If I am getting a DllNotFoundException from Windows 10 N, how do I get the missing DLLs?

Raymond Chen

A customer reported that their program was crashing with a DllNotFoundException when running on Windows 10 N. They installed the Media Feature Pack, but the problem didn’t go away. How do you get the missing DLLs?

Windows N is a version of Windows that lacks the media components. This means that it doesn’t have Windows Media Foundation, and doesn’t have media codecs like H264.

What you don’t want to do is manually copy the Windows Media Foundation DLLs from another system onto your system. Windows Update will delete them because they have no servicing information. The supported way to get those components back is to install the Media Feature Pack.

The customer reported the next day that they were mistaken when they claimed to have installed the Media Feature Pack. The Media Feature Pack was installed on a machine different from the one that was exhibiting the problem, but they got confused about which system was which. They confirmed that installing the Media Feature Pack fixed the problem.

7 comments

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  • Dan Bugglin 0

    Rule 0: The customer lies, even if they don’t know it.

    • Antonio Rodríguez 0

      Rule 0.1: if you want to double-check what the customer is telling you, they will call *you* a liar.

    • Stefan 0

      Rule 0: Don’t assume anything. What may technically be wrong information or a lie as you put it is the reality as the customer sees it. Ask question, check (especially with people who say they are tech savy).

        • Simon Farnsworth 0

          Similarly, don’t ask them to check that an Ethernet, USB-C, or other symmetric cable is OK – ask them to swap the two plugs over. This gives the customer a chance to notice that the cable is physically broken, as they pull it out of wherever it’s hidden and switch it round.

          Saved me quite a lot of time (when combined with technobabble for why this was needed) doing customer support – the number of people who’d discover that (e.g.) the cable had been cut in two during a move was considerable.

  • Andrew Brehm 0

    I seem to remember that a manually installed Media Feature Pack becomes missing again after a Windows update and then requires re-installation.

  • Ian Boyd 0

    When you start Binging it, it’s amazing how many people’s lives are worse off because the EU said Windows N must exist.

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