Windows itself makes extensive use of DLLs, as a tour through the C:\Windows\System32 folder can tell you. Multiple DLLs can be linked together so that when one DLL is called, a number of other DLLs are also called at the same time. The “link” part of the DLL name also suggests another important aspect. In fact, they are designed to be called upon by multiple apps at once. Instead, DLL files are designed to be called upon by other apps. In other words, you can’t double-click a DLL file to run it the same way you would an EXE file. DLL files are a lot like executable (EXE) files, except that DLL files cannot be directly executed in Windows. Apps can then call on those DLL files when they need that activity performed. A DLL file is a library that contains a set of code and data for carrying out a particular activity in Windows. RELATED: What Is rundll32.exe and Why Is It Running?īefore we get started on why you shouldn’t download Dynamic Link Library (DLL) files from the Internet, let’s first take a look at what DLL files are.
