Home > Technical Support > Cannot Launch Family Tree Detective: Missing Msvcrt.dll

The Msvcrt.dll file is an MS Visual C Runtime library file that is required for proper execution of Family Tree Detective. If this file is deleted from your system or if it has never been installed, you will need to manually install it.

The Msvcrt.dll files can be found at:
http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/Msvcrt.exe.

Once you have downloaded the file, you will need to run the self-extracting executable file Msvcrt.exe.

1. Click the Start button, select Programs, and then Windows Explorer.

2. Navigate to the folder that contains Msvcrt.exe.

3. Double-click Msvcrt.exe to extract four updated Windows files:

   Msvcrt.dll
   Msvcrt20.dll
   Msvcrt40.dll
   Readme.txt

4. Select, Msvcrt.dll, Msvcrt20.dll, and Msvcrt40.dll. (Click on one file, hold down the Ctrl key, and then click on the other filenames. This will select all three files.)

5. From Explorer's Edit menu, select Copy.

   Next, you need to paste these files into the C:\Windows\System folder.

6. In Explorer's left plane, select the C: drive.

   Explorer displays the contents of your C: drive in the right pane.

7. Double-click the Windows folder to open it, and then double-click the System folder.

   Note: If you installed Windows in a different folder, replace "Windows" with the correct path. Suppose Windows resides in the Win95 folder. In this case, you would paste the files into the C:\Win95\System directory.

8. From Explorer's Edit menu, select Paste. If you receive a message that the file already exists, choose not to replace it.

9. Reboot the computer, and launch Family Tree Detective.