The application was unable to start correctly (0xc

Question

I have a client/server app which I have been developing on a single PC. Now it needs two serial ports, so I borrowed a PC from a friend.

When I build my app and try to run or debug it (whether in the Delphi IDE or from Windows File manager), it errors "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b)".

Googling doesn't bring up much, but seems to indicate that this is nothing Delphi specific and happens with other apps. It seems to be caused by calling into a 32 bit DLL from a 64 bit app or vice versa.

• both PCs are Windows 7, 64 bit
• both have Delphi Xe2 starter edition which can only handle 32 bits
• The app runs fine on my PC, but not on my friend's
• Other Delphi apps run just fine on both PCs

Can anyone give me a hint as to how to track this down?

Answer 1

A load time dependency could not be resolved. The easiest way to debug this is to use Dependency Walker. Use the Profile option to get diagnostics output of the load process. This will identify the point of failure and should guide you to a solution.

The most common cause of this error is trying to load a 64 bit DLL into a 32 bit process, or vice versa.

Answer 2

I just ran into this issue. I searched for "C++" under my "Apps & Features" in Windows 10 control panel and noticed that some kind of update had just run a few days prior and installed VC++ Redistributable 2012-2017. The app that was running into the error message only required VC++ 2010. I uninstalled all of them and then reinstalled just 2010 x86/x64, and the error went away and the application functioned as expected.

Answer 3

It is a missing dll. Possibly, your dll that works with com ports have an unresolved dll dependence. You can use dependency walker and windows debugger. Check all of the mfc library, for example. Also, you can use nrCommlib - it is great components to work with com ports.

Answer 4

I tried all the things specified here and found yet another answer. I had to compile my application with 32-bit DLLs. I had built the libraries both in 32-bit and 64-bit but had my PATH set to 64-bit libraries. After I recompiled my application (with a number of changes in my code as well) I got this dreaded error and struggled for two days. Finally, after trying a number of other things, I changed my PATH to have the 32-bit DLLs before the 64-bit DLLs (they have the same names). And it worked. I am just adding it here for completeness.

Answer 5

Actually this error indicates to an invalid image format. However, why this is happening and what the error code usually means? Actually this could be appear when you are trying to run a program that is made for or intended to work with a 64 bit Windows operating system, but your computer is running on 32 bit Operating system.

Possible Reasons:

• Microsoft Visual C++
• Need to restart
• DirectX
• .NET Framework
• Need to Re-Install
• Need to Run the application as an administrator

Source: http://www.solveinweb.com/solved-the-application-was-unable-to-start-correctly-0xc000007b-click-ok-to-close-the-application/

Answer 6

I have seen the error trying to run VC++ debug executable on a machine which did not have Visual C++ installed. Building a release version and using that fixed it.