"Failed to load resource DLL" error during ZIP extraction

Question

"Failed to load resource DLL" error during ZIP extraction

Anders Strand-Holm 100

When I click on a downloaded ZIP-file or when I want to extract a ZIP file I get this error message "Failed to load resource DLL" error during ZIP extraction.

The ZIP file does open and also extract after the error message has been closed. It ois quite annoying. I have done an "sfc /scannow" that found errors and corrected them all - and I reboot my Labtop, but the annoyance persists. it is Windows explorer that handles the ZIP file type.

How to I get rid of that annoyance?

Thanks,

Anders

Failed to load resource DLL

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3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Anders Strand-Holm 100

Hi Jeronimo,

I went patient and let DISM run until finished. No issues.

I downloaded Microsoft's Sysinternals Autorun and followed your instructions.

Sysinternals Autorun presented me for the entries shown in attached screendump (Explorer tab.jpg). I unchecked them all. Reboot and the "Failed to load resource DLL" error message did not appear. Neither when extracting a zip file nor when launching the CMD in admin mode.

I went back and launched Microsoft's Sysinternals Autorun. Selected Options and made sure "Hide Microsoft Entries" was checked (the Windows Entries was automatically checked as well). Opened the Explore tab, but it was blank - empty. (Empty Explorer Tab.jpg).
I did not expect that. However, I launched WS_FTP and Macrium Reflect - as originally represeted in the Explorer tab - and both programs works aparently just fine.
I would apreciate your comments in any case, Jeronimo.
Thanks for your much appreciated and invaluable help!
Best Regards, Anders.

Explorer tab

Empty Explorer tab

Jeronimo Fuerte 46,745 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-09T02:20:53.43+00:00

Since the “Failed to load resource DLL” message disappeared immediately after you disabled the non-Microsoft Explorer extensions, this strongly points to one of those shell extensions rather than to Windows itself. Autoruns is specifically designed to show Explorer add-ons and allows them to be disabled by clearing their checkboxes.
Anders Strand-Holm 100 Reputation points

2026-08-09T03:55:39.6133333+00:00

This is a very helpful tool. What I don't understand, is the Shell Extensions I unchecked in the first place were not to find when I launched Autoruns after reboot. You mentioned I would be able to recheck them one by one, but the list was empty?

Answer 2

Anders Strand-Holm 100

Hi Jeronimo,

Thank you for coming back to me. Before I received your reply, I ran SFC /scannow and next DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth. When I launched CMD to run in admin mode I got the same "Failed to load resource DLL" error message.

That is odd. Should I still run https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns ?

Best,

Anders

Anders Strand-Holm 100 Reputation points

2026-08-07T00:10:27.1866667+00:00

I was finally able to run the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth after a line of Windows Updates.

The DISM process stopped entirely at 63% and after waiting several minutes, I had to terminate the process.

I need to know what to do as it seems far more complicated than the DLL error message....

Answer 3

Because the ZIP file still opens and extracts after you dismiss the message, the Windows ZIP feature itself is probably working. This symptom is commonly caused by a third-party File Explorer shell extension that cannot load one of its resource or language DLLs.

I suggest using Microsoft’s Sysinternals Autoruns utility:

Run Autoruns as administrator. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
Select Options > Hide Microsoft Entries.
Open the Explorer tab.
Temporarily clear the checkboxes for the remaining non-Microsoft extensions, particularly entries related to archive utilities, antivirus software, cloud-storage clients, or hardware utilities.
Sign out and sign back in, or restart Windows, and test a ZIP file again.
If the message disappears, re-enable the entries gradually until you identify the one causing it. Then update, repair, or uninstall the associated application.