Microsoft Paint Update

Microsoft, Software

There is an update for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95 which updates Paint to the Windows 98 version.

The patch is designed to correct incompatibilities between Microsoft Office 97 and the original 32-bit version of Paint.

System Requirements:

  • Windows 95, A, B, C
  • Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6, SP6a
  • Windows NT 4.0 Server, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6, SP6a
  • Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5

The update will fix incompatibilities in:

  • Microsoft Office 97, SP1, SP2
  • Microsoft Office 2000, SP1, SP2
  • Microsoft Office 2002 (XP), SP1

The Problem:

There is a incompatibility between Paint and Office 97’s Graphics Import filters. If you try and open a non .BMP or .PCX image in Paint you will recieve the following error:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.
If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.

If you click Details, you receive an error message similar to the Following message:

MSPAINT caused an invalid page fault in module MSPAINT.EXE at
0137:0042d3fe.

Patch Installation:

Windows 95 FAT or FAT 32:

  1. Download the Paint95.exe file from Q162500.
  2. Double-click the file you downloaded in step 1 to expand it.
  3. Copy the Mspaint.exe file to the Program Files\Accessories folder.
  4. Copy the three .dll files to the Windows\System folder.
  5. Restart your computer.

Windows NT 4.0 FAT:

  1. Download Paintnt.exe from Q162500.
  2. Double-click the file you downloaded in step 1 to expand it.
  3. Copy the .exe and .dll files to the Winnt\System32 folder.
  4. You will not be able to copy the Msvcrt.dll file while you are in a Windows NT session. Boot your computer from a MS-DOS boot disk and then copy the file.
  5. Restart your computer.
  6. Re-apply the latest service pack.

Windows NT 4.0 NTFS:

  1. Download Paintnt.exe from Q162500.
  2. Download the InUse utility from here
  3. Double-click the file you downloaded in step 1 to expand it.
  4. Copy the .exe and .dll files to the Winnt\System32 folder.
  5. You will not be able to copy the Msvcrt.dll file while you are in a Windows NT session. Open a command prompt and browse to the InUse.exe’s folder.
  6. Type inuse.exe Drive:\Location\msvcrt.dll Drive:\Winnt\System32\msvcrt.dll
    Where Drive is the drive letter which the new msvcrt.dll presides (e.g. C:) and Location is the directory which the msvcrt.dll file is found (e.g. \temp).
    e.g. inuse.exe c:\temp c:\winnt\system32\msvcrt.dll
  7. Restart your computer. The file will be unloaded from Memory, and on restart will be replaced before it is re-loaded into the Page File.
  8. Re-apply the latest service pack.

What changes:

Paint will be updated to the Windows 98 version. This includes the compatibility fixes as well as some minor program improvments.

There is a bug in the update which causes problems when maximiing the window. The bug will not effect system stability or the performance of Paint, and is an aestetic error only.

The patch will also update the Icon that Paint uses to the Windows 98 version.