Method 1: Fixing the DLL Error by Copying the Dsound(3).dll Library to the Windows System Directory 

1. The file you downloaded is a compressed file with the ".zip" extension. In order to install it, first, double-click the ".zip" file and open the file. You will see the library named "Dsound(3).dll" in the window that opens up. This is the library you need to install. Drag this library to the desktop with your mouse's left button.

   

2. Copy the "Dsound(3).dll" library file you extracted.
3. Paste the dynamic link library you copied into the "C:\Windows\System32" directory.

   

4. If your operating system has a 64 Bit architecture, copy the "Dsound(3).dll" library and paste it also into the "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" directory.

   NOTE! On 64 Bit systems, the dynamic link library must be in both the "sysWOW64" directory as well as the "System32" directory. In other words, you must copy the "Dsound(3).dll" library into both directories.

   

5. First, we must run the Windows Command Prompt as an administrator.

   NOTE! We ran the Command Prompt on Windows 10. If you are using Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP, you can use the same methods to run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

   1. Open the Start Menu and type in "cmd", but don't press Enter. Doing this, you will have run a search of your computer through the Start Menu. In other words, typing in "cmd" we did a search for the Command Prompt.
   2. When you see the "Command Prompt" option among the search results, push the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER
   " keys on your keyboard.
   3. A verification window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run the Command Prompt as with administrative permission?" Approve this action by saying, "Yes".

   

6. Paste the command below into the Command Line window that opens up and press Enter key. This command will delete the problematic registry of the Dsound(3).dll library (Nothing will happen to the library we pasted in the System32 directory, it just deletes the registry from the Windows Registry Editor. The library we pasted in the System32 directory will not be damaged).

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /u Dsound(3).dll

   

7. If the Windows you use has 64 Bit architecture, after running the command above, you must run the command below. This command will clean the broken registry of the Dsound(3).dll library from the 64 Bit architecture (The Cleaning process is only with registries in the Windows Registry Editor. In other words, the dynamic link library that we pasted into the SysWoW64 directory will stay as it is).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Dsound(3).dll

   

8. In order to cleanly recreate the dll library's registry that we deleted, copy the command below and paste it into the Command Line and hit Enter.

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /i Dsound(3).dll

   

9. If the Windows version you use has 64 Bit architecture, after running the command above, you must run the command below. With this command, you will create a clean registry for the problematic registry of the Dsound(3).dll library that we deleted.

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /i Dsound(3).dll

   

10. You may see certain error messages when running the commands from the command line. These errors will not prevent the installation of the Dsound(3).dll library. In other words, the installation will finish, but it may give some errors because of certain incompatibilities. After restarting your computer, to see if the installation was successful or not, try running the program that was giving the dll error again. If you continue to get the errors when running the program after the installation, you can try the 2nd Method as an alternative.

Method 2: Copying the Dsound(3).dll Library to the Program Installation Directory 

1. In order to install the dynamic link library, you need to find the installation directory for the program that was giving you errors such as "Dsound(3).dll is missing", "Dsound(3).dll not found" or similar error messages. In order to do that, Right-click the program's shortcut and click the Properties item in the right-click menu that appears.

   

2. Click on the Open File Location button that is found in the Properties window that opens up and choose the folder where the application is installed.

   

3. Copy the Dsound(3).dll library into the directory we opened.

   

4. The installation is complete. Run the program that is giving you the error. If the error is continuing, you may benefit from trying the 3rd Method as an alternative.

Method 3: Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Program That Is Giving the Dsound(3).dll Error 

1. Push the "Windows" + "R" keys at the same time to open the Run window. Type the command below into the Run window that opens up and hit Enter. This process will open the "Programs and Features" window.

   appwiz.cpl

   

2. The Programs and Features screen will come up. You can see all the programs installed on your computer in the list on this screen. Find the program giving you the dll error in the list and right-click it. Click the "Uninstall" item in the right-click menu that appears and begin the uninstall process.

   

3. A window will open up asking whether to confirm or deny the uninstall process for the program. Confirm the process and wait for the uninstall process to finish. Restart your computer after the program has been uninstalled from your computer.

   

4. After restarting your computer, reinstall the program that was giving the error.
5. You can fix the error you are expericing with this method. If the dll error is continuing in spite of the solution methods you are using, the source of the problem is the Windows operating system. In order to fix dll errors in Windows you will need to complete the 4th Method and the 5th Method in the list.

Method 4: Fixing the Dsound(3).dll error with the Windows System File Checker 

1. First, we must run the Windows Command Prompt as an administrator.

   NOTE! We ran the Command Prompt on Windows 10. If you are using Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP, you can use the same methods to run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

   1. Open the Start Menu and type in "cmd", but don't press Enter. Doing this, you will have run a search of your computer through the Start Menu. In other words, typing in "cmd" we did a search for the Command Prompt.
   2. When you see the "Command Prompt" option among the search results, push the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER
   " keys on your keyboard.
   3. A verification window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run the Command Prompt as with administrative permission?" Approve this action by saying, "Yes".

   

2. Type the command below into the Command Line page that comes up and run it by pressing Enter on your keyboard.

   sfc /scannow

   

3. The process can take some time depending on your computer and the condition of the errors in the system. Before the process is finished, don't close the command line! When the process is finished, try restarting the program that you are experiencing the errors in after closing the command line.

Method 5: Fixing the Dsound(3).dll Error by Updating Windows 

Some programs require updated dynamic link libraries from the operating system. If your operating system is not updated, this requirement is not met and you will receive dll errors. Because of this, updating your operating system may solve the dll errors you are experiencing.

Most of the time, operating systems are automatically updated. However, in some situations, the automatic updates may not work. For situations like this, you may need to check for updates manually.

For every Windows version, the process of manually checking for updates is different. Because of this, we prepared a special guide for each Windows version. You can get our guides to manually check for updates based on the Windows version you use through the links below.

Windows Update Guides 

1. Windows Update Guide
2. Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 Update Guide
3. Windows 7 and Windows Vista Update Guide
4. Windows XP Update Guide