Why can't my computer find blinkw32.dll / binkw32.dll?

What is blinkw32.dl? I am having problems with my PC complaining that it can't find blinkw32.dll (binkw32.dll?) when I try to start up a program.

Dave's Answer:

I did what you probably should have done first: I used Google to search for this specific DLL to see what came up and as far as I can tell, it's a library file used by a game called "Silent Hill 2" and, possibly, other games. The key point, however, is that this file appears to be related to how the game checks to see if the master DVDROM/CDROM is inserted in the drive. Which means that you're quite possibly trying to run an illegal copy of the game from a peer to peer (p2p) network and just, um, forgot to mention that when you sent in your question.

So instead of answering the question, I'll simply point out how you can dig around in Google yourself and find an answer for yourself next time. Generally, I try not to support the illegal downloading of commercial software, games and movies because there really won't be anything left to download if we don't pay for development, recording, production and distribution.

If you're seeing any sort of error message on your computer, your best bet is always to just search for that specific error (or a meaningful subset). Lazy? Then search for just the name of the DLL itself: blinkw32.dll. Pay attention to spelling correction suggestions too:

Click on that and you'll find that while there were 67 matches for "blinkw32.dll" there are over 87,000 matches for "binkw32.dll", so perhaps you mis-typed it in the first place? With so many more matches, now you can be a bit more specific too. Try fix missing binkw32.dll or free download binkw32.dll.

There should be plenty of avenues for you to go further and solve your problem. Good luck, but, please, if it is a pirated copy of some commercial program, consider buying a legit copy. If nothing else, you're unlikely to have this problem!

Categorized: Windows PC Help (Article 7320, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: binkw32.dll, blinkw32.dll, p2p, pc, windows
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Comments

lotta babbling but what folder do i put binkw32.dll in?

Posted by: james at November 28, 2007 12:40 PM

I own and have paid for a world in conflict game. Not all of us are thieves. when trying to start game it cant find entry point _wbink.dll Needless to sayI am having problem with this particular dll this legal copy of win XP is less than 6 months old and this is not the first time I have had problems with dll. M$ has no solution to what seems to be an OP problem but thanks for your insight I have reinstalled this game numerous times and there seems to be lots of people out there with this problem. I am hesitant to pay 30 40 50 bucks every time I turn around to some company whose solution is usually to delete the problem as a fix Have a nice day

Posted by: keith griffin at March 27, 2008 7:23 AM

I've been having a problem with shockwave. Ive been downloading it and uninstalling it and it still isnt working. It have been working it just stopped. Ive tryed everything. When i try to play stuff it says something about a DLL Library.
i Need Helpppp!!! Please

Posted by: Mary at April 1, 2008 4:53 PM

Copy the binkw32.dll file into C:/Windows/System

Posted by: satts at June 26, 2008 4:39 AM

Mr. Taylor, you are a moron, not a guru. In your own words - anyone can google it up, knowing your stuff is obviously something different, and you are not it. binkw32.dll is used in many games to play bink video (.bik files) and is part of http://www.radgametools.com, an industry recognized and more than well known developer. Bink video may be familiar to most people as the excellent, high quality videos from the game Diablo 2. The somewhat older format - Smack video (.smk files) is used by the StarCraft Real Time Strategy. It is usualy best to place the appropriate (if you find the one) binkw32.dll file in the game folder, as different games use different versions of the DLL and placing it in the System/System32 folder might mess things up, but it might be your last option if the game continues to be unable to find the file. It would be better to try to uninstall and re-install the game to fix the problem. Ofcourse sometimes that might not help.

Posted by: Average Joe at July 7, 2008 7:04 AM

Other than your gratuitous insults, your answer is quite interesting and informative, "Average Joe". Maybe being less hostile would help you be a happier person, however?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at July 7, 2008 1:29 PM

I agree with Average Joe, Dave. And his attitude mirrored yours in the original post. You burned the guy down and basically called him an idiot for not googling, on top of accusing him of being a thief. Looking at your original post, you accused him more than three times of being an idiot and a thief. My googling brought me here, and I've learned more from Average Joe in two seconds than the four minutes it took to wade through your post, which was laden with insults and left-handed information.

Posted by: Other Normal Guy at June 23, 2010 7:05 PM

"Other Normal Guy", I reread the question and my answer and still don't see what your issue is. They're asking about a missing file that five seconds of research showed me was related to pirated copies of some PC games, so I explained how I did the research and recommended that they consider buying a legit copy if that's the problem. I didn't call them an idiot at any point, and I said that one explanation was that they were running pirated software. I think you're reading something into what I wrote that's not actually there. Perhaps a sensitivity of your own?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at June 23, 2010 9:05 PM

after coping the binkw 32.dll to the game and system directory a massage comes and says the bink... is not a valid windows image.please check this against your installation diskette.
I need help

Posted by: M.B.S at June 23, 2011 1:06 AM

bink32.dll is nothing to do with piracy, it is the runtime library from bink and is a video decoder. Alot of games use it to display the ingame cinematics!

Posted by: Viperfang at December 14, 2011 9:52 AM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!