MATLAB: Does the code that calls library functions imported by LOADLIBRARY continue to work despite a warning that a dependent library was not found in MATLAB 7.9 (R2009b)

Question

I am loading a shared library (DLL in Windows) that has a static dependency on a second shared library. When issuing a LOADLIBRARY on the first shared library, I receive a warning dialog box with the following text:

 This application has failed to start because <dependent_library_name>.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

However, when clicking 'OK' on the dialog, my code continues to run until completion, without error.

Answer 1

Such behavior has been observed in circumstances when a Google Desktop DLL, wxvault.dll, or detoured.dll appears in the following Windows registry entry:

 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_DLLs

This registry key contains a list of shared libraries, and instructs Windows to load these libraries into every process that launches in the OS (i.e., they "hook" into the process). To remove these entries, do the following:

1. Start the Windows Registry Editor by clicking Start -> Run, entering the text "regedit", and pressing Enter.

2. Click on the registry path as outlined by the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows NT -> CurrentVersion -> Windows

3. Double-click the key named "AppInit_DLLs". An "Edit String" dialog should appear.

4. Remove any of the aforementioned DLL names from the list.

5. Restart MATLAB, and re-run your LOADLIBRARY code.