Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

Scintilla DLL could not be loaded

D

DieterKoessl

Apr
36
0
I just installed TCDM 36 for the first time on a second PC (an Intel NUC).

When starting TCMD I get an error box with the following message (twice actually):

"The Scintilla DLL could not be loaded."

After that TCMD and TCC start and seem to work normally. Needless to say, TCEDIT does not work. I didn't even bother to test the IDE.

I disabled (renamed) both TCMD.INI and TCSTART.BTM (this also disables any aliases) for a clean start: it still happens. Installation and configuration folders are at the default position and all the DLL files are present including Scintilla and Lexilla.

TCMD 35 which is also installed on the NUC is running flawlessly. What is even more puzzling, TCMD starts in its own installation folder and still cannot find the DLL. Moreover, there is no entry in the PATH which points elsewhere, especially not into the TCMD 35 folder. Those two folders are the only ones where the file Scintilal.DLL can be found.

The only thing which is different on the NUC as compared to my main PC is its usage. It is installed in my stereo rig and uses the TV as a monitor. That is, its output is viewed at a 10’ distance and its scaling factor is 300%. And yes, its main purpose is running a single program: JRiver Media Center. On the NUC TCMD is used only for the odd file managing task.
 
What version of Windows?

TCMD just does a LoadLibrary("Scintilla.DLL"), which will load it from the TCMD installation directory, so if the dll is there it's not because LoadLibrary couldn't find it, but because something is blocking the load. This could be an AV, a Windows Policy, or a third-party injection. It's also possible that you have another Scintilla.dll on that system that is causing a mismatch (i.e., 32 vs 64 bit).

There isn't much error checking around the Scintilla.dll load (because as far as I know it has never failed before). I've added more for the next build so we can at least get a better idea of why your NUC won't load it.

TCC doesn't use Scintilla.dll. TCMD uses it for the "Command Input" window (not commonly used unless you need it for Accessibility.)

IDE and TCEdit will not work at all without Scintilla.dll.
 
Let's see (sorry about the missing info):
  • Most recent Windows Version: Win 11 Pro 64-bit, 25H2, Build 26200.8246
  • Intel I3, 8 GB ram, loads of free disk space
  • No special AV software, except for Windows Defender, of course. Latest AV definitions. Ran Defender on installation folder -> no complaints. Ran quick scan -> no complaints.
  • Yes. Command Input does not work. I almost never use that one.
  • There are only 2 versions of Scintilla.dll on the system (used Everything to search). One for each TCMD (v35 and v36).
  • I renamed the TCMD 35 install folder for a quick test. Rebooted the system and TCMD 36 still cannot find the DLL. After renaming the TCMD 35 folder back to its default name TCMD 35 worked as flawlessly as before.
  • I cannot recall to have changed any policies. It's a private PC used only by me. But if you have any notions of what might be wrong, I can easily run gpedit to have a look.
  • I compared permissions (TCMD 35 vs TCMD 36). They all seem to be the same.
  • I compared signatures. They are different. But... this is also true for my main PC and here the DLL is working. And... this is also true for the rest of the DLLs and these seem to be working on the NUC. Something about root certificates perhaps?
Hope this helps to clarify some points.
 
OK. Here we go!

First a warning to all the members of the forum which are not absolutely positively comfortable with what goes into a Windows installation and what an administrator can do to its PC and its OS (and how to repair train wrecks).

Please, don't do this at home!

