"The application has failed to start because cxcore210.dll was not found". Why would this happen?

Question

I'm having trouble running basic opencv scripts on my new machine. I've installed opencv2.1. I am linking these files from the linker:

C:\OpenCV2.1\lib\cv210.lib C:\OpenCV2.1\lib\cvaux210.lib C:\OpenCV2.1\lib\cxcore210.lib C:\OpenCV2.1\lib\highgui210.lib

I run the program, it compiles. However, it gives me the error stated above. Why is that? I tried linking to the dll it describes, and it doesn't like that either.

Answer 1

The DLL needs to be somewhere in the DLL search path, otherwise the loader won't be able to find it.

The two easiest options are to copy the DLL(s) to the directory in which your executable is located or the directory from which you are running your executable, or to add the directory in which the DLL(s) are located to the PATH.