Problem: When starting up computer or launching a particular application, the following error message or a similar one shows up: "misssing shlwapi.dll" or "missing startup file .DLL, SHLWAPI.DLL".

This computer problem is pretty common and may happen to some users, so we are going to address it below. The shlwapi.dll is a windows dll file included in Internet Explorer versions 4.0 and above. Due to the integration with Windows, the shlwapi.dll file is likely to be protected by the operating system so attempts to delete the file or replace it may not work.

We do not recommend attempting to download the shlwapi.dll file from the Internet and placing it on your computer; this has no chances to actually work. The reason is that the shlwapi.dll file comes in a large number of different versions and it is hard to believe that you may actually come accross the exact shlwapi.dll file version that is needed on your computer. So do not try to do something like that.

There are two proper ways to fix shlwapi.dll errors and here they are:

1) Visit the Windows Update website and use the update process to get the latest version for your shlwapi.dll file. The Windows Update website has an applet that is able to detect missing or corrupted dll files on your computer and it should be able to assist you with your problem.

2) Alternatively, you may download Internet Explorer from the Microsoft.com website and install it on your computer; this will definitely fix shlwapi.dll errors for you. Make sure you are downloading the right version of Internet Explorer, so it is compatible with your operating system version.

Computer users of older Win9x operating systems, can still solve shlwapi.dll errors by visiting the Microsoft website and downloading the most recent Internet Explorer version available for their operating system. A download link for Internet Explorer for Win9X operating system is provided here.