msvcr71.dll is missing or fails to load: what the file is and how to fix it
msvcr71.dll is the Microsoft C Runtime Library of Visual Studio .NET 2003, version 7.1 of Microsoft's C and C++ compiler. Programs built with that compiler call it for memory, files, text and maths. Windows has no copy of its own and no Visual C++ Redistributable package installs it, so every program that needs it brings its own. When the file is missing, the program that shows the error is the one that can put it back.
Prefer to fix it yourself? The manual steps follow.
How to fix msvcr71.dll errors
Find out which program shows the message: its name is in the title bar of the error, or it is the program you just tried to start. That program installed msvcr71.dll next to its own .exe when you set it up, and its installer is the only clean source for the copy it expects. Repair the program from Settings, Apps, Installed apps (Modify or Repair, when the program offers it), use the verify or repair function of the launcher it came from, or uninstall and reinstall it. If the file vanishes again right after that, your security software is removing it: look at its protection history before you try anything else.
Installing Visual C++ Redistributables one after another does not bring msvcr71.dll back. Microsoft's list of Redistributable packages starts with Visual Studio 2005, and none of those packages contains the 2003 runtime. A copy from a DLL download site is not the fix either: you cannot tell where it came from, and a wrong file under this name breaks the program in new ways.
Which programs ship msvcr71.dll
Microsoft gave msvcr71.dll to software developers with Visual Studio .NET 2003 and expected them to ship it with their programs. Microsoft lists that compiler release as end of life, so the file belongs to software from that era and to newer releases that kept the old build. There is no single copy on a PC: there is one per program that needs it. These are the cases you will meet.
| Program | Made by | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Programs built with Visual Studio .NET 2003 | Microsoft Corporation (runtime), shipped by the program's maker | The program's installer puts msvcr71.dll in the program's folder, usually under C:\Program Files (x86). Repairing or reinstalling that program restores it. Every copy in our catalogue is 32-bit, because the programs that use it are 32-bit. |
| Java 6 runtime (JRE 6) | Sun Microsystems, later Oracle | Java 6 kept its own msvcr71.dll in the bin folder of the Java installation, such as C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin. The OpenJDK bug tracker records a Java 6 update that deleted that copy and broke Java with an Error loading message. |
| Older games and their launchers | The game's publisher | A game from the Visual Studio .NET 2003 years often keeps the file next to its .exe or in a bin subfolder. Verify the game in its launcher when it has one; otherwise reinstall it from the original disc or download. |
| Older tools that use msvcp71.dll or mfc71.dll too | The program's maker, runtimes by Microsoft | msvcp71.dll is the C++ standard library and mfc71.dll the MFC library of the same compiler. They are separate files that need msvcr71.dll. When one of them is missing as well, the program's installer is the source for all of them. |
| Copies in C:\Windows\SysWOW64 | Left by older installers | Some older installers dropped a shared copy into the Windows folder. Windows does not need it and does not restore it. A program that found the file there and now fails needs its own copy, from its own installer. |
| Programs built with newer Visual Studio versions | Their own makers | They use msvcr80.dll, msvcr90.dll, msvcr100.dll and later runtimes, or vcruntime140.dll, which the Visual C++ Redistributables install. None of them loads msvcr71.dll, and none of those packages restores it. |
Step by step
- Note which program shows the message. The error window carries the program's name in its title bar, or appears when you start that one program. If it appears at Windows start-up with no window of its own, open Task Manager, Startup apps, and look for an old entry that starts with Windows: the message comes from that program.
- Look at your security software's protection history. In Windows Security open Virus and threat protection, Protection history; other security programs have a quarantine or history list of their own. If msvcr71.dll from that program's folder is listed, you know why it is gone. Read the detection name and the path before you restore anything.
- Repair the program. Open Settings, Apps, Installed apps, click the three dots next to the program and choose Modify, or Advanced options and Repair when Windows offers it. Many older installers show a Repair choice when you run them again. For a game, use the launcher's verify or repair function. A repair copies back the files the program installed, msvcr71.dll included.
- Restore the file from quarantine only when the program is genuine. If you installed the program from its maker's own installer and the security program removed msvcr71.dll from that program's folder, the detection is likely false: restore the file, add an exception for that one file, and report it to the maker of the security program. Do not restore a copy found in Downloads, Temp or AppData, or one that came with a cracked or repacked program.
- Reinstall the program. Uninstall it, check that its folder under C:\Program Files (x86) is gone (move your own data files out first if the program keeps them there), restart, and install it again from its original installer. A clean install puts back every runtime file the program brought, msvcr71.dll, msvcp71.dll and mfc71.dll among them.
- Install a newer version of the program. Software that still needs msvcr71.dll was built with Visual Studio .NET 2003, a compiler Microsoft lists as end of life. If the maker offers a newer release, it is usually built with a newer compiler and uses a runtime that the Visual C++ Redistributables install and keep up to date.
