Chrome: “Side-by-Side Configuration Is Incorrect” Error — How to Fix

I ran into this problem: after a Google Chrome update — apparently not a very successful one — the browser stopped launching with the error:

“The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail.”

In short: download the Chrome installer from the official site and install the browser over the broken one. Your bookmarks, passwords and open tabs are kept.

The fix: reinstall Chrome over the top

I hadn’t seen this error before, but it turned out to be simple:

1. Download the ChromeSetup.exe installer from the official Chrome site (using another browser or computer if Chrome won’t start).
2. Run it — Chrome installs over the broken copy.
3. Open Chrome: it starts where you left off — with the same windows and tabs.

Readers confirm that even an old installer lying around on the computer works — Chrome then updates itself.

If reinstalling didn’t help

“Side-by-side” is a Windows mechanism that picks the right versions of system libraries for a program, mainly the Microsoft Visual C++ libraries. If Chrome still won’t start:

• reinstall or repair the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages — people say the 2008 and 2010 versions help (more about the Visual C++ packages in the post on msvcr120.dll);
• check the error details in the Windows event log (Event Viewer → Windows Logs → Application, source SideBySide) — it says which library is missing.

For cases like this — and for “oops, the file was here and now it’s gone” — I use automatic shadow copies of all drives: they’ve saved me more than once!