Can I fix the the error message "ac1st17.dll was not found" without re-installing the program (that didn't fix it and was painful)? I click on the acad.exe link and it comes up with this "Unable to Locate Component" message. Thanks for your help! 

We are talking about AutoCAD Desktop 2007 right?You tried to fix the problem by uninstalling AutoCAD then reinstalling?Did you follow the recommended procedures as per AutoDesk when you did this?Did you have AD 2007 running without problems some time in the past?