IIS relies on libraries with functions to host ASP.NET, PHP and other types of web applications. MSVCR71.dll is one of them (It is needed for PHP to run on IIS server)
In my case, users were trying to upload files to the application but they were failing. There were no visible error message on the application. However, we saw the message below in Event Viewer:
Faulting application name: php-cgi.exe, version 5.2.11.11
Faulting module name: php-cgi.exe, version 5.2.11.11
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Faulting application path: C\php\php-cgi.exe
In order to narrow down the issue, I tried to run php-cgi.exe file located under C:\php folder. Here is the error message I got:
The program can’t start because MSVCR71.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
Root Cause
In my scenario, “Missing MSVCR72.dll” issue occurred because -probably- the latest Windows security patches somehow deleted this file. In support to this theory, we saw that security patches and a new version of Visual C++ Redistributable installed in the server at the same time the issue.
Solution
Search for the missing file (MSVCR72.dll) in other servers and even client machines. If you find it, copy it to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 folder. This solved the issue in my case.
If you can’t find the missing DLL in other machines, I would recommend installing (or reinstalling) the correct version of Visual C++ Redistributable.
If it doesn’t work, try reinstalling the latest security patches and Visual C++ Redistributable. You ay also want to use sfc and dism tools.
Here is a related IIS Forum post.
Microsoft
