Unity Dlls with 0 bytes

Unity Engine
1

I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this. I’ve Googled and searched the Unity website and couldn’t find any mention of my problem

The last few days I’ve had a strange issue with Unity. I was working with Unity one day and everything was working fine. Then the next day I tried to run Unity and got a message that the FreeImage.dll had a problem. I looked in my Unity folder and the dll had 0 bytes. I was on the 5.6 series. So, I downloaded the latest Unity 2017 version and installed it. Everything was working fine again. Then the next day, when I tried to run Unity the same thing happened with a different dll. I replaced the dll from a backup and things worked again. Then the next day I tried to run Unity and got the same error. Everyday, the first time I run Unity I end up with a dll with 0 bytes.

This is the error message I’m getting: (It’s with different dlls)

Unity.exe - Bad Image

C:\Program Files\Unity\Editor\ispc_texcomp.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support. Error status 0xc0000020.

I’m not sure if this is an issue with Unity or something else on my computer. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about what’s happening.

2

Try using Process Monitor - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn to monitor the dll’s and see what is messing with them. Have you had any anti virus warnings?

3

I’ve got the same issue since I’ve installed 2017.1.1f1 version. Now, almost every time I launch Unity some dlls are missing. Today ispc_texcomp.dll and OpenRL.dll, earlier I had an issue with TextureConverter.dll. Each time these files have 0 bytes and I get Bad Image error as Slapout mentioned above. I’m working on Windows 10 Home with Mac Afee antivirus installed.

4

Today I’m having a similar problem with 2017.2.0b11: FreeImage.dll, libcef.dll, OpenRL.dll. Also have McAfee - could it be that?

5

I’m having the exact same problem. Re-installing Unity.

6

Thank god for seeing this. Same here. I am about to return my newly purchased computer.
Really, really quirky.

7

Same problem here. Has anyone figured out a solution to this?

8

Same problem with 0 byte .dlls after reboot. Has anyone determined why this is happening?

9

I can’t be certain that this is the same issue, but there are several reports of ‘0 byte dlls’ on the Cakewalk Sonar user forums. In these cases the culprit was the latest Windows 10 update (Version 1709 / Build 16299.19) which seems to affect a range of dynamic link libraries.

The recommended fix is to download and re-install the relevant Visual C++ Redistributable Package (For Sonar it’s VS-2013)

I appreciate the fact that the W10 update was a recent release (17th October), but it’s possible those affected have installed earlier ‘insider’ versions of the autumn (fall) creators update.

There are also reports linking this issue to McAfee anti-virus.

10

Same problem here. I experienced the problem with 4 .dlls: FreeImage, ispc_texcomp, libcef and OpenRL. The solution (cludge) that I used is as follows:

  1. Download Unity again (only once more…) to get a clean copy of the Editor folder.
  2. Make a backup copy of the Editor folder.
  3. When you get the error, replace the offending dll with a copy from the Editor backup and you’re off and running until the next occurrence.
    My experience is that once you have an occurrence with a particular dll you won’t have it again for that dll.
11

I’ve been following this issue across several forums and I’d like to know if those affected are using McAfee anti-virus ?

12

Yes, I do have McAfee anti-virus.

13

It may be worth disabling McAfee (Windows Defender will start automatically on W10) and reinstalling Unity. This would at very least eliminate McAfee.

There’s another ‘0 byte dll’ post on the Cakewalk forum this morning and once again the user has McAfee installed. It’s worth noting that some McAfee users encountered similars problem after installing the previous W10 updates.

The following quote comes from the AMIBroker forum…

‘If suddenly some of the .DLL files on your computer get size of ZERO (0 bytes) and you are getting “Bad image (0xC000020)” error preventing applications from running, it is most likely your McAfee antivirus’

It may be purely coincidental, but still a good idea to investigate.

14

This from McAfee…

Files become 0 kilobyte and locked when VirusScan Enterprise / Double-Take software
As of VSE 8.8 Patch 1 and VSE 8.7i Patch 5, the VSE kernel level drivers have adopted the Microsoft Filter Manager minifilter driver model to improve supportability and compatibility with Windows and Windows applications. Double-Take software uses drivers to monitor for changes to all protected files to see what bytes have changed. When VSE is present with these Double-Take drivers it can lead to the 0 kb locked files.

Could be connected.

15

If you’re still experiencing the 0 byte issue, it appears McAfee AV (commonly Live Safe) is the culprit. I’ve spoken to McAfee tech support and they’re investigating the problem.

In the meantime, the situation can be rectified by adding the affected dll’s to McAfee’s exclusion list then reinstalling your software.

Hope this helps.

16

This issue still exists and I am facing a problem with this if anyone has fixed this issue please try posting the solution on this thread as well.

17

Reading the thread, the solution is easy: use another antivirus software or add Unity to the exclusion list (which is a moderately good idea)

18

Thanks, I will try and update if this has fixed my issue

19

Hi, The issue is the same and its because of the Mcafee antivirus because of the live scanning feature try to exclude it and this will resolve the issue.