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23 October 2023  Ashley S. Miller  Specialist of Customer Service Dept.
 

Summary
Learn how to fix kernel32.dll error on your Windows computer with practical solutions. And also, this article tells you how to recover the deleted files with data recovery software.



Table of contents

table iconI. About kernel32.dll
table iconII. How to fix Kernel32.dll error?
table iconIII. Use Renee Undeleter to recover lost data when files are accidentally deleted
How to repair kernel32.dll error

I. About kernel32.dll

1. What is Kernel32.dll?

Kernel32.dll is a Windows kernel module, and the kernel is the core part of the operating system that performs basic operations, including memory management, input/output operations, and interrupts. Kernel32.dll is also a 32-bit dynamic link library file used in the Windows operating system, which can ensure the normal operation of Windows programs. If this file is missing or corrupted, it may negatively affect the program and then some errors will appear as shown below.
● The program failed to start because Kernel32.dll could not be found. Reinstalling the program may resolve this issue.
Cannot find Kernel32.dll
● Unable to locate the program input point on the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll.
kernel32 error
● The program can’t start because Kernel32.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to resolve this issue.
kernel32.dll is missing from your computer

2. Reasons for Kernel32.dll errors

Errors related to Kernel32.dll can arise for a number of different reasons such as a defective application, deleted or misplaced Kernel32.dll, the presence of a virus or malware on the PC, a corrupted Windows registry, etc. After understanding the reason, let’s learn some conventional solutions.

II. How to fix Kernel32.dll error?

1. Restart the computer

Restarting the computer is an easy and quick initial fix after some faults occur in a Windows computer, because when restarting, the system will try to automatically repair the detected faults. If restarting doesn’t solve the problem, please continue to try the methods below.

2. Use antivirus software to scan

The Kernel32.dll error may be related to the presence of viruses or malware in the computer. You can use Windows 10’s built-in antivirus software—Windows Defender or third-party antivirus software to scan for viruses. Let’s take Windows Defender as an example to introduce the specific operation steps.
Step 1: Open (Settings) in (Start), and then click (Update & Security).
windows updates and security
Step 2: Under the (Update and Security) page, click Open (Windows Security).
click on Windows Security
Step 3: Click(Virus & Threat Protection), and then click (Quick Scan) to start the scan. After scanning with antivirus software for viruses or malware, restart your computer and check if the problem is resolved.
virus and threat protection

3. Reinstall the app

According to the error message “The program failed to start because Kernel32.dll could not be found. Reinstalling the program may solve this problem”, we can try to reinstall the problematic application, which may solve the problem.
Step 1: Start your Windows 10 computer, right-click (Start), select (Apps and Features). Then select the problematic application and click (Uninstall).
Uninstall recently installed apps on Windows 10
Step 2: Download and install the program through the Microsoft Store on the Windows computer or the official website of the uninstalled application.

4. Use SFC to check and repair

Kernel32.dll is a Windows kernel module, if the file is missing or damaged, you can try to use SFC (System File Checker) to check and repair it. The SFC command can effectively scan all protected system files in the system and fix the corresponding problems. The specific operation steps are as follows:
Step 1: Run the computer, search (cmd) in the search box in the lower left corner, and select (Run as administrator) to open the command prompt tool.
run command prompt as administrator in start menu
Step 2: In the opened command prompt window, enter the command (SFC /scannow) and press the (Enter) key. Next, System File Checker performs a system scan and fixes problematic system files. After the repair is complete, restart the computer and try to open the current application again to see if the problem is resolved. If the Windows system cannot start normally, you can also try to enter the Windows recovery environment and run the SFC command to check and repair. Click here for specific steps.
Enter the SFC /scannow command

