Illustrator on Windows - Launch Error: dxcore.dll

[Tweety37074062zpy9]

After use the cleaner tool and re-install the software, still fail to enter illustrator. Error message: dxcore.dll

Note: Renamed by Mod

[Ben M]

That is a graphics dll for your system and I don't think a re-install of Illustrator will resolve your issue. At this point you may want to de-activate any Adobe software you currently have and prepare backups as you will likely need to go down a path to repair and/or re-install your OS.

[kglad]

it's not clear what you're seeing, but see if this applies - https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/having-problem-with-dxcoredll/6f72afae-5f49-48...

[kglad]

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from using the community">

[matthewp36587689]

This is very intersting. We just started seeing this issue two days ago as well. Tried installing older verions Ai and it intermittently hangs and then will not load and presents dxcore.dll not found error. Only work around we find is to uninstall Ai then re-install, then it works for a little bit. (Win Server 2019 1809 - 17763.5696)

[kglad]

update your os and graphics driver.

[matthewp36587689]

Yes all is updated to the most latest versions

[matthewp36587689]

Are there any application start up logging (debug) that can be turned on to watch the app load, and see why it is failing on dxcore.dll?

[kglad]

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html

[matthewp36587689]

Thank you kindly. I will post the results shortly the next time this issue arises again.

[kglad]

ok

[Leslie28200385uft9]

I was receiving the same dxcore.dll error message, so I uninstalled Adobe Illustrator 28.5 and reinstalled 28.4.1 and I am able to open AI now.  I wonder if there is an issue with the update?  Anyway, I hope that helps you for now.

[Steve28755512sggl]

Thank you. Just did the same and it now works.

[matthewp36587689]

So installing the lower version appears to temporarily work, then out of the blue dxcore.dll error occurs. 

We are usinger Terminal Services on Windows, and what seems to work, is if we leave Ai running and minimized on one users session, then all other RDP sessions can open Ai without the error. Not ideal, but calms the users down and is not creating support tickets for the time being.

[Mickey21808199opg8]

Same here. Adobe - fix it!!!

[Sergey583]

Yep, installed the previous verion and it works.

Thanks

Let us us hope Adobe will fix this and not say "that it is an OS issue" and that "I need to reinstall the OS"... which was the suggested "fix" by Adobe tech support which my coleague received.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[BEGÜM37386106r89k]

Same problem and i installed older 28.4.1 version and it runs. Adobe should fix this.

[sue37404134kx2k]

I can't find a way to pick older versions of illustrator, is it because my account is still on trial?

[Monika Gause]

So this does not work? https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/install-previous-version.html

Which version do you want to install?

[ISBA29581219fcpr]

Same problem here. The error message says to re-install. So I uninstalled and re-installed it several times but still not working. Adobe should do better than this. I wonder if I'll get a message that it has been fixed, or if we'll just have to wait and keep guessing.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @ISBA29581219fcpr,

We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. Would you mind performing a clean reinstallation of the GPU drivers (Intel / NVIDIA / AMD) and setting the Graphics Preference to High-Performance for Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/3UAGTxM) and checking if it helps?

Also, try the following steps to reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable and share your observations:
- Close all Adobe apps

- Uninstall all currently installed Microsoft Visual C Redistributable packages
- Install the latest Microsoft Visual C Redistributable package from here: (https://adobe.ly/3UvpBC9)
- Relaunch Illustrator

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Oğuzhan362299073cpm]

Same problem, I just started seeing this issue 4-5 days ago as well. I tried basic things you advised but nothing fixed.

[chris33295706u2dl]

Rolling back to a previous version worked for now. I'm posting in hopes Adobe will take a look.

[Terese37438093x867]

I run illustrator on a windows and i have the same issues. even after reinstalling the program 2 times. 

Its not an OS issue, and its not a windows issue either, it must be an issue with the new version. 

[chrisc5864666]

System admin here that runs Adobe Illustrator on a Windows 2019 Server for automated PDF processing and can confirm I am having the exact same issues. Seemed to appear last week after I installed some Windows updates, but I am unsure if the two are related.

Did some digging in the Windows/System32 files and it appears that dxcore.dll is no longer (or was never) installed on the system. Peeked at another desktkop workstation and dxcore.dll is present in the System32 folder of that system.

Performed various basic diagnostics such dism scans, reboots, application reinstalls to no avail. System is updated with latest features and patches from Microsoft.

The only work around I found that worked was doing a downgrade to version 28.4.1 using the creative cloud app. See instructions below:

Plausible explanation would seem maybe MS broke a dependency with a recent update by removing dxcore.dll from some server distributions? Or maybe new version of Illustrator introduced a dependency on this dxcore.dll and it is not present in server distributions.

Whatever the explanation, a bit annoying to work through and deal with. Hope that MS & Adobe can work out the dependencies and get the latest versions working on server environments.