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Asked: 2026-06-13T23:12:29+00:00

Using link.exe with the visual studio command prompt: link.exe C:\Users\Jon\Desktop\euler\asm\test kernel32.dll provides the ever

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Using link.exe with the visual studio command prompt:

link.exe "C:\Users\Jon\Desktop\euler\asm\test" kernel32.dll

provides the ever helpful: LINK : fatal error LNK1181: cannot open input file 'kernel32.dll'
Why can’t it link against a system dll?

I moved on to GoLink:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\nasm\golink.exe" /console test.obj Kernel32.dll

Which links just fine, but crashes as soon as I run it.
I’m using NASM "C:\Program Files (x86)\nasm\nasm.exe" -fwin64 "test.asm"

Here’s my assembler Pastebin

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    MSVC’s link cannot link directly to a DLL – you’ll need to use the kernel32.lib import library instead:

    link.exe "C:\Users\Jon\Desktop\euler\asm\test.obj" kernel32.lib

    You will need to make sure that the environment is set up correctly so link.exe can find the import library. That’s often done by the vcvarsall.bat (or similar) script/batch file that configures the command line window used to run the tools. If you don’t have something configuring the environment for the build tools, you’ll need to pass in the location of the library, either by using the full path or by passing in a directory with the /libpath linker option.

    I don’t know what GoLink is, so I can’t comment on what it’s doing right or wrong…

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