Users of various applications (especially gaming) may be faced with the inability to launch the desired application and the message “ The application failed to start because its parallel configuration is incorrect". In this article I will tell you what the message side-by-side configuration is incorrect means, why this error occurs and how to fix it.

Typical error message "Failed to start the application"

First of all, it is worth deciding what the parallel configuration means is wrong and what is the essence of this error. It usually occurs in a situation of conflict between programs that use C ++ library files in their work. These files are used by the Windows operating system and are used, in particular, to install or update products from Microsoft and other developers.

In this case, the error "Failed to start the application because its parallel configuration is incorrect" can occur in the absence of any Microsoft Visual C ++ 2008 libraries on the user's computer, as well as errors, and.

To fix the error parallel configuration is incorrect, you need to follow the steps that I will describe below.

How to fix the error "Failed to start the application"

To fix the problem parallel configuration is incorrect, follow these steps:

After rebooting, install each of the following applications, after installing each of them, restart your computer:

For 32-bit machines:

For 64-bit machines (don't forget about reboot after every installation):

Visual C ++ 2013 (x86 / x64 / ARM).

Conclusion

Above, I have considered the reasons and solutions to the problem "the application could not be started because its parallel configuration is incorrect." Usually the most popular reason for the described dysfunction is a conflict between programs using the Visual C ++ libraries in their work. The most effective solution in this situation would be a complete uninstallation of all Visual C ++ products, and then their complete installation as described above. This will get rid of the side-by-side configuration is incorrect error and continue to enjoy the stable and reliable operation of your PC.

When launching programs, most often old ones, users sometimes have to face the error "The application could not be started because its parallel configuration is incorrect." This error has much in common with another error, the description of which indicates that this or that DLL file is missing on the computer, and yet they are different. All programs launched in the Windows environment in one way or another use its resources, represented by system components, in particular, the Microsoft Visual C ++ Redistributable libraries.

Each program contains a manifest that states which versions of the components are used. When the application starts, Windows reads the manifest, and then searches for the necessary components and, not finding it, gives the corresponding error. Let's say the manifest of the program you are launching indicates that it uses Microsoft Visual C ++ 2008. If this version is not on the system, Windows will try to find the required library in the older version. This often results in a conflict that results in an error indicating a misconfiguration.

Reinstall Microsoft Visual C ++

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the cause of the above error is a conflict between the MSVC components of versions 2008 and 2010. The simplest and most obvious way to fix it is to reinstall them. Go to "Programs and Features", first uninstall the problematic program, then find the Microsoft Visual C ++ packages of the specified versions in the list and uninstall them.

Reboot your computer. Then download from the official site www.microsoft.com the required versions (the easiest way to find it is through Google) and install them sequentially.

Please note that the problem may not only be related to versions 2008 and 2010, you may need to reinstall all packages. If some MSVC packages are missing on the system, but it is desirable to have versions from 2005 to 2015, download and install them. Restart your computer, reinstall the program, run it and check if the error is gone. In most cases, installing / reinstalling MSVC will fix the problem. If the error occurs again, it is recommended that you reinstall the NET Framework component (downloaded from Microsoft).

Analysis of the manifest

In order not to reinstall all versions of MSVC, you can use the built-in console utility sxstrace.exe that allows you to parse the manifests and find out which component is causing the conflict. To do this, run the command line as administrator and run the following command in it:

sxstrace trace -logfile: D: /sxsTrace.etl

As a result of the trace performed, the data will be saved to a file sxsTrace.etl to the root of drive D. Now let's convert the resulting file into a human-readable text document. To do this, immediately execute the following command:

sxstraceparse -logfile:D: /sxsTrace.etl -outfile:D: /sxsTrace.log

Open the resulting text document and find a line with the elements "Error" or "ERROR" in it.

Above in the block with search results, find the line starting with "INFO". It will indicate the version of Microsoft Visual C ++ that your program needs to run. If the version specified in the trace file is not present in the programs and components, download and install it.

Constant Windows updates have led to the fact that a number of programs do not run on modern versions of operating systems. Not all developers keep their games and applications up to date, which can lead to errors when trying to launch them. Most of these errors can be resolved by setting compatibility, but not all. If you get a message when launching the application that the parallel configuration is incorrect, there are a number of ways to fix this, which will be discussed below.

