The error “The specified module could not be found” happening in Windows 11

Hi jmwatt1234,

Thanks for raising your concern in Microsoft Community.

It sounds like an error “The specified module could not be found” occured on your Windows 11. This could be caused by various reasons: 1.

1. Malware attacks.

Hold down Windows +I key to open Settings > Select Update & Security > In the pop-up window, select Windows Defender in the left pane > Click Open Windows Defender Security Center > Virus & threat protection > Advanced Scan.

2. Missing or corrupted DLL file

• Open File Explorer Option > In the pop-up window, go to the View tab and uncheck the option Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) > Click Apply > OK.

• Boot your computer into Safe Mode and open Task Manager > In the Processes tab, select the program encountering the specified module could not be found error and choose End Task from the context menu to continue.
• After that, reboot the program and check whether the problem is solved.

3. Damaged Windows Registry files.

• Hold down Windows + R to open Run dialog > Type: regedit in the box and click OK to continue.
• In the pop-up window, select the following keys and delete them. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce**
• Restart your PC to check the effect.

(Disclaimer: Generally, modifying registry subkeys or work group is intended for advanced users, administrators, and IT Professionals. It can help fix some problems, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For further protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click hereto view the article.)

Feel free to post back if you need further assistance. And Wishing you a lovely Christmas season and a very Happy New Year!

Best Regards,

Lynn Sun | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

* Beware of scammers posting fake support numbers here.

* Kindly Mark and Vote this reply if it helps, as it will be beneficial to more community members reading here.

For the people with the error: "The specified procedure could not be found" when opening a picture with the MS photo app:

If you get the error, is it (temporary) fixed when you just restart 'explorer'?

(Open task manager -> search for: 'Windows Explorer'. Click on it, then click on: 'Restart'.)

Then open a picture that give the error (without restarting the pc).

Is the picture showing without the error now?

Thanks!

mickey2002 - I've tried all of the "fixes" suggested, they all fail to resolve the problem. The result is always the same, the error goes away for a while but then re appears. I only get this error with "Photos" and "Movies & TV". This error only started to happen after installing Win11 (I have another desktop still running Win10, this error has never happened on my Win10 PC). So I think the only real solution would be to wipe the PC and do a fresh install of Win10 - but that would be a real hassle. As a workaround I now just run the "Restoro" app (3rd party software, cost about $30 for a year) to temporarily fix the problem. I'm hoping that some future Win11 update may somehow fix this issue.

The same problem here! For me the only way to resolve it is to remove the app via powershell and reinstall it. Than it works a few times, but the error will be back! I don't understand where the error message is coming from, because it's not with all the pictures. Some pictures will work with the photo app. Others will have the error message with the same file extension. It's the: "The specified procedure could not be found"-error. A fresh installed pc. It's only happening with pictures in the Microsoft photo app. I installed all the updates. I read many comments online with the same problem....

Just found out if I get the error-massage: "The specified procedure could not be found", then I doubleclick... rightclick -> open with -> choose other app: MS photos -> check always use this app to open .jpg. Than the photo app opens with the picture. If I dubbleclick (left) on the picture again, I get the error message. Strange...

I also really hope Microsoft brings back the 'un-combine/ungroup' option for the windows/folders on the taskbar, this is really annoying to me. I work with a lot of folders, it's not workable.. and than the search function has a lot of bugs (still)!! The (explorer) appcrashes come on Microsoft!

Sad to say re-installing the image did NOT solve the issue - the resource NOT found error reappeared after a few days - so far these fixes have failed to resolve the issue

1. terminal commands (gpupdate)
2. removing and reinstalling Photos and Movies & TV apps
3. re-installing the Win11 image

do you have any other suggestions?

Thank You

John Watters