Method 1: Installing the Winsrv.dll File to the Windows System Folder 

1. The file you downloaded is a compressed file with the extension ".zip". This file cannot be installed. To be able to install it, first you need to extract the dll file from within it. So, first double-click the file with the ".zip" extension and open the file.
2. You will see the file named "Winsrv.dll" in the window that opens. This is the file you need to install. Click on the dll file with the left button of the mouse. By doing this, you select the file.

   

3. Click on the "Extract To" button, which is marked in the picture. In order to do this, you will need the Winrar software. If you don't have the software, it can be found doing a quick search on the Internet and you can download it (The Winrar software is free).
4. After clicking the "Extract to" button, a window where you can choose the location you want will open. Choose the "Desktop" location in this window and extract the dll file to the desktop by clicking the "Ok" button.

   

5. Copy the "Winsrv.dll" file file you extracted.
6. Paste the dll file you copied into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder.

   

7. If your system is 64 Bit, copy the "Winsrv.dll" file and paste it into "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" folder.

   NOTE! On 64 Bit systems, you must copy the dll file to both the "sysWOW64" and "System32" folders. In other words, both folders need the "Winsrv.dll" file.

   

8. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

9. Paste the command below into the Command Line that will open up and hit Enter. This command will delete the damaged registry of the Winsrv.dll file (It will not delete the file we pasted into the System32 folder; it will delete the registry in Regedit. The file we pasted into the System32 folder will not be damaged).

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /u Winsrv.dll

   

10. 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 Winsrv.dll file from the 64 Bit architecture (The Cleaning process is only with registries in the Windows Registry Editor. In other words, the dll file that we pasted into the SysWoW64 folder will stay as it is).

    %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Winsrv.dll

    

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

    %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /i Winsrv.dll

    

12. 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 Winsrv.dll file that we deleted.

    %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /i Winsrv.dll

    

13. You may see certain error messages when running the commands from the command line. These errors will not prevent the installation of the Winsrv.dll file. 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 software that was giving the dll error again. If you continue to get the errors when running the software after the installation, you can try the 2nd Method as an alternative.

Method 2: Copying the Winsrv.dll File to the Software File Folder 

1. In order to install the dll file, you need to find the file folder for the software that was giving you errors such as "Winsrv.dll is missing", "Winsrv.dll not found" or similar error messages. In order to do that, Right-click the software'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 Winsrv.dll file into this folder that opens.

   

4. This is all there is to the process. Now, try to run the software again. If the problem still is not solved, you can try the 3rd Method.

Method 3: Doing a Clean Reinstall of the Software That Is Giving the Winsrv.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 softwares installed on your computer in the list on this screen. Find the software 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 software. Confirm the process and wait for the uninstall process to finish. Restart your computer after the software has been uninstalled from your computer.

   

4. After restarting your computer, reinstall the software.
5. You can solve 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 solve dll errors in Windows you will need to complete the 4th Method and the 5th Method in the list.

Method 4: Solving the Winsrv.dll error with the Windows System File Checker 

1. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

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 software that you are experiencing the errors in after closing the command line.

Method 5: Fixing the Winsrv.dll Error by Manually Updating Windows 

Some softwares require updated dll files 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