DLL Files: You Know When They're Missing

What are DLL files, and why should I care?

Don't feel bad if you've never heard of DLL files; most of us haven't, even those of us who have used computers for years and feel pretty accomplished. And there's a good reason for our ignorance: DLL files tend to run in the background and rarely cause problems, so most of us never have to deal with them.

Heard of Dynamic Linked or Loaded Library files? C'mon, you're a smart and savvy computer user. Surely you know about DLL files, right?

OK, just a joke. Don't feel bad if you've never heard of DLL files; most of us haven't, even those of us who have used computers for years and feel pretty accomplished. And there's a good reason for our ignorance: DLL files tend to run in the background and rarely cause problems, so most of us never have to deal with them.

But sometimes we do, and sometimes for serious reasons. Missing or corrupt DLL files can cause major problems with your PC. Sometimes they get accidentally deleted when we run an uninstall program for software we no longer need or us. Sometimes they just get corrupted, for a variety of reasons.

It can get bad, though.

And sometimes it involves something a little more sinister, like malware, computer viruses and the like. Now we're talking serious problems.

This is why being aware of DLL files is always a good thing, and why a DLL search program is a handy tool to have. Because even if you've never heard of them, some things you come to rely on, and you'll certainly notice when they're not there.