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Excel solver add-in. error 53. Solver32.dll not found

Anonymous
2016-09-27T19:29:37+00:00

Hi,

I have an issue with my solver add-in.

When trying to solve I get the error 53: Solver32.dll not found.

After hours lost on forums, I finally managed to fix the problem by repairing the office suite (control panel / uninstall / right click on Microsoft office / modify / repair online).

But when trying to open the sheet the following day, I was annoyed to see the same error message again!!

the Solver32.dll and SOLVER.XLAM files are located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\Library\SOLVER

I've been desperately trying each possible solution (reinstalling add-in/ rename file/ put files in

%SystemRoot%\System32 / ..) for hours with no result! I don't want to reinstall the office suite every day!

Please help

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2016-12-08T00:09:50+00:00

Good news! We have released a couple of fixes related to this issue with the Solver32.dll file, caused by the initialization of Power Query and Power Pivot. Please update to the latest version of Office and let us know if you continue to encounter any issues.

Freya

Office Newsroom

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-10-20T17:17:42+00:00

    We are aware of an issue with Solver, caused by the initialization of Power Query and Power Pivot. We are working on a fix for this issue urgently. In the meantime, you might be able to get unblocked with the following workaround:

    1)      Make sure Excel is not running

    2)      Start Excel

    3)      Open the “Blank workbook” template

    4)      Launch Solver (click the Solver button in the Data tab in the Ribbon)

    5)      'Set Objective:' will be the active cell by default

    6)      Set the range in 'By Changing Variable Cells: to the same string as is in 'Set Objective:'

    7)      Click the “Solve” button

    8)      Close the Solver Results dialog

    9)      Open any other worksheet or workbook (do not close empty workbook first)

    Hope this helps!

    Freya

    Office Newsroom

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-09-30T06:05:44+00:00

    Hi Freya,

    I'm using windows 8.1 and indeed made an update recently.

    For now, things are working with the solver and I therefore can't tell you if rebooting helps to fix the issue.

    The last change I did in order to have things running correctly:

    I put the Solver32.dll file in C:\Windows\SysWOW64as suggested in the following post:

    https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/a722fe5b-aef3-4e1b-84a0-7dbb6515415b/problem-with-solver-dll-load-and-excel-2010?referrer=http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/a722fe5b-aef3-4e1b-84a0-7dbb6515415b/problem-with-solver-dll-load-and-excel-2010

    (There is probably an issue with the path leading to the dll file in this case)

    But as I said, the error message will maybe appear again in a few days.. In this case I will revert back.

    Regards,

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-03-23T14:58:47+00:00

    I'm up to date in Excel 2016 and I still get this error! Are there any workarounds to this?

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-09-29T18:24:26+00:00

    Thank you for letting us know about the issue with the Solver DLL file. The Excel engineering team has been able to reproduce this issue when it relates to a Windows update, and have found that rebooting the machine to finish the update corrects the problem in some cases.

    Can you please tell us more about the Windows situation on your machine?

    1. Have you had a recent Windows update?
    2. What version of Windows are you running?
    3. Is there a pending reboot for a current Windows update?
    4. Does rebooting help?

    We really appreciate the additional information!!!

    Freya

    Office Newsroom

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