NI-MAX Missing "mfc140u.dll" and Won't Open

Updated Mar 10, 2026

Reported In

Software

Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)

Issue Details

When I try to open Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX), it won't open, and I get an error saying

The program can't start because the mfc140u.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

How can I fix this?

Solution

This error arises when their the mfc140u.dll isn't properly installed by NI-MAX or has become corrupted. Since NI-MAX uses this C++ .dll in it's code base, your computer will need to have this file reinstalled to use NI-MAX.

Try the following steps to fix this issue:

Installing the underlying Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable that packages this DLL
Force reinstal NI-MAX
Update NI MAX through the System Configuration package.

Additionally, if you are running NI MAX on a 64-bit Windows machine, make sure you install both the x64 and the x86 DLL files.

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