Fix: “Loadlibrary Failed with Error 126” on Windows

This article will show you how to Fix Loadlibrary Failed with Error 126 on Windows. Error 126 is a Windows problem that people have been talking about on help forums for a long time. This error happens when people try to run games and other software, most of which is OpenGL. The message for error 126 says, “LoadLibrary failed with error 126.”

The message “LoadLibrary failed with error 126: The module could not be found” can show when almost any Windows app starts up. There are some clear reasons why this is happening. Most of the time, this error is caused by not having management rights, so the program shuts down.

When a user clicks OK on that error message, games and programs that are affected by the problem stop. Error 126 makes it so that users can’t use the affected apps or play games. Does the same mistake happen with other programs on your PC? If so, here’s how to Fix Loadlibrary Failed Error 126 on Windows 11 and 10.

Ways to Fix “Loadlibrary Failed with Error 126” on Windows

Enable Virtual Super Resolution in the AMD Settings

VSR, which stands for “Virtual Super Resolution,” is a feature of AMD that lets an app or game render at higher resolutions than the display’s original resolution. If the display resolution isn’t right for a game (like Civilization VI), that could be the cause of the loadlibrary problem. In this case, the problem might be solved by turning on the Virtual Super Resolution in the AMD Settings.

1. Open the AMD Software and click on Settings (near the top right corner).
2. Now head to the Display tab and under Display Options, enable Virtual Super Resolution.
3. Then launch the problematic game (like Civilization VI) or application and check if the loadlibrary issue is resolved.

Copy the DLL File to the System32 Directory

If an important DLL file is missing from the System32 path, you may run into the problem we’re talking about. Copying the file may fix the problem.

• Right-click Windows and open Run.
• Now navigate to the following:

C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\u0352938.inf_amd64_e098709f94aef08d\B352876

• Then copy the atio6axx.dll file and paste it into the following directory:

C:\windows\system32

• Now restart the system and upon restart, launch the problematic application (like ArcMap) to check if it is working fine.
• If not, click Windows, search, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator.
• Then execute the following (copy/paste the command, otherwise, make sure the spacing is right):

C:\Windows\System32\ copy atio6axx.dll .dll

• Now restart the system and upon restart, check if the loadlibrary error is cleared.

Launch the Problematic Application as an Administrator

You might get the loadlibrary failed with error 126 if the program that is giving you trouble doesn’t have permission to use a protected system resource. In this case, the problem might be solved by running the app as an executive.

1. Right-click on the shortcut icon of the problematic application (or in the search results of the start menu) like Adobe Illustrator.
2. Now select Run as Administrator and check if the application launches fines.
3. If so, close the application and again launch it normally (not as administrator) and check if it is working fine.
4. If not, then right-click on the shortcut of the problematic application (like Adobe Photoshop) and select Properties. In case, the start menu search is used, select Open File Location, right-click on Illustrator, and select Properties.
5. Now head to the Compatibility tab and checkmark Run This Program as an Administrator.
6. Then apply the changes made and launch the application through the shortcut to check if it is clear of the loadlibrary failed error 126.

Change the Main Monitor or Disconnect the External Display

Fix Loadlibrary Failed with Error 126: In a multi-display environment, you may get the loadlibrary failed error if the main monitor is not the internal display (in the case of a laptop) or if the external display is not connected to a dedicated graphics card port but to an on-board graphics card port (in the case of two graphics cards), as this could cause the cards to use too many resources at the same time. In this case, you might be able to fix error 126 by switching the main monitor or turning off the secondary display.

1. Right-click Windows and open Settings.
2. Now, in the System tab, open Display and expand Multiple Displays.
3. Then select the Internal Display (you may use the Identify button to find out which display belongs to what) and checkmark Make This My Main Display.
4. Now launch the application in question (like Adobe Photoshop) and check if it is operating fine.
5. If not, check if connecting the external display to another port (or swapping monitors’ ports) solves the problem.
6. If that did not work, disconnect the external monitor from the system and restart the PC.
7. Upon restart, launch the problematic application and check if it is working fine. If so, then you may connect back the external monitor.

Perform an SFC Scan of the System

The loadlibrary may fail with error 126 if some of the most important system files are damaged. This could prevent a program from accessing a directory or resource that is important to the system. In this case, you might be able to fix the problem by scanning the machine with SFC.

• Perform an SFC scan of the system and wait till the scan is complete. Make sure to launch the Command Prompt as an administrator. Moreover, this scan may take some time to complete, so try it in your spare time (or overnight).
• Once the SFC scan is completed, check if the loadlibrary problem is solved.

What is LoadLibrary?

Microsoft says that you can use LoadLibrary to load a library module into the process’s address space. It will return a handle that can be used in GetProcAddress to find the address of a DLL function. You can also use LoadLibrary to load other modules that can be run. In short, it is a very important OS process that is needed for everything to work right.