- Installer lost? Ask the program's maker. When you no longer have the installer, the program's maker, its store or the original disc is the source for a clean copy. A copy from the same program on another of your PCs works only if it is the same program and version; a file from a DLL site or from a different program does not.
What not to do
Do not download msvcr71.dll from a DLL site.
You cannot know which build the file is, which program it came from, or whether it is Microsoft's at all. A file of unknown origin in a program folder runs with your rights every time that program starts.
Do not install every Visual C++ Redistributable in the hope of a fix.
Microsoft's Redistributable packages cover Visual Studio 2005 and later. They install msvcr80.dll and newer runtimes, never msvcr71.dll, so the error stays exactly as it was. Keep the packages you have: other programs need them.
Do not put msvcr71.dll into System32.
On 64-bit Windows, System32 is the folder for 64-bit files, and every msvcr71.dll in our catalogue is 32-bit. A 32-bit copy there is never loaded by a 32-bit program and only confuses the next person who looks. The program's own folder is where it belongs.
Do not register it with regsvr32.
msvcr71.dll is a plain runtime library. It has no registration entry point, so regsvr32 fails with an entry point error, and registering would not help: a program finds the file by its location, not through the registry.
Do not rename msvcr70.dll, msvcr80.dll or another runtime to msvcr71.dll.
Each runtime belongs to its own compiler release and has its own set of functions. A renamed file loads, then fails with an entry point error or crashes the program at an unpredictable point.
Check the copy on your PC
Choose the msvcr71.dll from your program's folder. Its checksum is calculated in your browser and compared with 9 copies of the file collected from PCs.
The file stays on your computer. Nothing is uploaded: the checksum is computed locally.
Found an msvcr71.dll in Downloads, Temp or AppData, next to an .exe with a random name, or one that names another company in its Details? Then the question is whether it is Microsoft's runtime at all, and that is a security question rather than a missing-file one. Is msvcr71.dll Microsoft's runtime or a planted copy? On 2-Spyware
The error messages and what each one means
The wording points to the cause: a missing file, a wrong file under the right name, a damaged file, or a crash in a program that uses it. The messages often write the name in capitals, MSVCR71.dll, but it is the same file.
The code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR71.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 wording. The program's own copy is gone: deleted, quarantined, or never installed because the program was copied without its installer. Check the protection history, then repair or reinstall the program.
The program can't start because MSVCR71.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
The same situation in the older Windows wording. The advice in the message is the right one: reinstall the program that shows it.
The procedure entry point ... could not be located in the dynamic link library MSVCR71.dll.
A file named msvcr71.dll was found, but it does not contain the function the program asked for. Typical after a renamed runtime or a download was put in its place. Remove that file and reinstall the program so its own copy comes back.
MSVCR71.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error.
Windows found the file but it is damaged or not a valid library, often after a disk error or an interrupted copy. Reinstall the program. If several programs show messages like it, check the drive for errors.
Failed to load MSVCR71.dll / Error loading MSVCR71.dll
Shown by the program rather than Windows, as Java 6 did when its copy was deleted. The file is missing from the program's folder, blocked by a security scan, or a 64-bit program is trying to load this 32-bit file. Repair the program and look at the protection history.
Faulting module name: MSVCR71.dll
A line from the Application log in Event Viewer after a crash. The runtime is where the crash surfaced, not usually its cause: the program passed it bad data. Look at the Faulting application name of the same event and update or reinstall that program.
File facts
msvcr71.dll is the C runtime library that the Visual Studio .NET 2003 compiler (version 7.1, _MSC_VER 1310 in Microsoft's compiler table) links programs against. A program calls it for the basics of the C language: allocating memory, opening and reading files, formatting text, converting numbers and doing maths. The C++ parts of the same runtime are in msvcp71.dll and the MFC user interface library in mfc71.dll. Windows itself does not use any of them. What the catalogue copies of the file report:
- Description in the file
- Microsoft® C Runtime Library
- Company in the file
- Microsoft Corporation
With no Redistributable package for the 2003 runtime, programs shipped it themselves, so a genuine msvcr71.dll sits next to the .exe of the program that uses it, usually in a folder under C:\Program Files (x86), and Windows looks there first when the program starts. Some older installers also left a shared copy in C:\Windows\SysWOW64. The genuine file describes itself as Microsoft C Runtime Library from Microsoft Corporation (Properties, Details), reports a file version that starts with 7.10, and is a 32-bit file of 346,030 or 356,515 bytes in the copies listed below. A copy with a different company or description is not Microsoft's runtime, whatever its name.
Copies of msvcr71.dll found on PCs
Public DLL catalogues have collected 9 copies of msvcr71.dll uploaded from PCs. Each one came from some program's folder. The table lists them with their checksums, so you can tell whether your file is one of them.
