How to fix Vista msnhook.dll error

This doesn’t necessarily affect all Vista users and it seems primarily targeted at users of Asus laptops.  However, it may expand beyond that but I cannot be certain.  If this problem has cropped up on your Asus laptop here’s a relatively easy fix for it.

According to several discussions the problem usually happens after an anti-virus definition update.  The anti-virus software will errantly identify the Asus Direct Console as being infected with a Trojan and prevent it from launching.

Note: post has been updated below to reflect some changes.

Since msnhook.dll is a part of the Asus Direct Console, it too, will fail at launch.  In my case, AVG 8.0 was preventing Direct Console from launching.  Whether or not you wish to fix this will come down to your use of Direct Console.

Direct Console is responsible for controlling the OLED display on G-series laptops and also controls the side flashing lights.

If Direct Console fails to start those features will not function correctly or at all.  The solution is to add the directory C:\Program Files\ASUS\ASUS Direct Console to the exception list in your anti-virus software.

How you do so will depend on your anti-virus software but it should not be too difficult.  It’s not exactly clear on why certain anti-virus applications do this but at least the fix is relatively easy.

If you’re worried that the msnhook.dll file is actually infected that’s probably not the case.  In most cases it just appears to be an error with the anti-virus software.  There’s nothing to worry about and you can safely add the directory containing the file to your exception list.

To make sure you don’t have any further infection, it might also be a smart idea to run a full scan of your system if you haven’t done so in a while.

As with many other Vista errors this isn’t the fault of the operating system.

[IMPORTANT UPDATE:]  It’s still not clear whether or not this was the result of an infection.  To satisfy my own curiosity I did a test.  I manually deleted the dll file from the directory, ran a scan and removed any remaining infections.  I then uninstalled the application and reinstalled it using the disc.

Whatever the cause was, it’s fixed now.  So if you become paranoid over this issue, you may want to try the above instead of just excluding it.

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