Unable to load DLL 'aygshell.dll' on Sending XML to Windows CE to provision

Question

I am preparing msi file to automate installation of my windows ce app from the computer and i want to uninstall app if already installed. my code:

      Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\microsoft\\windows\\currentversion\\app paths\\ceappmgr.exe");string appPath = key.GetValue(null).ToString();
            ProcessStartInfo info = new ProcessStartInfo();
            System.Xml.XmlDocument doc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();


            doc.LoadXml("<wap-provisioningdoc>" +
        "<characteristic type=\"UnInstall\">" +
                  "<characteristic type=\"AppName\">" +
                    "<parm name=\"uninstall\" value=\"1\"/>" +
                  "</characteristic>" +
                "</characteristic>" +
            "</wap-provisioningdoc>");

Microsoft.WindowsMobile.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ProcessConfiguration(doc, false);

            info.Arguments = "Arguments here";
            info.FileName = appPath;

            process.StartInfo = info;
            process.Start();

I am getting "Unable to load DLL 'aygshell.dll': The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E)" exception
And this is the stack trace:

at

Microsoft.WindowsMobile.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.SafeNativeMethods.DMProcessConfigXml(String wapDocument, UInt32 flags, IntPtr& documentPointer) at Microsoft.WindowsMobile.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.MainConfigurator(XmlDocument configDoc, UInt32 flags) at Microsoft.WindowsMobile.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ProcessConfiguration(XmlDocument configDoc, Boolean metadata) at setupconsoleapp1.Class1.installfile() in FileLocation\setupconsoleapp1\setupconsoleapp1\Class1.cs:line 251 at setupconsoleapp1.Program.Main(String[] args) in FileLocation\Program.cs:line 13 at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args) at System.AppDomain.nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args) at System.Runtime.Hosting.ManifestRunner.Run(Boolean checkAptModel) at System.Runtime.Hosting.ManifestRunner.ExecuteAsAssembly() at System.Runtime.Hosting.ApplicationActivator.CreateInstance(ActivationContext activationContext, String[] activationCustomData) at System.Runtime.Hosting.ApplicationActivator.CreateInstance(ActivationContext activationContext) at System.Activator.CreateInstance(ActivationContext activationContext) at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssemblyDebugInZone() at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

possible duplicate of Error: Unable to load DLL '.dll' : The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E) - What is this error? — Shashank Shekhar
@Shakehar, maybe it's a duplicate, but the linked question doesn't have an accepted answer. — Olter
@Olter I know it doesn't, but unable to load dll is a pretty generic error and the top voted answer does list the main causes for the issue. Investigating those might resolve this issue. — Shashank Shekhar
@Shakehar yes, unable to load dll is generic, i already investigated for the this issue but could not find the solution. if anyone can suggest me "how i can uninstall my app from the windows 6.5 hand held using above method" will be highly appreciated. — Shubas Paudyal

Valter Minute Valter Minute · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-15T07:18:38

You talk about Windows Mobile and Windows CE. Those are different versions of the same core OS and while aygshell is a component that you can expect in any Windows Mobile device it may not be part of a Windows CE OS image. Windows CE is much more configurable and some OEMs may remove components that are not needed. Aygshell is not included in the less expensive core license of the OS (at least up to CE 6.0) and so the OEM may decide to remove it to reduce the device price.

Unable to load DLL 'aygshell.dll' on Sending XML to Windows CE to provision

1 Answers