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Why is it important to register the dll file in windows. What are *.ocx files, and how to register them? Where to look for *.dll and *.ocx files

Model of multi-component objects ( C omponent O bject M odel - COM) is the main means of interaction between programs of any type: libraries, applications, system software, etc. and defines a standard mechanism by which one piece of software (the server) provides its services to another (the client), which is ensured by the use of certain communication protocols between them (between the client and the server). The server can be a dynamic link library (DLL) that is loaded while the application is running, or a separate independent process that can be a component of an application or system program, or even a process running on another computer. To find the server the client needs, special information from the Windows registry is used, which is generated when registration server in the system, most often in the form of a dynamically loaded DLL library module. Registration is necessary because programs do not work with the DLL, OCX, ACX, EXE files themselves, but with objects that represent a specific set of program interfaces. The following registry keys are used to register DLLs:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID- when registering COM library objects for all system users;

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID- when registering COM library objects only for the current user;

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\CLSID- for registering 32-bit DLLs in 64-bit Windows OS;

When registering, a key with a name equivalent to the globally unique identifier is created in the specified registry section GUID registered object. GUID, in relation to COM, is a class identifier. To distinguish class identifiers from other identifiers, they use a registry subkey called CLSID. A GUID is a 128-bit hex value enclosed in curly braces:

(23170F69-40C1-278A- 1000-000100020000

When registering in the registry, a subkey is created with a name corresponding to the GUID, containing information about the path and name of the executable file, its version, registration time, information about the developer, and other parameters that determine the specific properties of the registered object. Deleting or corrupting registration data causes the registered system component or application program to become inoperable, usually accompanied by a DLL lookup error message and a prompt to reinstall the problematic software. Instead of reinstalling, it is quite possible to get by by re-registering the damaged object using the utility regsvr32.exe available in all versions of the Windows family of operating systems.

Utility regsvr32.exe is a standard command line program for registering and unregistering OLE controls, ActiveX controls, and DLLs in the Windows Registry. On 64-bit versions of Windows, there are two versions of the file regsv32.exe:

64-bit version in the catalog %systemroot%\System32(usually C:\Windows\System32)

32-bit version in the catalog %systemroot%\SysWoW64(usually C:\Windows\SysWoW64)

The utility requires elevated privileges to operate, so the command prompt window must be opened with administrator rights (“Run as administrator”).

On startup regsvr32.exe without command line parameters, or when launched with incorrect parameters, a hint is displayed:

REGSVR32 command line format:

Regsvr32 ] DLL file

/u- - calls DllUnInstall, unregisters the server

/i- calls DllInstall, passing it an optional command_string as a parameter;

/n- does not call DllRegisterServer; can be used with the /I switch;

/s– “quiet” mode; message boxes are not displayed;

Examples of using regsvr32.exe:

regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7-zip32.dll"- unregister the specified DLL. If cancellation is successful, the following message is displayed:

To suppress message output, use the parameter /s:

regsvr32 /u /s "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7-zip.dll"

As a result of executing this command, the 7-Zip archiver item will disappear from the Windows Explorer right-click context menu. To restore it, you need to register 7-zip.dll with the command:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7-zip.dll"

You must not forget about the bit depth of registered objects in 64-bit versions of the OS. If it is necessary to register a 32-bit object, you must explicitly specify the path for the 32-bit edition of the utility regsvr32:

%SystemRoot%\syswow64\regsvr32.exe

Or without using environment variables:

C:\Windows\System32\regsvr32.exe

As an additional software tool for managing the registration of COM objects, it is very convenient to use the free utility from Nirsoft RegDLLView.exe. The program does not require installation on the system, is small in size and allows you to:

Receive a convenient list of all objects registered in the system.

Register or unregister selected objects.

Create a reg file to perform unregistration of one or more DLLs.

Register or re-register the specified file.

In addition, it is possible to check the digital signatures of executable files of registered objects, view or change their properties, and also launch the registry editor with information displayed for the selected GUID through the “Open in Regedit” context menu item, called up with the right mouse button.

Installing a game or heavy application involves automatic installation and registration of the necessary DLLs in the Windows operating system. DLLs are dynamic libraries that can be accessed multiple times by multiple applications. If an error occurs when a game or program attempts to access a specific DLL, the user will see the message “dllregisterserver entry point not found” or “cannot launch, missing .dll file.” These and other errors indicating problems when accessing a dynamic library can be resolved if you independently register the required DLL file in Windows.

Why does an error occur when accessing a DLL?

DLLs are added to the operating system when Windows is updated and when applications are installed. Based on this, we can identify the following main reasons why an error occurs indicating a missing or problem with the DLL file:

  • The DLL was not installed. There may be two reasons for this - Windows has not been updated to the current version, and the library comes with one of the latest updates, or the game/application during installation for some reason did not install and register new DLLs.
    Note: Most often, all the necessary DLLs are included in the installation files of the application, and developers do not expect that the necessary components have already been installed on the computer.
  • Damage to DLLs. This problem most often occurs if the DLLs were damaged by virus software or careless user actions, for example, making changes to the registry that led to damage to the dynamic libraries.

Most DLLs are installed on the computer along with DirectX, so if, when installing a game or application, you are prompted to update/install DirectX, you do not need to refuse it, otherwise there is a high risk of the error “cannot be launched, the .dll file is missing.”

How to Register a DLL on Windows

If for some reason Windows does not have a DLL required to run games and applications, the user can register it themselves. This can be done in two ways, by first downloading the necessary DLL onto the computer.

