DLL Error and Dll Error types-General Protection Fault (GPF)

General Protection Fault (GPF) – a General Protection Fault typically results in an error message that reads something along the lines of “...has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down”. You are then forced to shut down the application, or it will be automatically closed down. Typically, you will continue to receive this error message either when you try to open the application, or when you attempt to run a particular function within that program.

A GPF usually occurs because a DLL no longer exists at the given location. The Windows Operating System or the application itself will display the GPF in order to prevent a total system crash. The software has called the error message rather than shut down your system. If the call for this error message does not exist then you may receive a more serious error.

These are only some of the more recognizable problems that can occur with your system associated with DLLs. There are many other problems that may manifest themselves in different ways. System crashes, the blue screen of death, and software that freezes may also be indicative that you have a problem with a DLL file somewhere within your system. Typically, each problem has its own resolution but there are certain things you can do to attempt to resurrect your computer from these errors.

DLL hell is a generic term that refers to virtually any problem associated with DLLs. However, it most commonly refers to problems with DLL versions that manifest themselves as poorly operating software. There are two leading causes of DLL hell, though both have become more obsolete with each new version of Windows that has been released, patched, and fixed.

If a working DLL is overwritten with one that is incorrect or contains incorrect data then you will receive an error. This is slightly different to the corrupt DLL problem above, but can cause serious problems when trying to use the functions of an application that require this DLL in particular. This was more of a problem when the exact contents of a DLL were first published on the Internet because incorrect versions were released at various locations. Once these incorrect DLL versions were installed they overwrote the correct version and software began to fail as a result.

This problem was largely fixed in Windows 200 onwards. Windows File Protection, usually referred to as simply WFP, ensures that your essential DLL files can not be easily overwritten without the appropriate permissions. This has all but eliminated this problem from most people's computers.

When a DLL is loaded onto a system, Windows will continue to use that version of the DLL, until all applications have finished using it. This means that if one application were to open a DLL from the system folder, and then a second application required a DLL with the same name but from the software folder, Windows would not attempt to open this second version. It would incorrectly attempt to use the first version that was not designed for the job in hand. This would typically mean that you would begin to experience problems when trying to open software in a particular sequence.

This problem was fixed in Windows XP. Windows XP opens separate versions of a DLL for every application using it. Because of the power, or more accurately the RAM, of modern setups, this does not tend to cause your system to run any slower but means that each application can open its own version of a DLL file as required.

For the most part DLL hell has become an obsolete problem. Windows updates and new releases have ensured that what were once common problems are now only really a problem for those of us that use older versions of the Windows operating system. There are manual workarounds for each of these problems, but they are not ideal.