Without a doubt, today’s software applications have improved immensely in terms of their features and functionality. The bad news is that they still remain as susceptible to errors as before. Is this due to lack of technology… or just plain apathy on the part of software makers? Well, take your pick but the end result is – the average computer user is the one who suffers.

In this article, we provide you with essential tips that will allow you to troubleshoot common pc errors that occur due missing or corrupt DLL files and as a result, increase your computer speed.

To begin with, here are a few examples of error messages that may appear on your screen if one or more essential DLL files are either corrupt or missing.

  • “<DLLfilename> was not found”
  • “This application failed to start as an important component :<DLLfilename> was not found. Reinstalling the application may fix the error”
  • “<DLLfilename> is missing”

To troubleshoot DLL errors such as the dlcctime.dll missing entry, hcwutl32.dll, and adobelinguistic.dll errors that occur due to missing or corrupt files, perform the following steps:

Run a malware scan

A common cause of missing or corrupt DLL files is malware infection.  Let’s see why.

Malicious programs, such as virus, rootkit, worms and other variants delete DLL files or corrupt DLL files by altering the codes embedded in them. As you can guess this behavior results in a DLL error, every time programs call upon the corrupt or missing DLL file.

When besieged with recurring DLL errors, first check whether your PC is secure or not. To do this, restart Windows in the Safe Mode and perform a thorough virus/malware scan.

The steps listed below take you through on how to start Windows in Safe Mode:

  1. Close all running applications, click the Start menu, and select the Restart option.
  2. Press and hold the F8 key as your computer reloads.
  3. In the Advanced Windows Option menu that opens, select the Safe Mode option and press Enter.

Reinstall the application that is generating errors

In case the malware scan reports the presence of malicious programs, then after removing the reported threats, uninstall and reinstall the application with which you are getting the DLL error to retrieve the missing file.

Even when no malware is found, then you should still perform this step. Because whenever you reinstall a program, all the files that the program requires are saved on your hard disk again.

Though chances are slim, you may find that the DLL file is still missing after you reinstalled the application with which you were getting the DLL error. This happens when the missing DLL was not a part of the application that you reinstalled. In such cases, you will need to either copy the missing DLL from another computer or download the file from an online DLL directory to fix the DLL error.

Clean your registry

In case no malware programs were found and the DLL file listed in the error message is present on your computer, then chances are high that your registry is corrupt.

Issues in registry are a well-known cause of application errors, such as DLL errors. To repair the issue, you will need to restore your registry’s integrity. To achieve this, clean your Windows registry using a reliable registry cleaner.

With the help of these easy-to-do steps you can easily deal with recurring DLL errors on your own.