The “Side-by-Side Configuration” error in Windows 10 can arise when the user tries to launch an application or program and gets restricted from accessing the app via this error. This particular limitation can be triggered when there is an issue between the C++ run-time libraries and a particular application. Other reasons can be problematic application(s), corrupted system files, or outdated Windows.
This tutorial will discuss the approaches to resolve the side-by-side configuration error in Windows 10.
How to Fix Side-by-Side Configuration Error in Windows 10?
To fix/resolve the “Side-by-Side Configuration” error in Windows 10, implement the below-listed fixes:
- Reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages.
- Run SFC Scan.
- Execute DISM Scan.
- Reinstall/Uninstall the Problematic Program.
- Check For Windows Update.
- Reset the PC.
Fix 1: Reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages
The side-by-side configuration error can occur due to corrupted Visual C++ Runtime on the PC. Therefore, reinstalling the “Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable” packages on the PC can assist in restoring the corrupted runtime.
To make this approach come into effect, consider the below-listed steps.
Step 1: Open “Control Panel”
First of all, open “Control Panel” via the Startup menu:
Step 2: Navigate to “Programs”
Now, navigate to the highlighted settings under the “Programs” option:
Then, locate each program whose name starts with “Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable”. Right-click on each of them and hit “Uninstall”:
Fix 2: Run “SFC” Scan
“SFC” abbreviated as “System File Checker” scan applies a search for the infected files and fixes them. To run this scan, go through the below-given steps.
Step 1: Run Command Prompt
Firstly, execute the Command Prompt being an “administrator”:
Step 2: Initiate “SFC” Scan
Now, enter the below-given command that will locate the corrupted files by initiating a system scan:
Fix 3: Execute “DISM” Scan
“DISM” scans are concerned about health scans. Moreover, these scans locate the infected or broken files and fix them. This scan can be executed if the “sfc” scan doesn’t function.
Let’s type the following command first to perform a check on system image’s health:
The below-stated command can be applied to verify the system image’s health:
The last operation is to restore the health of the system image:
After the scanning process is done, restart the PC/laptop and observe if the encountered issue has disappeared. Otherwise, move on to the next approach.
Fix 4: Reinstall/Uninstall the Problematic Program
If the discussed side-by-side configuration error occurs while running a particular program, then the particular program is the root cause of the error. Therefore, it is advised to reinstall the program.
For doing so, locate the particular program in the list. Right-click on it and hit “Uninstall”:
After reinstalling that program, if the issue still remains, then avoid reinstalling it after it is uninstalled.
Fix 5: Check For Windows Update
The latest Windows updates come with many improvements and fix many issues. Hence, updating Windows to the latest version can also resolve this issue.
Step 1: Switch to “Update & Security”
First of all, switch/navigate to “Settings->Update & Security”:
Step 2: Install the Latest Updates
Hit the highlighted button to initiate a search for the Windows updates:
In the below-given window, it can be seen that the updates will be searched and installed:
After the Windows are updated, see if the encountered error vanishes. Otherwise, proceed to the next fix.
Fix 6: Reset the PC
If none of the above solutions work out for you, then the only solution is to reset the PC to the factory settings, which deletes all the altered configurations to default. In order to opt for this solution, open “Recovery” in the “Update & Security” settings and hit the highlighted option to reset the PC:
After that, opt for the former option to keep your data:
After resetting the PC, observe if the discussed configuration error got fixed.
Conclusion
To resolve the “Side-by-Side Configuration” error in Windows 10, reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages, run the “SFC” scan, execute the “DISM” scan, reinstall/Uninstall the problematic program, check for Windows Update, or reset the PC. This write-up illustrated the approaches for fixing the configuration error faced in Windows 10.