Here is what I did:
  • installed the latest version of TCMD (build 48)
  • installer balks about missing DLLs: msvcp140, vcruntime140, and vcruntime140_1
  • DLLs are not to be found in "C:\Windows\System32"
  • downloaded relevant VC runtime from MS website
  • installed runtime
  • re-installed TCMD: vcruntime140_1 still missing
  • YES! runtime installer does not install that one (tried twice and also tried 32-bit version)
  • used Everything to search system: the DLLs are spread over the system like the proverbial plague (as is to be expected)
  • grabbed the ones which could be found in "C:\Windows\System32\HealthAttestationClient" and which seemed to be a lot newer anyway (version info)
  • dropped them into "C:\Windows\System32"
  • re-installed TCMD
  • BINGO
Well! What might be learned of this?
  • Why was the VC runtime missing on my NUC? Isn't it part of the OS? I cannot recall ever de-installing it. And why should I? Maybe a misbehaved uninstaller?
  • Does anybody know where to get the latest and complete installer for VC runtime 140?
  • The runtime installed in "System32" on my main rig is actually the same as the one in "HealthAttestationClient" (well almost, one is *.0 the other is *.1).
  • TCMD 35 works without the VC runtime, TCMD 36 does not. Which of the cogs and wheels of TCMD 36 which are new, use the runtime?
  • Maybe TCMD should include the three DLLs in its own install folder (they are re-distributable for a reason). Then they never can go missing or be out of sync for that matter. Don't be shy about it, everyone (and their grandma) is doing it!
Please, forgive that bit of rambling, but that VC runtime installer left me at the end of my wits!
 
TCMD and TCC do not use those dll's. However, the PowerShell and DotNet plugins (new to v36) do use them.

They are normally part of the OS installation, except apparently in your case with a limited OS on a NUC? I am making a change for the next build to include those dll's in the installer and copy them if they're not on the system.
 
Thanks for the effort.

And no, it is not a limited OS. It is Win 11 Pro 64-bit. For instance, gpedit.msc does work "out of the box". I ran it just yesterday and browsed for a bit, but I couldn't find some odd policy which got in the way of the TCMD installation.

As you might have gathered from my last post, I myself am quite at a loss why these DLLs are missing on the NUC. But browsing the web a bit one finds that those DLLs get missing a lot. That is most probably why they are included in so many installation folders. Microsoft isn't an exception, quite on the contrary: Office, Edge, Skype, Teams, PowerToys... the list goes on and on. And most of these DLLs do not have the same version number!
 
Another update. Now everything is working fine.

Usual disclaimer: do not manually fiddle with Windows\System32
  • fired up my NUC
  • deleted the DLLs (msvcp140, vcruntime140, vcruntime140_1) in System32
  • installed TCMD 36 build 49
  • installation went smoothly
  • the aforementioned DLLs can be found in the installation folder of TCMD 36
  • TCMD and TCC seem to work fine
So all is well, except for the missing DLLs in System32. I did another more thorough search of the Web and, this time, found the correct link (never trust Google's AI). For anybody else having the same problem, here is where you must go and what must be done:
  • The correct links can be found when searching for "Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable latest supported downloads"
  • Currently (as of 2026-05-14) the direct link is "Latest Supported Visual C++ Redistributable Downloads"
  • Download and install whichever version of the VC runtime is missing (this is safe!).
My web search also showed that those DLLs can go missing when you do "a full clean factory reset on my computer to start with a fresh and upgraded windows 11". I recall doing that once on my NUC, since the audio drivers for my amplifier went haywire. Well... that proves that MS does not consider VC to be an essential part of its software chain ;-).
 
rconn said:
TCC doesn't use Scintilla.dll.
Click to expand...
And yet, when I click on a .BTM file, I get an error saying that Scintilla.dll doesn't exist, even though it does exist. Re-installing TCC fixes the problem. This happened for the first time with 36.51 and now it just happened with 36.53.

[Windows 11 Pro, 22H2, TCC v36]

TCC works perfectly fine otherwise and only has a problem if I click on a .BTM ilte to launch TCC.

This is new, and has never happened before, and I can't find anything that is blocking TCC (or anything else). I will investigate further because there is always a possiblity that I did something wrong, but in this case I don't think so.
 
I get the same problem with TCC_RT_36
A vanilla install on a fully licenced Windows Server 2022 with latest Windows Updates.
1780050994322.webp

1780051146571.webp
 
@rconn Axitech user above (David) and I am using TCC_RT_36 Product version: 36.01.54
The software installs, but there is no Scintilla.dll in program files/jpsoft/TCC_RT_36; however, there is Scintilla.dll in the full install (TCC).
It appears this file is missing in the 'lite' version.

I've downloaded Scintilla.dll from an online solution, and on placing the file into /jpsoft/TCC_RT_36/ TCC 'lite' appears to work as expected.
Can TCC_RT_36 be built with the missing .dll ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top