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Asked: 2026-05-11T21:11:16+00:00

I’m trying to use Assembly.Load() to load an assembly that is in the GAC.

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I’m trying to use Assembly.Load() to load an assembly that is in the GAC. For example, say I want to list out all of the types that exist in PresentationCore.dll, how would I go about loading PresentationCore.dll?

When I try this:

Assembly a = Assembly.Load("PresentationCore.dll");

I get a FileNotFoundException. Another answer on SO suggested I used Assembly.LoadFrom() to accomplish this – I’m hesitant to do that because Assembly.LoadFrom() is deprecated, according to Visual Studio 2008 – plus, it doesn’t seem to actually work.

Any ideas?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    If the assembly is in the GAC you must load it via its fully qualified name.

    For example, if I wanted to load mscorlib.dll I would do something like this:

    Assembly a = Assembly.Load
    ("mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089");

    The easiest way to determine an assembly’s fully qualified name is to load the assembly in Reflector and use the Name field from the lower display pane like this:

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