Almost all of them report Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft C Runtime Library, with a file version starting with 7.10. One copy in the list reports another company and an audio effects description: it is a different file that carries the msvcr71.dll name, and a reminder to read the Details tab of your own copy. A Microsoft build that matches an entry is still only the right file when it came from the program that uses it.
| Version | Build | Size | MD5 | SHA-1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
7.10.7031.4 | 32-bit | 338 KB | 837b1e310f2aa8b20f07a9b1ce90ac4f | 9ba7d9dd0c1bdb83b7b3eb3eae851ce7d04f9e97 |
7.10.6030.0 | 32-bit | 338 KB | ca2f560921b7b8be1cf555a5a18d54c3 | 432dbcf54b6f1142058b413a9d52668a2bde011d |
7.10.6014.4 | 32-bit | 348 KB | b049887e837cac042dba809b9b8ca577 | fc6c38d025d8ccd88c2b5e827b0fb7b564dbff9a |
7.10.3052.4 | 32-bit | 348 KB | 0e98508ff18eb12ef15a8375d7a30ab5 | 0c2982747e4992ea74b02ebc8acebaa0a583ed2b |
7.10.3052.4 | 32-bit | 348 KB | 1020c0c4bac624daf56712ea6d5865ce | 81a6d3eafc91c7d4bc57b2b16bc607760ea98721 |
7.10.3052.4 | 32-bit | 338 KB | 86f1895ae8c5e8b17d99ece768a70732 | d5502a1d00787d68f548ddeebbde1eca5e2b38ca |
7.10.3052.4 | 32-bit | 348 KB | aae61491beedb84f07f7b2bb77c9e042 | 8118f883fb42a0222353486842650cfc6408ef9b |
7.10.2179.0 | 32-bit | 338 KB | f086b948ef39444c674c560787344487 | 611b866dcf674e323759bd8fcf6d1fad0399809c |
1.0.9.813 | 32-bit | 143 KB | e71bc5f380004b8669a72e0aef66114f | 6fc8e922d878a7ae23de1bbd91c9afd8409beba8 |
Copies uploaded by users to a public DLL catalogue, read on 17 October 2026. We list their checksums so you can identify a file; we do not offer them for download and we did not verify each one against Microsoft's signature.
Questions people ask
Is msvcr71.dll a virus?
Microsoft's msvcr71.dll is a harmless runtime library that old programs ship in their own folders. A file under that name in a place where no program uses it, or with another company in its Details, is something else. Check where your copy sits; the security page linked above has the checks for a copy of unknown origin.
Which Visual C++ Redistributable contains msvcr71.dll?
None. Microsoft's Redistributable packages start with Visual Studio 2005, and msvcr71.dll belongs to Visual Studio .NET 2003, which never had a package on that list. Programs built with it ship the file themselves, so the program's own installer is where it comes from.
Can I download msvcr71.dll and put it in the program folder?
You should not. A downloaded file is of unknown origin, and there are several Microsoft builds of it as well as files that only carry the name. The program you installed brought the copy it was tested with; repairing or reinstalling the program puts exactly that one back.
Does it go in System32 or SysWOW64?
In the program's own folder, next to its .exe. On 64-bit Windows a 32-bit file like msvcr71.dll would belong in SysWOW64, not System32, but Windows itself does not need it there and a program finds its own copy first. Copying the file into a Windows folder only hides where it came from.
Why does msvcr71.dll work on one PC but not on another?
Because the file came with the program, not with Windows. On the PC where it works, the program was installed with its installer or an older program left a copy behind. On the other PC the program was copied over without its runtime, or the copy was removed. Install the program there with its own installer.
Does msvcr71.dll work on Windows 11?
The file loads on 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 like any 32-bit library, so a missing-file error is not a sign that Windows is too new. Whether the old program itself works is a separate question that only its maker can answer; a newer release of the program is the lasting fix.
Java says Error loading MSVCR71.dll. What do I do?
That message comes from Java 6, which kept its own copy in the bin folder of the Java installation, and the OpenJDK bug tracker records a Java 6 update that deleted it. Reinstall the Java 6 build the program requires with its own installer, so its bin folder gets the copy back, and ask the program's maker whether a newer Java version is supported.
Related guides
msvcr71.dll is missing or fails to load: what the file is and how to fix it
Sources
- Microsoft Learn: Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads (packages from Visual Studio 2005 on)
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft C++ (MSVC) compiler versioning (Visual Studio .NET 2003, 7.1, _MSC_VER 1310)
- OpenJDK bug JDK-6651964: Java 6 update removes jre6\bin\msvcr71.dll, Error loading message
File data read on October 17, 2026.
The editors who write and check uGetFix guides and reference pages. File facts are read from Microsoft's own installers and documentation, and every page shows the date its data was read.
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