tags.dll is considered a type of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file. Dynamic Link Library files, like tags.dll, are essentially a "guide book" that stores information and instructions for executable (EXE) files - like AppInstaller.exe - to follow. These files were created so that multiple programs (eg. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) could share the same tags.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 tags.dll is attempted to be loaded either when Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is starting up, or in some cases already running. Some of the most common tags.dll errors include:
- Access Violation at address - tags.dll.
- tags.dll could not be found.
- Cannot find C:\Program Files (x86)\MTA San Andreas 1.3\MTA\tags.dll.
- Cannot register tags.dll.
- Cannot start Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. A required component is missing: tags.dll. Please install Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas again.
- Failed to load tags.dll.
- The application has failed to start because tags.dll was not found.
- The file tags.dll is missing or corrupt.
- This application failed to start because tags.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
Your tags.dll file could be missing due to accidental deletion, uninstalled as a shared file of another program (shared with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), or deleted by a malware infection. Furthermore, tags.dll file corruption could be caused from a power outage when loading Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, system crash while loading tags.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.