Parallel configuration is wrong: what does it mean

The Windows operating system, when an error "Parallel configuration is incorrect", independently prompts the user what needs to be done to diagnose it. The error message box indicates that more information about the cause can be obtained from the Application Event Log. If the program does not have it, you can use the sxstrace.exe command, which allows you to determine which of the modules used has the wrong parallel configuration.

To diagnose the cause of the error using sxstrace.exe, you need to do the following:

1. Run command line as administrator;
2. Run the following command: sxstrace trace /logfile:sxstrace.etl
3. Next, run the application that reports that the parallel configuration is incorrect. When an error message appears, click "OK" and return to the command line;
4. Execute on command line: sxstrace parse /logfile:sxstrace.etl /outfile:sxstrace.txt

Note: If necessary, you can vary the path to the etl log and the final name of the txt file.

After completing the above steps, it remains to open the created txt file with notepad or another text editor and examine the results.

Parallel configuration is wrong: how to fix

It is not at all necessary to perform the diagnostics described above, but often it allows you to understand the cause of the error in question. To fix the problem and the "Parallel configuration is incorrect" message no longer appears when starting the program, most often it is enough to resolve the conflict between Windows and the Visual C ++ package or make some changes to the registry. Consider both options below.

Parallel configuration is wrong due to Visual C ++

When installing games and applications along with them on a computer, most often, a package of additional software is installed. This package may contain libraries for Visual C ++ 2008, Visual C ++ 2010 and so on. If they conflict with Windows, the "Parallel configuration is not correct" message appears. In such a situation, the error can be corrected as follows:

After that, the "Parallel configuration is not correct" error should no longer be a concern.

Please note: If, after following the instructions described above, the program, which caused an error when launching, refuses to open, try reinstalling it.

Parallel configuration is wrong due to registry error

Another reason for the "Concurrent configuration is incorrect" error is registry failures. If the default versions of the libraries installed by the system differ from the most recently installed versions, then the failure in question may occur.

To fix the problem, start Registry Editor. To do this, press on the Windows keyboard + R and write the command in the "Run" window regedit. The registry editor will open, in which you need to follow the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - SOFTWARE - Microsoft - Windows - CurrentVersion - SideBySide - Winners - x86_policy.9.0.microsoft.vc90.crt_ (various letters and numbers) - 9.0

In this section, you will see the Default value and two options. Please note that the parameter name matches the default value. If they do not match, change the Default value so that it is identical to the parameter name.

Users rarely encounter such a problem, but I know of two ways to solve it. This error can occur when launching not only Word and Photoshop, but also when running many other programs and applications in OS Windows. You can get rid of the error in the following ways:

• reinstall Visual C;
• fix some parameters in the registry.

How do I reinstall the Visual C package?

In most cases, when your error occurs, the reason is precisely in the components of Microsoft Visual C. The matter may be in a conflict between versions 2008 and 2010. It is not difficult to reinstall them, you can easily cope with this following the instructions. Open Programs and Features, in the list you need to find Microsoft Visual C (there will be a whole list of different versions, as in the photo).

For starters, you can try to uninstall only the 2008 and 2010 versions, or uninstall everything at once. After that, the computer needs to be rebooted and downloaded from microsoft.com Microsoft Visual C for your operating system. There is a version for x86 and x64. Most likely, these actions will solve the problem and applications will start normally.

Modifying the registry

There is a second way to eliminate the error, it is more difficult than the first, but if you follow the instructions, everything will work out. Press the combination on the keyboard WindowsR, as in the photo, and write the word regedit.

So you will find yourself in the registry editor, where you need to go along this path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - SOFTWARE - Microsoft - Windows - CurrentVersion - SideBySide - Winners - x86_policy.9.0.microsoft.vc90.crt ***** - 9.0(asterisks indicate arbitrary numbers).

On the right side of the screen there will be three parameters, the first of which will be called "default", and the other two have names consisting of numbers. We are interested in the first one, the value of which must correspond to the name of the third parameter. If they are different, double click on the first parameter and change its value. Look at the picture how everything should look like in the end.

A similar procedure must be done with the registry parameters located in the same registry subkey, but for a different version of C, namely here: x86_policy.8.0.microsoft.vc80.crt ****** - 8.0.

After these steps, all applications should work fine without the previous error.