Thanks for taking the time to reproduce the error.

I looked at the link you gave, and was unable to get my system into a low enough
safe-mode such that I could swap in a new wldap32.dll.

So I switched tactics, and started unlinking the files and replacing them
with copies one at a time. It appears that not linking Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
is sufficient to restore functionality.




Regarding why people use linked directories when running multiple clients at once: Linking directories
reduces file system contention when all clients simultaneously access the same files (such as when porting into Dalaran, for a busy case of what is happening all the time) People using solid states disks won't see much benefit speed-wise, although the size savings still applies, not matter what your underlying storage technology may be.