Summary

Discusses how to manually register a file.

Synopsis

How do I manually register a file on my computer?

Discussion

Files that are created as self-registering have information that need to be stored in the Windows registry in order for the file to be available and useable to applications on the machine. Usually DLLs, OCXs, and EXEs are self-registering and require to be registered on the machine.

Follow these steps to register DLLs or OCXs:

1. On the Taskbar, select Start > Run.
2. In the Open field, type regsvr32 "<path>\NameOfFile.extension", where <path> is the directory where the file is located on your computer and NameOfFile.extension is the name of the file. For example:

regsvr32 "C:\Windows\System32\Mydll.dll

1. Press Enter.
2. If the file registers successfully, the following message appears on the screen:

Follow these steps to register an executable, or .exe, file:

1. On the Taskbar, select Start > Run.
2. In the Open field, type "<path>\NameOfFile.exe" /REGSERVER, where <path> is the directory where the file is located on your computer and NameOfFile.exe is the name of the file. For example:

   C:\Program Files\MyAppLocation\MyApp.exe" /REGSERVER

3. Press Enter.

Most executables do not display any message boxes when registered. It depends on how the application is created. Some applications when registered may open on your computer.