Mar 27, 2011  “The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail” Something like the following Message-box, but showing the specific path file I was trying to execute (and always based on the MMC.EXE).

1. Little Fighter 2 Error Side By Side Configuration Is Incorrect

September 25, 2019

When you try to launch, uninstall or install any program, you may get an error something like “The application has failed to start because the side by side configuration is incorrect.” In this article, You will learn how to fix it.

Sometimes, Something may not go through the right way. As a result, You may encounter various errors. You may face problems while opening any of your existing installed programs. One of the most common errors is side by side configuration problem. It mostly happens when you try to install or open any large software like Autocad, Office, etc. You may want to fix side by side configuration error by yourself. But, If you don’t understand this problem in details, It will be harder to resolve.

Usually, This error may show you a message like this:

The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail.

This is not a new issue that Windows 10 users are facing. It was seen in older operating systems like Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 etc. Now, Windows 10 users are also complaining about this problem.

What Makes Side by Side Configuration Incorrect in Windows

Typically, This side by side configuration error occurs when there is a conflict between the program you want to install and any files of C++ library. This library is a core part of Windows and comes with it by default. So, The users who update their operating system regularly have less chance to face the problem “The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect.” Else, Corrupted installer file can be another reason.

How to Fix Side by Side Configuration Error in Windows

Fortunately, You can repair this error by following some steps. Here are they.

1. Use Another Installer

Probably, You are encountering this problem while installing a software. A corrupted installer can be a reason for many weird errors. It is possible that you have been experiencing the problem due to an issue with the installer. So, I suggest you to use another installer to install the program. You also can delete the existing one and download the installer again. It may fix side by side configuration error.

2. Repair/Re-install Existing Installed Program

If you are facing side by side configuration error in your already installed program, You can follow this method. If you repair your install program that is showing the error, It may fix the application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect error. You can repair programs by following these steps:

• Just go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Feature.
• Now, Right click on the problematic program and choose Repair/change.
• Then, Follow onscreen instructions to repair it
• If the repair option is not available, try to re-install the program.

I hope, After doing it, You won’t face side by side is incorrect message again.

3. Use Compatibility Troubleshooter

Whenever you encounter the problem while installing or opening any programs or apps on your Windows PC, You should run compatibility troubleshooter. Because, In most cases, Troubleshooter can fix common installation or app opening errors. If you are lucky, It also can fix side by side configuration error that was preventing you from installing or opening your desired program. Here are the instructions to run troubleshooter.

• First of all, Right click on the installation file something like install.exe, setup.exe, start.exe, etc. and choose Troubleshoot Compatibility.
• It will detect problems and recommend you what to do. You may see there is something like “Try recommended settings.” Just click on it.
• Then, Click on Test the program.
• Now, You should not face “the application has failed to start because of side by side configuration is incorrect” problem.

4. Re-Install/Repair/Update Microsoft Visual C++

As this problem is directly related to Visual C++, There must be something to do with it. I recommend you to uninstall it from your PC. Then, Install it again. Here are details.

• At first, Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features.
• Now, Uninstall all Visual C++.
• After doing it, Follow this link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
• There, You will find all supported visual C++ download links. Just download them and install on your PC.
• After doing it, Restart windows.

It should fix side by side configuration error, and you should be able to install your desired programs.

5. Repair Corrupted System Files

If none of these four methods work, you can try this one. Here is a guide to repair corrupted system files. There, You will know how to solve all the system file errors using SFC and DISM command. It will help you to get rid of many problems on Windows. It also can be helpful to fix side by side configuration is incorrect problem.

Hope something helps!

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for well over a year now, but for some reason I never got round to it. This came up in conversation the other day with a couple of workmates and it prompted me to revisit the issue.

Have you ever fired up an application on Windows XP and got the following error?

The application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Informative isn’t it! What about if you fire up the same application on Windows Vista?

The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail.

This does tell us a little bit more about the problem, but not a lot more.

The fact is that the first error message above is useless, and the second is useless to everyone except those who know all about WinSxS (side-by-side). I’m not going to go into detail about WinSxS in this article, but the short description is: it’s an attempt at alleviating DLL hell.

When a binary component links against a DLL, such as MS’s CRT, an entry for that dependant DLL is specified in the component’s manifest. This tells Windows that the application can’t run without those DLLs being present. If they’re not present in WinSxS then the errors above are thrown in the user’s face.

To demonstrate the problem, consider the C++ program below.

Compile this on a machine with Vis Studio 2008 installed and the resulting EXE will be linked against version 9.0 of the CRT.

Here is the result of running this on an XP machine without that runtime installed:

Here’s the same application running on Vista, again without the runtime installed:

Let’s now pretend that we don’t know why this problem is occuring and attempt to ascertain the reason for the error.

First off, we need to locate the application’s manifest. This can be found either in a appname.exe.manifest file, or inside the binary itself. In our case, the manifest is embedded so we need to open up the file in a binary/hex editor (or at least an editor that allows you to view the content of binary files). I used VIM, but there are other options such as UltraEdit and the free Cynus editor.

Manifest information is usually stored towards the end of the file, so after opening it in your editor of choice, scroll to the end of the file and slowly scroll up. When you reach a section that contains what looks to be XML then you’ve probably found it. It usually lies just above a section of padding that looks like this:

The manifest XML usually begins with an assembly tag. In the case of this example, it looks like this:

In case you don’t find this very readable, here it is after extraction/formatting:

The bit we’re really interested in is:

This tells us the exact component and version required for this application to run. You’ll notice that it also mentions the processor architecture. In this case, we need to make sure that we have version 9.0.21022.8 of the Visual C Runtimes for x86 installed in the side-by-side folder. The WinSxS folder can be found at %WINDIR%WinSxS

Little Fighter 2 Error Side By Side Configuration Is Incorrect

Inside that folder you’ll probably see a stack of subfolders with crazy looking names. The one you would need to have to solve the problem above is called x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.21022.8_none_bcb86ed6ac711f91, which as you can see has a name that closely resembles the properties of the assemblyIdentity tag in the XML listed above.

If you can’t find the appropriate folder in your WinSxS then you need to download an installer that contains the appropriate components and install it.When installed, the application should run without a problem, and you should get a message like this:

Hope that helps!

Edit (3rd Jan ‘09): A nifty tool has been built by Kenny Kerr which makes viewing manifest information much easier. Pointer your browser this way and check it out. It should help when tryinig to resolve this problem.