Method 1: Fixing the DLL Error by Copying the Winsta.dll Library to the Windows System Directory 

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 dynamic link library from within it. So, first double-click the file with the ".zip" extension and open the file.
2. You will see the library named "Winsta.dll" in the window that opens. This is the library you need to install. Click on the dynamic link library with the left button of the mouse. By doing this, you select the library.

   

3. Click on the "Extract To" button, which is marked in the picture. In order to do this, you will need the Winrar program. If you don't have the program, it can be found doing a quick search on the Internet and you can download it (The Winrar program 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 dynamic link library to the desktop by clicking the "Ok" button.

   

5. Copy the "Winsta.dll" library file you extracted.
6. Paste the dynamic link library you copied into the "C:\Windows\System32" directory.

   

7. If your system is 64 Bit, copy the "Winsta.dll" library and paste it into "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" directory.

   NOTE! On 64 Bit systems, you must copy the dynamic link library to both the "sysWOW64" and "System32" directories. In other words, both directories need the "Winsta.dll" library.

   

8. 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".

   

9. Paste the command below into the Command Line window that opens and hit the Enter key on your keyboard. This command will delete the Winsta.dll library's damaged registry (It will not delete the file you pasted into the System32 directory, but will delete the registry in Regedit. The file you pasted in the System32 directory will not be damaged in any way).

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

   

10. 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 Winsta.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 Winsta.dll

    

11. 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 Winsta.dll

    

12. 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 Winsta.dll library that we deleted.

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

    

13. If you did all the processes correctly, the missing dll file will have been installed. You may have made some mistakes when running the Command Line processes. Generally, these errors will not prevent the Winsta.dll library from being installed. In other words, the installation will be completed, but it may give an error due to some incompatibility issues. You can try running the program that was giving you this dll file error after restarting your computer. If you are still getting the dll file error when running the program, please try the 2nd method.

Method 2: Copying the Winsta.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 "Winsta.dll is missing", "Winsta.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 Winsta.dll library into this directory that opens.

   

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

Method 3: Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Program that Gives You the Winsta.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. On the Programs and Features screen that will come up, you will see the list of programs on your computer. Find the program that gives you the dll error and with your mouse right-click it. The right-click menu will open. Click the "Uninstall" option in this menu to start the uninstall process.

   

3. You will see a "Do you want to uninstall this program?" confirmation window. Confirm the process and wait for the program to be completely uninstalled. The uninstall process can take some time. This time will change according to your computer's performance and the size of the program. After the program is uninstalled, restart your computer.

   

4. After restarting your computer, reinstall the program that was giving the error.
5. This method may provide the solution to the dll error you're experiencing. If the dll error is continuing, the problem is most likely deriving from the Windows operating system. In order to fix dll errors deriving from the Windows operating system, complete the 4th Method and the 5th Method.

Method 4: Fixing the Winsta.dll Error using the Windows System File Checker (sfc /scannow) 

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 Winsta.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.

Guides to Manually Update the Windows Operating System 

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