Reusable method
- Capture exact error, process architecture and triggering workflow.
- Inspect static imports and required exported functions.
- Resolve transitive dependencies recursively.
- Trace delayed/runtime loads and actual search paths.
- Compare file versions, hashes and architecture with a working system.
- Check side-by-side manifests, runtime packages, PATH, working directory and configuration.
- Verify through a clean deployment rather than a globally modified machine.
Interpret symptoms
| Module not found | File absent, search failure or transitive dependency. |
|---|---|
| Entry point missing | Wrong version/export contract. |
| Bad image | Architecture mismatch or corruption. |
| Workflow-only failure | Delayed load, plug-in or configured library. |
Putting DLLs into system directories can change search results for unrelated applications and hide the deployment defect.
Use Windows dependency analysis for the complete environment, or the technology-specific VB6 and Delphi guides. See reverse engineering.
Provide complete release, traces, imports, architecture and working/failing inventories.