Microsoft operating systems and ReactOS provide the regsvr32 command in order to register and unregister DLL files. Also, ActiveX components can be registered by using the regsvr32 command. You may think that the 32 in the regsvr32 command is about 32-bit architecture but it’s not. You can use the regsvr32 for both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. The regsvr32 command is very similar to the Linux ldconfig command which loads kernel modules. The complete name of the regsvr32 is Register Server .
regsvr32 Command Parameters
The regsrv32 command has the following parameters as short.
regsrv32 PARAMETER DLL| PARAMETER | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| /u | Unregister specified DLL |
| /s | Do not display messages during register |
| /e | Do not display success messages |
| /n | Prevent calling DllRegisterServer |
| /i:CMD | Run CMD command during register and unregister |
| DLL | Specify DLL name |
| /? | Display help information |
regsvr32 Path
The regsvr32 is an executable file and command which is located under the Windows operating system directory. The complete path of the regsvr32 is like below.
%systemroot%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exeIf the operating system is 32-bit it is located under the 32-bit SysWoW directory like below.
%systemroot%\SysWoW32\regsvr32.exeOpen MS-DOS or cmd.exe Command Prompt As Administrator
Before registering DLLs with the regsvr32 command starting the MS-DOS or cmd.exe as administrator is important. Even this is not required in all cases the best and more reliable way is opening the command prompt as administrator. This is described in the following post in detail.
Register 32-bit DLL with regsvr32
Registering a DLL with the regsrv32 command is very easy where the DLL file name and if required path should be specified like below. In the following example, we will register the DLL named schmmgmt.dll .
> regsvr32 schmmgmt.dllAlternatively, the absolute path of the DLL file can be specified to register a DLL.
> regsvr32 "C:\Downloads\schmmgmt.dll"Register 64-bit DLL
64-bit DDLs can be registered by using the 64-bit regsvr32 command. Just use the following command and provide the 64-bit DLL.
> %systemroot%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe "C:\Downloads\schmmgmt_64.dll"Unregister DLL with regsvr32
All ready registered DLLs can be unregistered with the regsvr32 command by using the /u parameter and providing the DLL name. In the following example, we will deregister the schmmgmt.dll.
> regsvr32 /u schmmgmt.dllYou can also provide the full or absolute path of the DLL file in order to unregister.
> regsvr32 /u "C:\Downloads\schmmgmt.dll"Do Not Display Messages During DLL Registration
During the register operation, the actions will be printed into the command line for success or error by default. But you can prevent these messages with the /s option like below.
> regsvr32 /s schmmgmt.dllDo Not Display Messages During DLL Unregistration
Also, the do not display message parameter can be used for unregistering operations too like below.
> regsvr32 /u /s schmmgmt.dll“The module … failed to load” Error
During usage of the regsvr32 command, we may face an error like “The module … failed to load”. This error is mainly related that the specified DLL file is not found at the specified path. Check the DLL file path. Also, the problem may be related to the dependent DLL files where the dependencies should be registered first.
Undocumented /c Option
In ancient times the regsvr32 has been providing the /c option which is not used anymore even it is enabled. The /c option is used to register the output option under Linker Properties.