the best ideas to repair Windows DLL errors

Claire Holmes, 26, teaches preschool in Columbus, Georgia. She is also one of millions of regular PC users who have no idea what DLL files are all about. If that sounds a little rude, I apologize, but I believe that just as a driver should know all about the vehicle that he or she is driving, so a PC user should know the basics of his or her machine, and DLL files fall into that category. If you don't know what they are, how will you tackle DLL errors when they occur?

So what are DLL files? Well, DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library, and at first glance, these files seem to do nothing, really. That's what Claire thought, and when she wanted some extra space on her hard drive, she just deleted what she thought were useless files that were occupying much-needed space. In her words, what followed was a "nightmare". Not only did she begin getting error messages on a regular basis, but plenty of programs on her PC also began operating improperly. "Ultimately, things reached a stage where my entire Windows OS just stopped working," says Claire. "I learned later that this kind of situation is what is known as DLL Hell."

In most cases, Windows DLL errors will pop up when you have either modified or erased your DLL files. This is mainly because more than one application may be using the same set of DLL files, and when you delete one application and decide that the DLL files pertaining to that application need to go too, you jeopardize the proper functioning of the other application.

The best way out of this situation, says IT expert and blog caster Devon Fraser, is to regularly clean Windows Registry, using a tried and tested Registry cleaner. Before you ask, Windows Registry is an integral - though often ignored - part of your PC, because it is the vast internal database on which all the applications running on your PC, including Windows, store their data. So it is integral all right, but ignored because the majority of PC users aren't even aware of its existence.

Naturally, all DLL files are part of the Registry too, and when they are erased or modified or become corrupt in some way, these changes reflect in the Registry. Most deleted or modified files will leave traces in the Registry, which will affect the proper running of other programs, which is why I recommend that the best way to deal with DLL errors is to regularly - like, once a month - clean your Windows Registry.

Claire used a Registry cleaner, and the results were immediately evident. "It was like I had installed a new system," she says now. Most experts recommend that you clean Windows Registry after you install or uninstall a program, because improper installation or uninstalling can often corrupt DLL files, leading to DLL errors. So go ahead, get into Registry cleaning mode.