HP Software prevents GIMP from working

PROBLEM:
Running GIMP on my HP laptop (ProBook 4520s running Windows 7) causes the following error:

"The procedure entry point libintl_setlocale could not be located in the dynamic link library intl.dll"

GIMP does not start up properly.

CAUSE:
According to GIMP this is caused by the placement of a file named intl.dll in the Windows or Windows\System32 folder causing conflicts with GIMP's intl.dll. The file in the system folder takes precedence, preventing GIMP from starting up correctly.

In my particular case the offending file was placed there by software loaded as standard onto HP laptops, HP Protect Tools Security Manager. 


SOLUTION:
Rename or remove the intl.dll file in the system directory.

You might want to think twice about this if you use the software responsible for placing the file there. By all means rename and see whether you get any warnings or errors in any of the programs you run. I didn't use the HP software; in fact I found it quite annoying. Two programs in particular use this file: DPAgent.exe and DPAdminWizard.exe. Renaming the file intl-old.dll caused two error messages to display when I booted up my laptop:

I got rid of these by going into Services and changing the Startup Type from Automatic to Manual. I'm sure that uninstalling the software would be just as satisfactory.

I'm glad I didn't spend the time configuring HP's Protect Tools only to then have to stop running it. According to GIMP "intl.dll has no place in System32 directory". I will refrain from any further comment, except to say that this is not the only thing that irritates me about my HP laptop; USB ports to the front do not make sense.