You receive an error message stating that Binkw32.dll or Mss32.dll is missing or failed to load when you try to start Age of Empires III or Dungeon Siege II

When you try to start Microsoft Dungeon Siege II, you receive the following error message:When you try to start Microsoft Age of Empires, you receive the following error message:

To resolve this problem, follow the appropiate steps for the game that you are running.

Age of Empires III

1. Hold down SHIFT, and then insert the Age of Empires III disk.
2. • On a Windows Vista-based computer, click Start
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     , and then click Computer.
   • On a Windows XP-based computer, click Start, and then right-click My Computer.
3. Right-click the CD or DVD icon for the Age of Empires III disc, and then click Open.
4. Double-click the Age of Empires III folder.
5. Double-click the Disk1C~1.cab file.
6. Right-click the binkw32.dll file, and then click Copy. Or, extract the file directly to the Age of Empires III folder (see step 7).
7. Locate the Age of Empires III folder. The default location for the folder is as follows:
   Drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III
   Note In this path, Drive represents the drive on which the game is installed.
8. Right-click an empty area in the folder, and then click Paste.
9. Start Age of Empires III.

If the problem continues to occur, uninstall and then reinstall the game. We recommend that you perform clean restart (boot) of your computer before you reinstall the game. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Dungeon Siege II

Copy the Mss32.dll and Binkw32.dll files from the System folder to the folder in which Dungeon Siege II is installed. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
2. In the Navigation pane, locate and then click the following folder:
   Drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Dungeon Siege 2\system
   Note In this path, Drive represents the drive on which the game is installed.
   Or, you can copy the Mss32.dll and Binkw32.dll files from the following location:
   Disc 1:\Files\SYSTEM
   Note In this path, Disc 1 represents the first CD of Dungeon Siege II.
3. Right-click mss32.dll, and then click Copy.
4. In the left pane, locate and then click the following folder:
   Drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Dungeon Siege 2
5. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for the Binkw32.dll file.
7. On the File menu, click Close.