msword.dll is considered a type of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file. Dynamic Link Library files, like msword.dll, are essentially a "guide book" that stores information and instructions for executable (EXE) files - like Apache_OpenOffice_4.1.6_Win_x86_install_en-US.exe - to follow. These files were created so that multiple programs (eg. Apache OpenOffice) could share the same msword.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 msword.dll is attempted to be loaded either when Apache OpenOffice is starting up, or in some cases already running. Some of the most common msword.dll errors include:
- Access Violation at address - msword.dll.
- msword.dll could not be found.
- Cannot find C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice 4\program\msword.dll.
- Cannot register msword.dll.
- Cannot start Apache OpenOffice. A required component is missing: msword.dll. Please install Apache OpenOffice again.
- Failed to load msword.dll.
- The application has failed to start because msword.dll was not found.
- The file msword.dll is missing or corrupt.
- This application failed to start because msword.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
Your msword.dll file could be missing due to accidental deletion, uninstalled as a shared file of another program (shared with Apache OpenOffice), or deleted by a malware infection. Furthermore, msword.dll file corruption could be caused from a power outage when loading Apache OpenOffice, system crash while loading msword.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.