5. Download the new Kernel32.dll file and modify the registry

When the Kernel32.dll file is lost or damaged, you can also try to download a new Kernel32.dll file, and then register it in the registry. The specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: You can search and download the Kernel32.dll file in your browser, but you need to pay attention to identify whether the website is compliant, so as not to download viruses or malware. Two downloading channels are listed below. Since the content of the website may change over time, please judge whether to download the Kernel32.dll file from the website below.
● https://www.dll-files.com/kernel32.dll.html
● https://www.dlldownloader.com/kernel32-dll/
Step 2: You will download a compressed file which can be decompressed using applications like WinRAR and 7zip. After decompressing the file, copy the Kernel32.dll file to the path below.
32-bit system: C:\Windows\System32
64-bit system: C:\Windows\System32 and C:\Windows\sysWOW64
You can copy the paths listed above into File Explorer to open the corresponding folders. The 64-bit system needs to ensure that there are Kernel32.dll files in the “System32″ and “sysWOW64″ folders.
Step 3: Next you need to delete/uninstall the corrupted DLL file in the registry and register the new DLL file through the command prompt. Please search (cmd), right click (command prompt), select (run as administrator).
run command prompt as administrator in start menu
Step 4: Type (%windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /u Kernel32.dll) in the opened command prompt and press (Enter) to uninstall the damaged Kernel32.dll in the registry, which will not affect the pasted to the Kernel32.dll file in the System32 folder.
Uninstall Kernel32 dll
If you are using 64-bit Windows, after running the above command, you need to run (%windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Kernel32.dll) command.
64-bit system uninstall Kernel32 dll
Step 5: Next register Kernel32.dll, please type (%windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /i Kernel32.dll) and press (Enter).
Register Kernel32 dll
If you are using 64-bit Windows, after running the above command, type (%windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /i Kernel32.dll) and press (Enter). Restart your computer afterward to check if the problem is resolved.
64-bit system registration kernel32 dll
Kind tipsIf the above steps do not solve the problem, you can try to copy the Kernel32.dll file to the software installation directory where the problem occurs, and then run the program again to check whether the problem is solved.
The above are several solutions to fix the Kernel32.dll error. If the problem cannot be solved, you can also try to restore the system, reinstall the system and other measures. If you accidentally delete an important file while using the computer, you can retrieve the lost data with the help of the third part below, and we will continue to learn.

III. Use Renee Undeleter to recover lost data when files are accidentally deleted

1. What is Renee Undeleter?

Renee Undeleter is a software specially designed to restore various data files. When you accidentally delete important files, empty the recycle bin, or format the disk/storage, you can use this tool to find the lost data back. This software covers four functional modules, including file recovery, format recovery, partition recovery and image creation, so it can help you solve many data loss problems that may occur during system use in an all-round way, which is very convenient.
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2. How to recover accidentally deleted files with Renee Undeleter?

Restoring data with Renee Undeleter is very simple, the specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: Download, install and run Renee Undeleter on a Windows computer, and select Fast Partition Scan on the main interface.
Note: Do not install the software on the disk that needs to recover data, so as not to cause data overwriting. In addition, after the file is lost, please do not save new data to the same disk partition, so as not to damage or completely lose the lost file.
how to recover photos from sd card select the function fast partition scan in renee undeleter
Data recovery function introduction:

Fast Partition Scan: Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.

Whole Partition Scan: Quickly recover files lost due to inaccessible or formatted partitions.

Whole Disk Scan: It can analyze and obtain partition information, and fully scan the entire partition.

Image Creation: You can create a mirror image for a partition to back up the current partition state.

Step 2: Next, select the partition where the lost data is located and click on Next.
scan disk with Renee Undeleter
Step 3: Select the Fast Scan option and click the Next button to scan.
Tips: The quick scan mode only scans the first 30GB of the remaining space of the selected disk. If the desired file is not found after scanning, you can use the deep scan mode to try to scan the hard disk partition again. It will take more time, but more data can be scanned.
select fast scan mode in renee undeleter
Step 4: Wait for the scan to complete, you can double-click the file to preview, then check the file to be recovered, click the Recover button to restore the file to another disk.
select the target files to recover in fast partition scan