DLL error - "Bad Image" (nvspcal.dll)

[Consola]

Hi,

I've been encountering an error message about "nvspcal.dll", only when running reWASD. Usually this will show up upon opening a session in Windows 10 or when I open reWASD to change my profile settings.



I understand this DLL is related to Nvidia GeForce Experience, which is odd since I don't have it installed on my system.
Is reWASD tied to GeForce Experience somehow?

Despite the error, if I click OK multiple times to get rid of the error message, reWASD seems to work fine.

I've already:

Updated Windows;
Uninstalled and reinstalled reWASD;
Updated my Nvidia driver.

[Support Agent]

Looks like Nvidia ShadowPlay Capture, which is a part of NVIDIA GeForce Experience, tries to inject into reWASD, but fails due to a corrupted nvspcap.dll file.

Corruption can be fixed by using a Windows System File Checker tool or, if that won't help, doing a clean re-install of your Nvidia drivers.

To uninstall Nvidia drivers I suggest using Display Driver Uninstaller. It cleans up everything related to Nvidia and AMD video drivers.
After that download the latest Nvidia driver from the official site or this source that I trust and use.
You can install drivers as is or use the NVIDIA driver slimming utility that would allow you to choose every available component before installation. I usually install only core files, video/audio drivers, and PhysX. Not installing NVIDIA GeForce Experience might be a better solution for your issue, unless you need the software.

But all this might not fix the original issue that corrupted the DLL file: which could be a virus or a faulty SSD/HDD. So if clean reinstalling won't help, I suggest scanning for viruses and then the S.M.A.R.T. status of your system drive (which can be done with the CrystalDiskInfo tool). And if it is bad, you should look for a replacement while your drive still works.

reWASDer might have another solution for you so feel free to send a private message if none of these suggestions would work.

[Consola]

Great, thanks for the detailed post. I don't even have GeForce Experience installed and I have been opting out of it since I installed this copy of Windows.
I will try what you suggested and report back in case this could help someone else in the future.

[Support Agent]

Strange. ShadowPlay shows as a part of GeForce Experience here. Could be that it still installs even if GeForce Experience is not selected, like many other things that cannot be opted-out in a standard installation.

[Consola]

The error is gone, but I'm not sure how that happened.

I used the links you provided and uninstalled everything (in safe mode) then reinstalled core + PhysX using the slimmer. Rebooted and the error was still there.
I then attempted a system restore going back far enough to a time when this error didn't occur. The system restore failed - but the error is now gone

Edit: As a last resort I did install GeForce Experience before that last reboot, so maybe that's what fixed the DLL error?