguh bac kthen, ididnt noe what to do so i just rebooted :/

    • Stewart

      See this maybe once a year.

      In my experience its sometimes caused by removing too much with nLite and sometimes by a poor uninstall of Diskeeper.
      I’m not criticising these products.

      I’ve written a crude batch file that simply replaces/overwrites the appropriate files and/or registry keys.

    • John

      I had a similar problem once (with another program). The REN seemed to also solve my problem. Several days later, I REN\’d it back to its original name, and it worked. I think Windows gets dyslexic sometimes, or the NTFS might get corrupted. The REN seems to correct the problem for some reason.

    • ryanne

      hi raymond you manage to fix the problem you posted here.. wat about typing rstrui in run command and giving you this error message
      —————————
      rstrui
      —————————
      Windows cannot find \’rstrui.exe\’. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.
      —————————
      OK
      —————————

      I try to ready this problem as I went to my friends house and type this \”rstrui\” in the run command. I was supprised that same error message popup. So I think it is not really an error on my computer. by the way I can still launch system restore on all programs>accessories>system tools>system restore and no problem. My question is can you make system restore launch on run command?

    • Glenda

      You Rock! I’ve been hours trying to fix my disk defragmenter. 20 minutes on your page and…problem solved! #8 worked for me.

      Thanks

    • philip

      Stewart is right..this problem is almost always caused by Diskeeper in a normal users computer. The reason you can\\\’t find it is cuz, they have uninstalled it long before (which is the cause of the problem).

    • William Brown

      Your the solution after #8 fixed the problem i renamed and pinned it to the start menu thanks for your research and solutions God bless you Mightly!!!

    • Sean

      thanks man, #8 did it for me, took me like 15 min or so to figure out what to do for it but i eventually got it and now my defrag works

    • francis

      C’est totalement étrange, mais cela marche.
      Je ne sais pas non plus pourquoi….

      J’ai cherché des semaines, essayé toutes les combines possibles, sans jamais trouver de solution… puis…

      J’ai trouvé cette astuce sur le net, ici, et cela fonctionne, mais je ne m’explique pas pourquoi…

      Vous allez voir, la manoeuvre est d’une simplicité enfantine et sans danger.

      Vous renommez le fichier drfg.msc de c:\windows\system32 en dfrgfichierenommé.msc ou ce que vous voulez…

      Et le défragmenteur se met à remarcher c’est assez étonnant…

      si on le renomme dfrgtoto.msc, cela marche aussi, de même que dfrgtotofaidugato.msc

      Si quelqu’un a une explication…

    • ricky

      many thanks Raymond, #8 stopped my hairfall :)

    • Pelouro

      Tenía el mismo problema que tu y me ha funcionado la solución 8. He tenido que encontrar el idioma adecuado y todo perfecto.
      Gracias

    • Сергей

      Помогло – Решение 8: Загрузка и установить последнюю MMC 3,0 от Microsoft.
      http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907265

      Спасибо.

    • sujahat

      just did this for a client, thank for everything.. not sure why its coming..

    • http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=61FC1C66-06F2-463C-82A2-CF20902FFAE0&displaylang=en Bernie

      Fix MMC Cannot Open the File C:\WINDOWS\system32.

      hi are you having trouble with this problem above
      to fix this go to the URI above and download Microsoft Management Console 3.0 for Windows XP (KB907265).
      this will fix that problem.

      it works.
      cheers bernie

    • http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=61FC1C66-06F2-463C-82A2-CF20902FFAE0&displaylang=en Bernie
    • Stoyan

      Thanks a lot! Solution 8 worked for me. God bless you :-)

    • http://Good Franky

      解決8 ： Download下載 and install latest MMC 3.0 from Microsoft.並安裝最新的MMC 3.0從Microsoft 。

      This is OK , thanks!

    • Ladybug1440

      THank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much, I contacted HP who told me to do a system restore on my 1.5 yr old media center pc, Ive already done 2 since purchasing this pc, and that seems to be their solution to everything when they dont know how to fix a problem. I followed your advice EXACTLY after removing IE8 from my pc, which I believe the problem began After downloading the Beta version IE. It also caused a problem with my Help and support application on the pc. After performing each of your solutions, I rebooted my computer and Now Everything works like new. Thank you again for your kind advice and posting it so others could get their systems up and working again!

    • ken

      Thanks man it also fixed my system restore as that wouldn’t work earlier a trojan caused the dll to turn itself off It was a trojan in back up in the system 32 folder,again thank you.

    • Acid_Boy

      Many thanks MAN!!!

    • Александр

      Спасибо Вам!! Решение №8- и у меня все проблемы решились!!!

    • Mandi

      I just renamed the dfrg.msc file and now my defrag works fine… I tried the Hotfix first but that did help.

    • SCOOTER_CS

      перепробовал всё, сработал 8 метод, спасибо большое!!!

    • maycon gouveia

      muito abrigado resovel meu pro…

    • Lame Duck

      Great work! Thanks… downloading and re-installing MMC from Microsoft did the trick for me!

    • DANIEL CABRAL

      Muito bom esse tutorial. A SOLUÇÃO 6 resolveu meu problema. Muito brigado.

