Method 1: Solving the DLL Error by Copying the Ecw.dll File to the Windows System Folder 

1. The file you downloaded is a compressed file with the ".zip" extension. In order to install it, first, double-click the ".zip" file and open the file. You will see the file named "Ecw.dll" in the window that opens up. This is the file you need to install. Drag this file to the desktop with your mouse's left button.

   

2. Copy the "Ecw.dll" file you extracted and paste it into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder.

   

3. If your operating system has a 64 Bit architecture, copy the "Ecw.dll" file and paste it also into the "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" folder.

   NOTE! On 64 Bit systems, the dll file must be in both the "sysWOW64" folder as well as the "System32" folder. In other words, you must copy the "Ecw.dll" file into both folders.

   

4. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

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

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

   

6. If you are using a Windows version that has 64 Bit architecture, after running the above command, you need to run the command below. With this command, we will clean the problematic Ecw.dll registry for 64 Bit (The cleaning process only involves the registries in Regedit. In other words, the dll file you pasted into the SysWoW64 will not be damaged).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Ecw.dll

   

7. You must create a new registry for the dll file that you deleted from the registry editor. In order to do this, copy the command below and paste it into the Command Line and hit Enter.

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /i Ecw.dll

   

8. If you are using a Windows with 64 Bit architecture, after running the previous command, you need to run the command below. By running this command, we will have created a clean registry for the Ecw.dll file (We deleted the damaged registry with the previous command).

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

   

9. You may see certain error messages when running the commands from the command line. These errors will not prevent the installation of the Ecw.dll file. In other words, the installation will finish, but it may give some errors because of certain incompatibilities. After restarting your computer, to see if the installation was successful or not, try running the software that was giving the dll error again. If you continue to get the errors when running the software after the installation, you can try the 2nd Method as an alternative.

Method 2: Copying the Ecw.dll File to the Software File Folder 

1. First, you need to find the file folder for the software you are receiving the "Ecw.dll not found", "Ecw.dll is missing" or other similar dll errors. In order to do this, right-click on the shortcut for the software and click the Properties option from the options that come up.

   

2. Open the software's file folder by clicking on the Open File Location button in the Properties window that comes up.

   

3. Copy the Ecw.dll file into the folder we opened.

   

4. The installation is complete. Run the software that is giving you the error. If the error is continuing, you may benefit from trying the 3rd Method as an alternative.

Method 3: Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Software that Gives You the Ecw.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 softwares on your computer. Find the software 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 software?" confirmation window. Confirm the process and wait for the software 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 software. After the software is uninstalled, restart your computer.

   

4. After restarting your computer, reinstall the software that was giving the error.
5. You may be able to solve the dll error you are experiencing by using this method. If the error messages are continuing despite all these processes, we may have a problem deriving from Windows. To solve dll errors deriving from Windows, you need to complete the 4th Method and the 5th Method in the list.

Method 4: Solving the Ecw.dll Problem by Using the Windows System File Checker (scf scannow) 

1. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

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 software that you are experiencing the errors in after closing the command line.

Method 5: Fixing the Ecw.dll Error by Manually Updating Windows 

Most of the time, softwares have been programmed to use the most recent dll files. If your operating system is not updated, these files cannot be provided and dll errors appear. So, we will try to solve the dll errors by updating the operating system.

Since the methods to update Windows versions are different from each other, we found it appropriate to prepare a separate article for each Windows version. You can get our update article that relates to your operating system version by using the links below.

Windows Update Guides 

1. Windows Update Guide
2. Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 Update Guide
3. Windows 7 and Windows Vista Update Guide
4. Windows XP Update Guide