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It sure seems like this has to have an obvious answer, but it's actually the first time I've noticed this.

I have two Windows 7 Pro x64, domain joined, computers. They are both up to date according to Windows Update.

Today, we discovered that some of the Win 7 machines in our organization are having trouble connecting to wifi, but not all. I discovered information about a Hotfix that appears to directly address the issue.

The hotfix, updates the rastls.dll file in C:\Windows\System32. So, I looked at both Win 7 machines (1 working, 1 not working on wifi) and found that the working system has rastls.dll version 6.1.7601.23403 (which is newer than the hotfix version) and the non-working system has rastls.dll version 6.1.7601.18584 (which is older than the hotfix version).

I can't find any reference to which Windows update may have updated the working machine. I'm also fairly certain there were no manual installations of the above mentioned hotfix.

Sure, I could probably install the hotfix, but it's still older than the version on the working Win 7 machine.

The question is, how do two completely up to date Windows 7 systems have a far different version of rastls.dll?

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  • My only suggestion is that the later DLL was installed in the Microsoft redistributables included when installing another package which depends on having this revision or later. Is that possible?
    – AFH
    Commented Nov 21, 2017 at 21:44
  • @AFH no, that are the GDR and LDR branch. both branches have different version numbers.
    – magicandre1981
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:08
  • @magicandre1981 - Thanks for the comment and your answer. I'd never come across the LDR/GDR branches before.
    – AFH
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:37
  • @AFH since Windows 8.1 Microsoft no longer uses different branches so yes, you maybe not noticed this
    – magicandre1981
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:40
  • @magicandre1981 - None my W7 machines was used for development and all were updated to W10 during the free update period, so that is why I won't have noticed it.
    – AFH
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 18:25

1 Answer 1

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The file versions indicate the branch you use.

The 6.1.7601.1xxxx version means you use the General Distribution Release (GDR) branch which includes only stable fixes, no custom hotfixes.

The 6.1.7601.2xxxx version means you use the Limited Distribution Release (LDR) branch which includes custom hotfixes for particular fixes + the security fixes from General Distribution Release (GDR).

When you install a new Windows Update each month, the installer checks which branch you have for a specific file and install the corresponding file rom the used branch.

If 1 device gets the 6.1.7601.2xxxx LDR branch, it means you had a hotfix installed in the past to fix a special issue.

If you now install the hotfix on device 2, the TrustedInstaller.exe (Windows Module Installer) changes the branch and install the LDR version from the last public update and you now still have the security fix + all the included hotfixes for that file.

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  • This is excellent info and is something new I learned! Thanks. I installed the hotfix, and saw the version updated to the expected LDR version. Unfortunately, Windows update does not try to update it beyond that to match the newer version on the other laptop. I was unable to determine how the LDR or any newer version was previously installed. But this does answer my question and I'm happy with it. Apparently something in the past updated that file and it shall remain a mystery. :)
    – Appleoddity
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 17:26
  • @Appleoddity I checked my Win7 VM and the version 6.1.7601.23403 is installed by the Rollup KB3125574. this update bundles a lot of hotfixes. Install it on the other system to have both system at the same patch level.
    – magicandre1981
    Commented Nov 23, 2017 at 15:52
  • I’ll test this next week. Thanks for the info. Can you tell me how you determined it was kb3125574? If that is the case, I’ll have to figure out why Windows Update isn’t applying it uniformly. I know this is a special “service pack” like update, just not sure why it wouldn’t get installed on all systems if it has previous fixes incorporated that aren’t pushed by other individual updates.
    – Appleoddity
    Commented Nov 23, 2017 at 17:10
  • I've already explained some time ago how to detect which KB updates a file. I'M nout sure if the rollup was ever released via Windows Update. I've installed it manually.
    – magicandre1981
    Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 14:25

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