Control Surface.dll is considered a type of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file. Dynamic Link Library files, like Control Surface.dll, are essentially a "guide book" that stores information and instructions for executable (EXE) files - like mrt.exe - to follow. These files were created so that multiple programs (eg. FL Studio) could share the same Control Surface.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 Control Surface.dll is attempted to be loaded either when FL Studio is starting up, or in some cases already running. Some of the most common Control Surface.dll errors include:
- Access Violation at address - Control Surface.dll.
- Control Surface.dll could not be found.
- Cannot find C:\Program Files (x86)\Image-Line\FL Studio 20\Plugins\Fruity\Effects\Control Surface\Control Surface.dll.
- Cannot register Control Surface.dll.
- Cannot start FL Studio. A required component is missing: Control Surface.dll. Please install FL Studio again.
- Failed to load Control Surface.dll.
- The application has failed to start because Control Surface.dll was not found.
- The file Control Surface.dll is missing or corrupt.
- This application failed to start because Control Surface.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
Your Control Surface.dll file could be missing due to accidental deletion, uninstalled as a shared file of another program (shared with FL Studio), or deleted by a malware infection. Furthermore, Control Surface.dll file corruption could be caused from a power outage when loading FL Studio, system crash while loading Control Surface.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.