This article could well be called “The Case of the Missing DLL Files”, a mystery that needed the attentions of a modern day Sherlock Holmes. Happily, for most PC users, there is a simpler alternative when DLL files go missing regularly and inexplicably. In case you are not aware, DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library, which is Microsoft’s version of the shared library concept within the Windows OS. This library is the place where Windows as well as other applications store various functions and data required for their proper operation using DLL files.

DLL files can either be used only by the application that installs them, or shared by more than one application, depending on whether they are bundled with the Windows OS. Unfortunately, it is most often with shared DLL files that the problems begin. This is because when you uninstall or modify a particular program, a DLL file pertaining to that program may also be modified or deleted, and when other applications search for that DLL file, they obviously do not find it. That will cause these applications to function improperly or not function at all.

Then again, a badly installed program may corrupt a DLL file, creating a missing DLL file message. Or you may install a program that overwrites a DLL file with an older version or one that is incompatible with the other programs that were using the particular DLL file. Or you may have a bad hard disk drive that corrupts the data that you store on it, generating a missing DLL file message.

Happily, as we said, a solution is readily available. And you don’t even need to rush to your friendly neighborhood technician to find it. He may actually charge you enough money to make you wish you had never set eyes on him. The solution is to fix the problem on your own, using a Windows Registry repair program.

What, you may ask, is Windows Registry? Crudely put, the Registry, which is part of every Microsoft Windows operating system, is a vast internal database in which all programs that you use, including Windows itself, store an enormous volume of data. Essentially, it represents your PC’s unique configuration.

Naturally, your Windows Registry holds an immense amount of information about your computer’s operating system, and as you keep using your PC, the volume of information grows to humongous proportions, creating a bloated and possible corrupt Registry, which in turn slows down your PC and leads to frequent system crashes and freezes.

This is where your Windows DLL problems begin. As you install and uninstall programs, they often leave traces all over the Registry that later hamper the smooth operation of your PC because DLL files linked to certain applications may no longer exist. Therefore, you need to pinpoint these files and replace them, and clean up your Registry to remove the garbage left by improperly uninstalled programs. Once you do this, the case of the missing DLL files will solve itself!