explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.

Carlos Zhang

@PeterJones
Of course I am willing to do the experiment.
I extract the new 7z to the desktop and install the explorer plugin from plugin admin. And it can’t work either!
Here is the debug info.

Notepad++ v7.8.6 (32-bit)
Build time : Apr 21 2020 - 15:17:06
Path : C:\Users\Carlos\Desktop\npp.7.8.6.bin\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : ON
OS Name : Windows 10 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version : 1909
OS Build : 18363.778
Plugins : mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll

I didn’t install mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll.
Looks they are default plugins.
Thanks.

Carlos Zhang

I then install Compare and NppFtp plugins.
They don’t have such issue.

cmeriaux

@Carlos-Zhang you may try with notepad++ 64b portable edition.
Don’t you have an antivirus that may block the dll loading ?

cmeriaux

You may also try with admin privileges. Never knows…

PeterJones

@Carlos-Zhang ,

Thanks for running the experiment and giving the debug info.

And it can’t work either!

unfortunately, that doesn’t tell us what went wrong. Were there error messages? If so, screenshot them and include them, please. If no error messages, what exactly happened when you tried? Be as explicit as you can, telling us about every click or keystroke.

Ekopalypse

@Carlos-Zhang

Could it be that it finds another explorer.dll first?

Carlos Zhang

@PeterJones said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

unfortunately, that doesn’t tell us what went wrong. Were there error messages?

The same message.
c:\notepad++\plugins\explorer\explorer.dll
The specified module could not be found.
explorer.dll is not compatible with the current version of notepad++.

PeterJones

@Carlos-Zhang ,

The same message.
c:\notepad++\plugins\explorer\explorer.dll

It gave the error message for c:\notepad++\plugins\explorer\explorer.dll when you tried to install it while running C:\Users\Carlos\Desktop\npp.7.8.6.bin\notepad++.exe? That doesn’t seem right to me: the one on your desktop shouldn’t know anything about c:\notepad++. Are you sure when Notepad++ re-launched after you installed the plugin in your desktop copy that it correctly ran the desktop copy again?

Further, I like @Ekopalypse’s theory: your Notepad++ is somehow finding a different explorer.dll. Two experiments for that, using your desktop copy of Notepad++ (we’re still trying to keep things independent of other settings and plugins that might be interfering):

From a command prompt (cmd.exe), you could try where explorer.dll: if there’s an explorer.dll in your path (that it would thus possibly find before going to the plugins\explorer\explorer.dll), the cmd.exe where command might tell you about it.
Go into desktop`npp.7.8.6.bin\plugins`, rename the folder explorer to MyExplorer and the dll that was explorer\explorer.dll to MyExplorer\MyExplorer.dll. Close Notepad++. Run the desktop copy of Notepad++.

cmeriaux

You may also try to use the Proc Monitor tools , to check which explorer.dll is loaded.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

cmeriaux

Here is a screenshot of procMonitor which could be tricky to use.
Add a filter " process name contains notepad" and “paht contains explorer.dll”. Then you’ll se detail operations and query and its status.

Carlos Zhang

@PeterJones said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

It gave the error message for c:\notepad++\plugins\explorer\explorer.dll when you tried to install it while running C:\Users\Carlos\Desktop\npp.7.8.6.bin\notepad++.exe? That doesn’t seem right to me

I meant the same message except the path.

Carlos Zhang

>where explorer.dll
INFO: Could not find files for the given pattern(s).

PeterJones

@Carlos-Zhang said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

I meant the same message except the path.

I’m sorry for misunderstanding.

INFO: Could not find files for the given pattern(s).

I thought it might show something else, which would have made it easier to debug. But alas, it did not.

Please make sure you try @cmeriaux’s suggestion of procMonitor, which can precisely identify the location of the DLL Notepad++ is really trying to load. And please make sure you try my suggestion #2 of renaming the DLL and its folder.

Carlos Zhang

@cmeriaux said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

Here is a screenshot of procMonitor which could be tricky to use.

I happen to have another tool Process Hacker which can also find dlls.

cmeriaux

@Carlos-Zhang said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

I happen to have another tool Process Hacker which can also find dlls.

I don’t think this is the same goal.
ProcMonitor will say which DDL notepad++ querys on plugin loading.
Process hacker will say which one is in use but in your situation , explorer.dll is not loaded, so it’s not in use. You’ll wont find it in process hacker

Alan Kilborn

Suggestion:

OP is doing too much thinking and this is a problem because his thinking is counter-productive to the thinking of the people trying to help him.