    • http://DEFRAG paolo

      è GRANDIOSO STò SITO ………….BRAVI I RAGAZZI DELLA REDAZIONE!!!!!!!!CIAO A TUTTI!!!!!!!!!!!

    • http://dfrg.msc Observador

      Cara eu estava com o problema do tópico acima, fiz tudo que foi indicado e não deu certo. Foi ai que me veio a ideia de instalar o sp3 e o desfragmentador voltou a funcionar. Obs: Eu ja havia instalado o sp3 anteriormente só que não gostei e desinstalei-o, mas só fui fazer a desfragmentação há uns 3 dias atrás e observei este problema. Resumindo: Problema com o dfrg.msc resolvido com a reinstalação do sp3.

    • Jill

      Hi,

      I will like to check that for solution 8, which link should I download? I’m kind of blur with this and it actually stated “Release Date: March 13, 2006″. Does this mean its an latest version?
      Windows Server 2003, x86-based versions
      Windows Server 2003, Itanium-based versions
      Windows Server 2003, x64-based versions

      Pls guide me through this solution as i tried all others and it doesnt help.Headache!!

      Thanks!!

    • Art

      Had same problem with different .msc, renaming was my only solution. Problem started after MS update

    • Georgi

      thaks of lot, solution 8 resolved my problem. Thanks again.

    • Niki

      Man you rock, slution 8 saved my day….
      Just to let you know i read about it and for my case what caused the problem was that i installed service pack 3 and i had some problems. After i removed service pack 3 then probably it removed also the dfrg.msc…..

    • Ariel

      TKS!!!! Finally works the last one (download & reinstall
      MMC)

    • Lefty

      I solved the problem by adding new item in the mmc console:
      Go to Start > Run and type mmc
      then add new item in the console:
      File>add/remove>add>disk defragmentation
      then save the console.

      That’s it. It works.
      (It also works with renaming of dfrg file)

    • http://backyardiganslyrics.blogspot.com Nhel

      Thanks for this one. it really helps. til next time! i hope you contribute more to fixing anything about computers

    • vyr

      solution no8 not valid anymore because it’s not compatible with SP3. Renaming not working for me – any *.msc file behaves the same way, regardless its name. Adding modules to mmc console? Yes, it’s works but only temporary. I can’t save! At least I can reach msc’s that way :) Reinstalling windows it’s only solution I guess.

    • vyr

      ok, I tried several things at once and I don’t know witch of them really helped :) First I tried solution no2 but with all msxml*.dll files (there are 3 of them). Funny is that exactly with msxml3.dll I failed – some error about something :) So I downloaded msxml3.dll and replaced mine. Still no go with regsrv32. Then I launched reg files mentioned in sol no 6&7. Finally I restarted machine and everything was ok, all msc’s working now. What MS tells about this problem:
      http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914231

    • Tebas’

      Muito obrigado, solucionou o problema

    • khamim

      tHANKS BRO, It’s work!

    • Alvaro

      Thanks man…renaming to dfrg.msc worked since it was only labeled as dfrg.

    • Nikolas

      Raymond, obrigado pela ajuda, eu testei quase todos os métodos, e apenas o 8 foi eficaz, muito obrigado pela ajuda MESMO!!!

    • http://dnbbeats.com Bill

      Wow, just went through all the solutions and low and behold #8 was the winner!
      I can’t believe it!

      Cheers…. you are a genius.

      Bill

    • Robert

      This actually works!! I have spend 2 and a half hours trying to find a program that will work for my computer. Tried this and It works. I am totally greatful.

    • karan

      thnx bro !!!

      Its working !!!!

    • http://www.garagedooropeners.us Bearcat

      Wanted to share may successful defrag tool repair.

      With the help of this article and a little luck …

      Per Solution 8: I download and install latest MMC 3.0 from Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907265

      There were other prerequisite per microsoft’s website:
      For Windows XP, x86-based versions, you must have Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)… and …
      Version 2.0.50727 of the Microsoft .NET Framework to run managed framework snap-ins that are designed and built for MMC 3.0.

      I obviously had SP2 but I needed the Version 2.0.50727 of the Microsoft .NET Framework.

      Then went back to the Solution 3 from this article.
      Go to Start > Run, type regsvr32 dfrgsnap.dll and click OK. Then again go to Run, type regsvr32 dfrgui.dll and click OK.

      It worked for me after that ! :))

      Also from this article you may need solution Solution 4: Go to C:\Windows\Inf, right click at dfrg.inf file and select Install.

      Hope that helps.

    • supersyd

      Thanks a whole bunch to Raymond for your help. Your solution #2 solved my defrag problem!

    • Anna

      Thanxxxx…solution n.8 worked =)))))

    • Anna

      Thank you sooo much!!!! #8 worked!!!

    • david

      rename to dfrg.msc worked

    • al

      Save yourself a lot of trouble rename the dfrg.msc file at C:\WINDOWS\system32\ to dfrg-renamed.msc or dfrg-(insert anything).msc The change all of your short cuts.

      This really works and is VERY simple!!!!

    • Cubina

      You are great, I renamed the file, and it solved my problem too, thanks a lotttttt!

    • http://merci abdo

      merci

    • Hristian Kochev

      Thank you very much, renaming of dfrg.msc to [anything].msc works indeed. However I really want to find a fix instead of workaround, to have the “Defragment now” button working.

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