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DLL Errors in Windows
Windows DLL errors are incredibly annoying. What’s up with the obscure messages such as “Your system has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down?” Windows XP DLL error messages are a little more straightforward in that they say things like, “Missing or corrupt DLL,”, “…caused an invalid page fault at DLL…” and “A required DLL was not found” but really what does that mean?
Once you understand what DLLs do and how they interact with the various programs on your computer, the DLL errors begin to make some sense. DLL stands for “Dynamic Link Library”. Think of it as a library of computer programs rather than books and think of the programs being linked to various other programs on the computer.
For instance, a DLL file might exist to perform a certain function that all of the programs that are linked to it can access. This computer function could be a simple “print” command. Instead of each computer software developer having to write their own code to perform a printing operation, instead they can link to a DLL file that controls printing. The result is an easier coding task for the software developer as well as a smaller computer program, thus taking up less space on the user’s system.
Because DLLs are only used as needed, they save the computer’s resources such as Random Access Memory, or RAM.
DLLs make computing more efficient however like all good things, they can fail. A common Windows DLL failure occurs when a DLL suddenly disappears. Why would a DLL disappear? Failing hardware can be the cause, corrupting files on the hard drive including DLL files. If hardware failure is the cause of your DLL woes, you have more than DLL errors to contend with. Another reason DLLs go missing is from failing installations and un-installations of programs.
A new installation often replaces a DLL with either a newer version or an older version of the DLL. This is fine for the new computer because it is designed to work with the newly installed DLL. However, other programs on the system are doomed to fail if they no longer have their required DLLs.
When un-installing a computer program, it’s not uncommon to uninstall related DLLs. Only problem is, other programs residing on the system may rely on those DLLs too. It’s impossible for the average user to know if a particular DLL is truly no longer needed.
When these types of Windows DLL errors occur, you can often overcome them by reinstalling the software that you have uninstalled. You can also check the software manufacturer’s websites of affected programs for updated DLLs or program patches.
Viruses, spyware and other malware can cause DLL troubles by gobbling them up, changing their paths or replacing them. The best defense against these sneaky programs is a good anti-spyware and anti-virus program that’s set up to automatically install updates and scan the system on a regular basis.
Now that you know the main causes of Windows DLL errors, do your best to prevent them by paying close attention to uninstall warning boxes, un-installing through effective means such as the “Add and Remove Programs” option in the Control Panel and keeping your system protected with an internet security software program such as anti-spyware and anti-virus programs.