Setup.exe Error 0x7E: Autorun.dll could not be loaded or is corrupt

When you attempt to run setup.exe from the Windows 10 or 11 ISO, the following error may occur:

Install Windows

The file 'autorun.dll' could not be loaded or is corrupt. Setup cannot continue. Error code is [0x7E]

The error code 0x7E implies, “The specified module could not be found.”

Cause

The above error occurs if the user tries to open the ISO using a third-party tool like 7-Zip and run setup.exe from there. If the user is running setup.exe from the USB setup disk and yet this error occurs, it’s possible that the USB disk is corrupt or the file Autorun.dll wasn’t copied successfully during the setup disk creation.

Resolution

To fix the issue, please run setup.exe as mentioned below.

First, mount the ISO by right-clicking on it and clicking “Mount.”

When you mount an ISO, a drive letter like this will be assigned and will show up in This PC. The mounted ISO drive letter will have the caption “DVD Drive”.

Double-click the drive letter (H:\ in this example), and run H:\Setup.exe.

That’s it! This should successfully start the setup process.

Note: If you’re running setup.exe from a USB flash disk and yet the above error occurs, please format the USB flash disk and recreate a new setup disk using Rufus or Media Creation Tool. Check out the article Create Bootable USB Disk from ISO Using Rufus or MCT for more information.

If none of the above steps help, please download a fresh Windows 10 or 11 ISO copy and run setup.exe.

I hope the information in this article helps. Let’s know your comments.