The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect

Question

Unhandled Exception: System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembl y 'TheLibrary, Version=1.2.3905.36284, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=14 04827c3a8f2601' or one of its dependencies. The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800736B1) File name: 'TheLibrary, Version=1.2.3905.36284, Culture=neutral, PublicKe yToken=1404827c3a8f2601' ---> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x800 736B1): The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configurati on is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail. (Exceptio n from HRESULT: 0x800736B1)

when i look at the event log, i get this error.

Activation context generation failed for "C:\project\Debug\MyLibrary.dll". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

I used sxstrace to log the error and here is the result:

================= Begin Activation Context Generation. Input Parameter: Flags = 0 ProcessorArchitecture = x86 CultureFallBacks = en-US;en ManifestPath = C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe AssemblyDirectory = C:\Windows\system32\

Application Config File =

INFO: Parsing Manifest File C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe. INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is Microsoft.Windows.FileSystem.CMD,processorArchitecture="x86",type="win32",version="5.1.0.0". INFO: Activation Context generation succeeded. End Activation Context Generation.

================= Begin Activation Context Generation. Input Parameter: Flags = 0 ProcessorArchitecture = x86 CultureFallBacks = en-US;en ManifestPath = C:\Debug\TheLibrary.dll AssemblyDirectory = C:\Debug\

Application Config File =

INFO: Parsing Manifest File C:\Debug\TheLibrary.dll. INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is (null). INFO: Reference: Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8" INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8". INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86. INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral. INFO: Applying Binding Policy. INFO: No publisher policy found. INFO: No binding policy redirect found. INFO: Begin assembly probing. INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS. INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT\9.0.21022.8__1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT.DLL. INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Debug\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT.DLL. INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Debug\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT.MANIFEST. INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Debug\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT.DLL. INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Debug\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT\Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT.MANIFEST. INFO: Did not find manifest for culture Neutral. INFO: End assembly probing. ERROR: Cannot resolve reference Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8". ERROR: Activation Context generation failed. End Activation Context Generation.

Cannot resolve reference Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture=...

any ideas?

Answer 1

Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,... could not be found

Yes, that can only be found on a machine that has Visual Studio installed. The DebugCRT is not distributable. And it doesn't make sense to write C or C++ code and deploy the debug build for it, it is a lot slower.

Deploy the Release build version of your DLL. And the VC++ Libraries, one of the check boxes in the Prerequisites of a Setup project.