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The 0xc000009a error (otherwise known as the “Entry Point” error), shows because an application cannot load a required DLL.
It’s typical that DLL’s from the likes of DirectX or Graphics Packages are not available to games such as Frotnite. These systems require them, meaning that if they’re unable to locate them, they’ll stop working – typically citing the error you’re seeing.
To fix this, the simple solution is to get the DLL file on your system, and make sure it’s accessible.
Causes
To understand why the error shows, you need to appreciate the roll of DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files in Windows.
As the development of operating systems heated up in the 90’s, all parties introduced a number of methods to access “libraries” – third party software packages which allowed developers to use standardized code/functionality within their own applications.
Such libraries as Visual C++, DirectX,.NET and a variety of others became the standard on Windows – with most applications – even today – relying on them.
The secret to these files was the deployment of particular DLL files onto your PC. These files could be re-used by different applications, so long as they called the correct functions etc.
Unfortunately, if the files are missing, out dated or corrupted, errors such as the one you’re experiencing will appear…
- The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000009a)
- Starting BattlEye Service…
- [INFO] Blocked loading of file…
The main issue here is that your application doesn’t have access to the DLL’s it requires, although there are other concerns:
- DLL files not accessible
- Antivirus may be blocking your application
- Windows may have corrupted or damaged DLL’s
- Other programs may have overwritten the DLL
- Your system may have a virus
The way to resolve this is to ensure the DLL’s exist on the system, and then that they’re entirely accessible.
The steps below will guide you through this process…
Solutions
Like many issues in Windows, you need to go through a number of potential causes of problems and fix them one-by-one.
In the case of the 0xc000009a error, the following is recommended:
1. Uninstall BattlEye + Verify Fortnite
The first – and most effective – step is to remove the “BattlEye” application from your system.
BattlEye is an anti-cheat system shipped with Fortnite – it’s essential to get Fortnite working, but can sometimes cause errors:
- Press “Windows” + “E” keys on your keyboard
- Browse to “C:/Program Files/Epic Games/Fortnite/FortniteGame/Binaries/BattlEye”
- Click on “Uninstall_BattlEye.bat”
- Let the CMD file run
- Exit and load the Epic Games Launcher
- Under the “Fortnite” tab, click on the “cog” icon next to the “Launch” button
- Select “Verify”
- Let the process run
After this completes, it’s worth restarting your system.
If it does not resolve the problem, it means that there is a problem with one of the third-party libraries on your system.
2. Reinstall VC++
The next step is to reinstall VC++.
As mentioned, Visual C++ was Microsoft’s way of standardizing a number of core features for software, and has become a staple of the Windows ecosystem.
To ensure this is not the problem (which is highly likely), you need to re-install any Visual C++ packages on your system:
- In Windows 7, click on “Start”, followed by “Control Panel” and then “Programs and Features”
- In Windows, right-click on the “Start” button, select “Apps and Features”
- From the list, scroll all the way down to “Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable”
- There will probably be a large list of many different packages
- Make a list of each year + architecture (x64/x86) on a piece of note paper
- Uninstall each
- Now, browse to your favourite search engine
- Search for “Visual C++ redistributable download”
- Click the first link (should be Microsoft)
- For each of the packages you had previously, download new ones from this site
- After doing this, install each of them
- Restart your PC
- Try your game again
Whilst this is actually quite likely to work, it may not be the solution for some…
3. Update DirectX / Graphics Drivers
Next you need to see about updating DirectX and (perhaps) your graphics driver.
DirectX is the graphics library that Windows uses to process 3D imagery. Almost every game on the platform uses it.
Whilst you cannot “re-install” the DirectX engine, you *can* repair it and ensure your graphics driver is working properly…
- Search online for “DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer”
- Click onto the first Microsoft link that shows
- Click onto the orange “Download” button
- Follow the steps & save the file to your PC
- Open the file and let it run
- Let it repair the current DirectX installation
- Restart your PC
After doing this, you may wish to re-install your Graphics driver:
- Go online and search for “DDU” (Display Driver Uninstaller)
- Download the file you can find from Guru3D
- Restart your PC into “safe mode” (instructions below)
- Once in Safe Mode, run DDU and let it remove your GFX driver
- Restart your PC into “normal” mode
- Let Windows download the latest driver for your graphics card
To access Safe Mode, it depends on which version of Windows you are using (Windows 10 made it difficult to access for some reason):
- In Windows 7, restart your PC as you would normally
- Press F8 continually before Windows begins to load
- Select “Safe Mode” with the appropriate number on your keyboard
- In Windows 10, click on “Start” button
- Select the “Power” button (left charms menu)
- Holding SHIFT, press the “restart” button
- This will bring up the blue “Windows Recovery Environment” screen
- Click on “Troubleshoot” > “Advanced Options” > “Startup Settings” > “Restart”
4. Manually Download File
This will only work if you have a direct notion of which file is missing / inaccessible.
If you don’t have this, you’ll be best looking at something called “Dependency Walker” – a free application which allows you to determine which files are required by different pieces of software…
- Click onto your search engine of choice
- Look for “DependencyWalker”
- Click the first link and download the application
- Run it
- From the top menu, select the “open” (folder) icon
- Browse to the executable file that’s causing problems and select it
- The system should highlight which files are require in the left menu
- If any of these files appears “red”, you will need to ensure it can be accessed
- Some applications will bundle the DLL files
- If you look online for the DLL file name, you’ll quickly find out which package it belongs to
- If you can find the package, see if you can install it (you may just need to get the new version)
- If cannot see a package, you’ll need to download a fresh copy of the DLL file itself
Once you download a new version of the DLL file, you basically need to put it into the C:/Windows/System32 folder.
After doing this, you should try the application to see if it will work now.
If not, it generally suggests a deeper issue within the OS.
5. Update Windows
This probably won’t do much – but might give the system some way to fix itself:
- Windows 7
- Click onto “Start” > “Control Panel” > “System & Security” > “Windows Update”
- Click “Check for Updates”
- Windows 10
- Press “Windows” + “I” keys on your keyboard
- Select “Update and Security”
- Click “Check for Updates”
Once the update process finishes, restart your PC and see if the error is resolved.
If you’re still experiencing the error after doing the above, it suggests you have a more acute problem with Windows.
Unfortunately, one of the restrictions of Internet articles is that I cannot see exactly what your system is doing, and hence am unable to provide any sort of specific advice. If you are still at a loss, I would strongly recommend going to one of the large question/answer communities (Reddit/Super User/Microsoft Answers) to gain a more specific set of responses.
If you need even further help, you’ll want to talk to someone with hands-on access to your system – which typically means getting a local repair guy to look at it, or perhaps someone on Fiverr.