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

I have been having this same issue (specified module error trying to open mp4 and similar files) since updating to Windows 11. Am running a system scan now to see whether there's some malware or DLL issues. Seems more likely to be a bug, since I had no problems with Windows 10.

After a month or so of trouble shooting the results look like this:

I have applied many recommended "fixes" in a very systematic manner, unfortunately the behavior remains the same, "Photos" and "Movies & TV" eventually start having the error again.

I have 2 desktops, one runs Win10 the other was upgraded to Win11

Win10 desktop has never had this problem

The problem emerged after upgrading a desktop to Win11

I run anti virus regularly on both desktops

This problem only emerged after upgrading one of my Win10 desktops to Win11

So considering my results, at this point, the most likely conclusion is that for some configurations, Win11 causes this problem. This is not happening to every Win11 user, but it is happening to some Win11 users.

Doing "restores", "Win11 refresh", reinstalling the apps, refreshing the policy, reinstalling drivers does not solve the error. So to solve this I think you would need to provide some kind of debug tool that would be able to trap exactly what is going on when the problem re-emerges - you have to see the exact state of the OS when this happens to see exactly what process failed, what happened to prevent the OS from finding the jpg or mp4 file, my best guess is that addressing data is somehow being corrupted

Another idea would to provide a tool that would launch "Photos" "n" number of times, to see if there is some repeatable behavior (e.g., does this error always happen after "n" initiations?)

P.S. I have run Restoro on the Win10 desktop as well, the Win10 desktop has not yet had this problem, so its not likely that the issue is being introduced by Restoro.

"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."

That's not a good workaround since the problem reoccurs. It is not good that the problem reoccurs as that means its continually breaking. You can't assume Windows is continually doing it.

If you use a 3rd party AntiVirus application (and Restoro includes this) you could try fully disabling that or maybe having to uninstall and rely on Windows Defender. See if it goes away.

Since you use Restoro, something like that could potentially also cause this while another function of it just happens to also fix it. Its totally possible. Cleaners/fixers like that are not in your best interest as they clean whatever and anything and sometimes very incorrectly.

You also cannot assume that if Restoro works on Windows 10 fine that it will be identical on Windows 11. There will be code differences due to OS version differences to a strong degree with how integrated this type of application has to be.

It could also be something is causing file loss but I'd expect to see more issues as a result so it should be something else if not.

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.

As far as the current situation is concerned, it can be considered whether the problem is caused by one of the following factors.

1. Corruption in your PC's disk Type: cmd from the Windows search box > Right click on Command Prompt and click run as administrator > Click Yes when prompted to confirm > Type chkdsk C: /f /r in the window and press Enter > Wait until the whole disk check process finishes and restart your computer.
2. Outdated Windows drivers Hold down Windows + X and open device manager to uninstall all drivers especially drivers for external devices and download the latest version of them and install them to your Windows 11.
3. The directory for installing dependencies If you are installing programs which are used as additional libraries in running some third-party application or it is some dependent program, it is advised that you check the directory where you are installing the program/ package. This is a very common scenario. For example, if you have a game which requires appuals.dll to be present to run, you should install appuals.dll in the game’s directory. This will prevent the game from throwing ‘the specified module could not be found’ because it will find the package. If you install appuals.dll in some other directory, the game wouldn’t know where to look. Hence the error. ***Note:***If you are getting the error because of specific DLL’s, you should download the DLL files or reinstall the dependency package in the location of the program which you are trying to run.
4. Uninstalling the device properly If you recently uninstalled some device not using the device manager, there are chances that whenever you boot your computer, the OS looks for the files required for that device’s operation but when it doesn’t find any, it pops an error. If you get an error like this in this condition, we can fix it by uninstalling the device properly from the device manager.
   • Press Windows + R, type: devmgmt.msc in the dialogue box and press Enter.
   • Once in the device manager, expand the category according to your case, find the device, right-click it and uninstall. When prompted, also delete its drivers.
   • Restart your PC after this operation and see if the error “The specified module could not be found” still pops up. Also, do a full power cycle.
   In some cases, if the problem still doesn’t get resolved, you have to remove the device-specific keys manually. There were several instances when after removing the printer, the files were not removed automatically and this caused the error message. Navigate to locations like the following: C: Windows / Users / (your name) / Roaming / Startup / Monitor Ink shortcut (delete this) or

       C: Windows / Users / (your name) / Roaming / Application Date / Startup / Monitor ink shortcut (delete this)  
   

Let me know if any update.