Method 1: Copying the Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.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 "Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.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 "Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll" library you extracted and paste it into the "C:\Windows\System32" directory.

   

3. If you are using a 64 Bit operating system, copy the "Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll" library and paste it into the "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" as well.

   NOTE! On Windows operating systems with 64 Bit architecture, the dynamic link library must be in both the "sysWOW64" directory as well as the "System32" directory. In other words, you must copy the "Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll" library into both directories.

   

4. 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".

   

5. Let's copy the command below and paste it in the Command Line that comes up, then let's press Enter. This command deletes the Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll library's problematic registry in the Windows Registry Editor (The library that we copied to the System32 directory does not perform any action with the library, it just deletes the registry in the Windows Registry Editor. The library that we pasted into the System32 directory will not be damaged).

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /u Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll

   

6. If you are using a 64 Bit operating system, after doing the commands above, you also need to run the command below. With this command, we will also delete the Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll library's damaged registry for 64 Bit (The deleting process will be only for the registries in Regedit. In other words, the dll file you pasted into the SysWoW64 folder will not be damaged at all).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll

   

7. 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 Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll

   

8. If you are using a 64 Bit operating system, after running the command above, you also need to run the command below. With this command, we will have added a new library in place of the damaged Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll library that we deleted.

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /i Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll

   

9. If you did the processes in full, the installation should have finished successfully. If you received an error from the command line, you don't need to be anxious. Even if the Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll library was installed successfully, you can still receive error messages like these due to some incompatibilities. In order to test whether your dll issue was fixed or not, try running the program giving the error message again. If the error is continuing, try the 2nd Method to fix this issue.

Method 2: Copying The Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll Library Into 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 "Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll is missing", "Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.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 Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.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 Gives You the Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.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 Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.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. After typing the command below into the Command Line, push Enter.

   sfc /scannow

   

3. Depending on your computer's performance and the amount of errors on your system, this process can take some time. You can see the progress on the Command Line. Wait for this process to end. After the scan and repair processes are finished, try running the program giving you errors again.

Method 5: Fixing the Microsoft.visualbasic.compatibility.dll Error by Updating Windows 

Most of the time, programs have been programmed to use the most recent dynamic link libraries. If your operating system is not updated, these files cannot be provided and dll errors appear. So, we will try to fix the dll errors by updating the operating system.

Since the methods to update Windows versions are different from each other, we found it appropriate to prepare a separate article for each Windows version. You can get our update article that relates to your operating system version by using the links below.

Guides to Manually Update for All Windows Versions 

1. Guide to Manually Update Windows 10
2. Guide to Manually Update Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
3. Guide to Manually Update Windows 7 and Windows Vista
4. Guide to Manually Update Windows XP