Why Does My .NET Application Fail to Load a DLL with Error 'The Specified Module Could Not Be Found'?

.NET DLL Loading Failure: "The specified module could not be found" (HRESULT: 0x8007007E)

Managed .NET applications sometimes fail to load Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs), resulting in the error "Unable to load DLL 'MyOwn.dll': The specified module could not be found." This typically indicates the DLL is missing or incorrectly referenced.

Resolution Steps

1. Confirm DLL Location: Check if MyOwn.dll exists in one of these locations:

   • The application's execution directory.
   • The system directory (e.g., C:WindowsSystem32 or C:WindowsSysWOW64).
   • A directory listed in the system's PATH environment variable.

2. Analyze Dependencies: Use Dependency Walker (https://www.php.cn/link/8c9ffefacf5fdeb898460f35ce928ad0) to identify the DLL's dependencies. Verify that all necessary libraries are present and correctly linked.

3. Correct Path Referencing: When employing the DllImport attribute, ensure the complete path to the DLL, including the .dll extension, is specified.

Example Code:

This code snippet illustrates correct DLL referencing using the DllImport attribute:

<code class="language-csharp">[DllImport("C:\Path\To\MyOwn.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.I4)]
public static extern Int32 MyProIni(string DBname, string DBuser_pass,
    string WorkDirectory, ref StringBuilder ErrorMessage);</code>

By diligently following these troubleshooting steps, you should resolve the DLL loading issue and successfully integrate the DLL into your .NET application.

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