chrome_watcher.dll is considered a type of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file. Dynamic Link Library files, like chrome_watcher.dll, are essentially a "guide book" that stores information and instructions for executable (EXE) files - like 79.0.3945.88_chrome_installer.exe - to follow. These files were created so that multiple programs (eg. Google Chrome) could share the same chrome_watcher.dll file, saving valuable memory allocation, therefore making your computer run more efficiently.
Unfortunately, what makes DLL files so convenient and efficient, also makes them extremely vulnerable to problems. If something happens to a shared DLL file, either it goes missing or gets corrupted in some way, it can generate a "runtime" error message. Runtime is pretty self-explanatory; it means that these errors are triggered when chrome_watcher.dll is attempted to be loaded either when Google Chrome is starting up, or in some cases already running. Some of the most common chrome_watcher.dll errors include:
- Access Violation at address - chrome_watcher.dll.
- chrome_watcher.dll could not be found.
- Cannot find C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\79.0.3945.88\chrome_watcher.dll.
- Cannot register chrome_watcher.dll.
- Cannot start Google Chrome. A required component is missing: chrome_watcher.dll. Please install Google Chrome again.
- Failed to load chrome_watcher.dll.
- The application has failed to start because chrome_watcher.dll was not found.
- The file chrome_watcher.dll is missing or corrupt.
- This application failed to start because chrome_watcher.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
Your chrome_watcher.dll file could be missing due to accidental deletion, uninstalled as a shared file of another program (shared with Google Chrome), or deleted by a malware infection. Furthermore, chrome_watcher.dll file corruption could be caused from a power outage when loading Google Chrome, system crash while loading chrome_watcher.dll, bad sectors on your storage media (usually your primary hard drive), or quite commonly, a malware infection. Thus, it's critical to make sure your anti-virus is kept up-to-date and scanning regularly.