OP needs to do (exactly and only) what the helpers are suggesting, and report back clear results.

That’s the only way this is going to get solved for the OP. My 2c.

guy038

Hi, @peterjones and All,

Sorry to answer only now, but my wife and I spent the big weekend of May 1st doing some interior renovations, in our living room !

I also got problems with the plugin explorer.dll ( v1.8.8.0 - x86 - 222,720 bytes ) !

When I started N++, I was told that This application could not be start as MSVCP140.dll could not be found ! I started searching with the Dependency Walker software and it happened that all the following DLL were missing to get explorer.dll to work properly !

********************************| Module List |*********************************
*                                                                              *
* Legend: D  Delay Load Module   ?  Missing Module           6  64-bit Module  *
*         *  Dynamic Module      !  Invalid Module                             *
*                                E  Import/Export Mismatch or Load Failure     *
*                                                                              *
********************************************************************************

       Module                                 File Time Stamp   Link Time Stamp   File Size   Attr.  Link Checksum  Real Checksum  CPU  Subsystem  Symbols     Preferred Base  Actual Base  Virtual Size  Load Order  File Ver         Product Ver      Image Ver  Linker Ver  OS Ver  Subsystem Ver
-----  -------------------------------------  ----------------  ----------------  ----------  -----  -------------  -------------  ---  ---------  ----------  --------------  -----------  ------------  ----------  ---------------  ---------------  ---------  ----------  ------  -------------
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-CONVERT-L1-1-0.DLL      Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-ENVIRONMENT-L1-1-0.DLL  Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-FILESYSTEM-L1-1-0.DLL   Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-HEAP-L1-1-0.DLL         Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-LOCALE-L1-1-0.DLL       Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-MATH-L1-1-0.DLL         Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-MULTIBYTE-L1-1-0.DLL    Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-RUNTIME-L1-1-0.DLL      Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-STDIO-L1-1-0.DLL        Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-STRING-L1-1-0.DLL       Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-TIME-L1-1-0.DLL         Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  API-MS-WIN-CRT-UTILITY-L1-1-0.DLL      Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[ ? ]  VCRUNTIME140.DLL                       Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[D? ]  CONCRT140.DLL                          Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[D? ]  IESHIMS.DLL                            Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
[D? ]  WER.DLL                                Error opening file. Le fichier spécifié est introuvable (2).
...
...
...
************************************| Log |*************************************

Error: At least one required implicit or forwarded dependency was not found.
Warning: At least one delay-load dependency module was not found.
Warning: At least one module has an unresolved import due to a missing export function in a delay-load dependent module.

However, after download and installation of the missing dll, either, in system32 folder or in ...\Plugins\Explorer, I always got the same message This application could not be start as MSVCP140.dll could not be found :-((.

Luckily, the next day, I found out the solution ! As my Win WP SP3 laptop is quite an antiquity, when rebuilding the OS, after a C partition crash, in 2018, I simply had installed the Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistribuable x86

So I decided to upgrade and downloaded the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015. As the requirements include Win XP SP3, even if VS2015 is not present, and that some hardware specifications were OK, I ran the executable and restarted my laptop.

And…, miraculously, after starting notepad++, no more error message and the Explorer plugin was well installed and fully functional ;-))

Best Regards,

guy038

Ekopalypse

@guy038
hmmm - interesting approach - I guess you are on the right track.

Carlos Zhang

@PeterJones said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

And please make sure you try my suggestion #2 of renaming the DLL and its folder.

Yes I did. Please see above.

PeterJones

@Carlos-Zhang said in explorer.dll. The specified module could not be found.:

Yes I did. Please see above.

Sorry, it looked so much like the post above that I didn’t notice the picture was different. My bad.

It does not look like Windows is trying to load the wrong DLL when Notepad++ requests Explorer.dll / MyExplorer.dll. So, that’s good news … but also not helpful, unfortunately. :-(

My next guess would be that @guy038 is on the right track: try to download the most recent “Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable”: I believe that this MS page has the most recent versions of the redistributables. Since you are on 64bit OS, but using 32bit applications, I would suggest installing both the x86 and the x64 versions from the 2015/2017/2019 section at the top.

If that isn’t sufficient, since you do have a 64bit OS, try downloading the 64bit Notepad++ portable zipfile, and unzip it to your desktop. Try to install the Explorer plugin in the 64bit (using Plugins Admin), and see if that one works better for you.