Update anaconda failed - Entry point not found

Question

I have just tried to update my anaconda environment to the latest version and I am now receiving errors. I opened the conda environment as an admin, and the commands issued were:

conda update conda
conda update anaconda

First command finished fine. Second command produced error:

pythonw.exe - Entry Point Not Found

The procedure entry point ?PyWinObject_FromULARGE_INTEGER@@YAPEAU_object@@AEAT_ULARGE_INTEGER@@@Z could not be located in the dynamic link library c:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\pythoncom37.dll

I have found a reference to this sort of error that requires me to copy a file libssl-1-1-x64.dll from Anaconda3/Library/bin with the one from Anaconda3/DLLs.

How to Fix Entry Point Not Found while installing libraries in conda environment

However, I do not have that file, in the source location. Is there any commands I can issue to download this file again, or somewhere online I can safely download that one file from?

Ferretti

Answer 1

Sorry all - the clue was in the error message. The entry on how to fix entry point led me in the right direction. but it was the pythoncom37.dll file I needed to copy.

That's what you get for blindly following instructions.

Many thanks.

Ferretti

Answer 2

Got the same error, when updating conda.

However, the file pythoncom37.dll was located in C:\Windows\System32. Turns out the file was a left-over from a previous update of Python 3.7.5 to Python 3.8, i.e. not related to the installation of conda itself. My guess is that conda registered with Python 3.7 and then failed to use the dll from an incompatible installation.

Solution: Removed pythoncom37.dll and pywintypes37 from C:\Windows\System32.

Sedimentation

This works for me. – Tremble

perfect solution, thanks – Evangelin

Answer 3

I had the same problem while updating tensorflow and other packages using anaconda python3 with sublime text3.

To solve this, I've deleted all the pythoncom37.dll in directory shown from the error window.

Replacing the file from other directory did not work.

Also reinstalling conda, upgrading conda, reinstalling sublimetext3 or tensorflow did not help as well.

Podolsk

Hi Edward. Welcome to the community. Thanks for the response. The fix that worked for me, may not be what works for other people. Hopefully this will still help someone else who comes across the posts, which is what SO is all about. – Ferretti

Answer 4

Given that there seem to be a lot of answers and some work for for different people with different setups, python versions and circumstances, a quick summary of things to try.

1. Go to [envpath]\Scripts and run py pywin32_postinstall.py -install to update the pywin32 dependencies
2. Copy both files found in [anacondaPath]\Lib\site-packages\pywin32_system32 to C:\Windows\System32
3. Install pywin32 with conda instead of pip with conda install pywin32
4. Force pywin32 to a particular version (e.g. 224 for Python 3.7) pip install --upgrade pywin32==224
5. Add \Lib\site-packages\pywin32_system32 to your path environment variables
6. Uninstall pypiwin32 and install pywin32. pip uninstall and pip install pywin32
7. Download the latest Visual C++ version and restart the computer (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads-2647da03-1eea-4433-9aff-95f26a218cc0)
8. Downgrade to e.g. Python 3.6 if possible for your purposes

If any of those worked, commenting which one in your case may be helpful to understand what works when:)

List item

Ramburt

The first approach worked for me. Additionally I had to delete pythoncom36.dll and pywintypes36.dll in the Scripts folder. – Fluoro

pip uninstall pywin32 fixed the issue for me – Croatia

Answer 5

Had the same problem as on the picture above, solved it using these steps.

• removed the file pythoncom37.dll from the environment in question
• removed the file C:\tools\Anaconda3\Library\bin\pythoncom37.dll
• run conda install --force-reinstall nb_conda_kernels ipykernel
• repeat per environment.

Be aware that this will also upgrade all environment packages in the active environment.

Handbarrow

Answer 6

When I had this error, it did not show a path for the entry point.

I tried reinstalling anaconda and it didn't resolve the issue.

I found the path by doing pip install win32, which stated the path to the library that was was in use. It turned out it was connecting to a corrupt roaming profile version, so renaming the roaming profile folder (to _OLD) resolved the issue.

Cauca

Answer 7

I had the same problem. But my virtual environments all worked okay, so I had a workaround:

1. Create a new virtual environment called 'env_base' with all standard anaconda packages

conda create -n env_base anaconda python=3.7

2. Activate it

conda activate env_base

3. Create the kernel

conda install -c anaconda ipykernel

python -m ipykernel install --user --name=env_base

Then use this virtual environment as the base jupyter notebook. You can replace your launch shortcut with the link for this one and it is as good as having the actual Jupyter notebook working with base packages.

It doesn't fix the problem, but it sidesteps it effectively.

Stannum

Answer 8

I also had this error about file pythoncom37.dll.

I noticed that pythoncom37.dll in that directory had an older file date (and a smaller file size) as some pythoncom37.dll in other directories. I simply replaced the older dll with a newer version.

This fixed it for me.

Embryogeny