Registering DLLs Using the Command Line

To register a DLL existing on your computer via the command line, do the following:


Registering a DLL Using the Run Line

Registering a DLL through the “Run” line is practically no different from actions with the command line. The user needs:


What to do if you can't register a DLL

It is possible that Windows will issue an error when responding to the library registration command, indicating that the module is loaded, but the DllRegisterserver entry point was not found. There are likely other variations of similar errors that prevent the DLL from being registered. Such errors occur for the following reasons:

If you encounter errors when trying to register a DLL, the first step is to try downloading the official component from the vendor to eliminate the possibility of a dummy file. To do this, you will need to use a search engine and find which system component the problematic DLL belongs to.

In rare situations, problems with registering a DLL may occur if it is not in the same folder as the component or application's executable file.exe. In this case, you need to move the library to the folder with the executable file and try to register it again.

After installing various programs or games, you may encounter a situation where, when you turn it on, the error “The program cannot be launched because the required DLL is not in the system” appears. Despite the fact that Windows operating systems usually register libraries in the background, after you download and place your DLL file in the appropriate location, the error still occurs and the system simply does not “see” it. To fix this, you need to register the library. How this can be done will be discussed later in this article.

There are several methods to resolve this problem. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Method 1: OCX/DLL Manager

OCX/DLL Manager is a small program that can help you register a library or OCX file.

To do this you will need:

  1. Click on the menu item "Register OCX/DLL".
  2. Select the file type that you will register.
  3. Using the button "Browse" specify the location of the DLL.
  4. Click the button "Register" and the program itself will register the file.

OCX/DLL Manager can also unregister a library; to do this, select the item in the menu "Unregister OCX/DLL" and subsequently perform all the same operations as in the first case. You may need the undo function to compare results when a file is activated and when it is disabled, as well as during the process of removing some computer viruses.

During the registration process, the system may give you an error indicating that administrator rights are required. In this case, you need to launch the program by right-clicking on it and select "Run as administrator".

Method 2: Run Menu

You can register the DLL using the command "Run" in the start menu of the Windows operating system. To do this you will need to do the following:


Method 3: Command Line

Registering a file via the command line is not much different from the second option:

  1. Select a team "Run" on the menu "Start".
  2. Enter in the input field that opens cmd.
  3. Click "Enter".

A window will appear in front of you in which you will need to enter the same commands as in the second option.

It should be noted that the command line window has a function for pasting copied text (for convenience). You can find this menu by right-clicking on the icon in the upper left corner.

Method 4: Open with


Possible mistakes

"The file is not compatible with the installed version of Windows"- this means that you are most likely trying to register a 64-bit DLL on a 32-bit system or vice versa. Use the appropriate command described in the second method.

"Entry point not found"- not all DLLs can be registered; some of them simply do not support the DllRegisterServer command. Also, an error may occur because the file has already been registered by the system. There are sites that distribute files that are not actually libraries. In this case, of course, nothing will be registered.

In conclusion, it must be said that the essence of all the proposed options is the same - these are just different methods for launching the registration command - whichever is more convenient for you.

A DLL file is a component of a dynamic link library whose elements are used by almost all programs. The DLL files are located in the system root folder. The components must all be present, digitally signed, work correctly and be up to date with the version. If one of the requirements is not met, the user will receive an informational notification when starting the program: DLL error. The malfunction indicates that the DLL file is missing, damaged, or outdated.

How to install a DLL file

In order for programs, applications and games to start working again, you must manually install the missing library components. Simply placing a file in a folder is not enough ─ you need to know how to register them.

Placing and registering library files

Before installing a DLL file on Windows 7,8,10, you need to download them, and exactly for the system bit depth.

Let's determine what bit capacity your system has (if you know for sure, you can skip this step)

Step 1. Right-click on “My Computer” and select “Properties”

Step 2. In the window that opens, we can read the properties of the computer, the version of the operating system and its bit depth 32 (x86) or 64 bit. In our case, we have a 64-bit Windows 10 operating system.

·

Step 3. After downloading the files, they need to be placed in the root folder and registered

for x32 (x86) systems, the component must be replaced or placed in the C:\Windows\System32 folder;

for x64 you need to replace it or move it to the C:\Windows\SysWOW64 folder;

Step 4. The file must be registered in the system.

You can do this by opening the command line with the combination “Win” + “R”, or clicking “Start” and “Run”;

in the window that opens, enter the following, separated by a space: regsvr32 file name.dll – where “regsvr32” is the command for registration, and “file name.dll” is the full name of the inserted component;

or you can specify the file location manually - regsvr32.exe + file path

Step 5. Click "OK" and restart your computer for the new settings to take effect.

I would like to note right away that errors may occur during registration. For example: "Failed to load module." They usually occur for 3 reasons

  1. The path to the file is incorrect, or the file was not moved to the System32 or SysWOW64 directory
  2. Not all DLL files need to be registered at all; sometimes it is enough to simply copy them to the System32 or SysWOW64 directory or place them in the root of the problematic game or program
  3. The files have already been registered before

Second registration method

Step 1. You can register the file using a command line, which must be run as an administrator.

Step 2. Writing a command regsvr32.exe + file path and press "Enter"

Step 3. A message will appear saying “Everything went well”, and just restart the computer

That's all, the file is registered, you can try to launch your game or program

Here are some tips that may be useful to you.

  • Place items only in the specified folder (it may be hidden by default). You need to uncheck “Do not show hidden folders” in the display settings.
  • If administrator permission is required when replacing a file, confirm the action.
  • Select only the files that are relevant at the time of downloading and save them to your computer separately. They may still be useful to you. If the problem occurs again, you will quickly restore system functionality.