How to Troubleshoot Q Load Error Message

Introduction

If you are installing or starting Q and see the following error message about a system configuration error, please try the troubleshooting steps below.

Method

Does this only occur if opening .QPack or .Q files from Firefox?

Firefox has a bug when opening downloaded documents. We have found the problem occurs in Firefox version 69 - 71. In the meantime, locate the file in File Explorer and open it from there, or open Q first and open the file within Q directly.

Does this occur during or immediately after installing Q?

This has occurred for users that had multiple Q installers open, or were installing Windows updates at the time of installation.

Restart the computer. This ensures any failed installers are closed and waits for updates to finish.
Install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746572
Try the Q installation again.

Has this problem started occurring suddenly, and Q was working fine recently?

This has occurred for some users after a Windows update modified shared DLL files used by Q and other software.

Restart the computer. This ensures any failed installers are closed and waits for updates to finish.
Install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746572
Try the Q installation again.

Have none of the above steps helped resolve the problem?

If you have an IT department or are a power user, please follow these steps:

Whilst the Q error message box is showing, open PowerShell and run the command (Get-ProcessMitigation -Name Q.exe -RunningProcess).ImageLoad.PreferSystem32. The expected value is OFF. If you see ON, please email support@q-researchsoftware.com and mention the steps you have tried so far.
Use Microsoft Process Monitor (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon) to capture events during Q installation. Once installation has failed, in Process Monitor turn off event capturing (File > Capture Events OFF). Filter to Process Name "Q.exe". Save the output using the File menu and email the output to support@q-researchsoftware.com and mention the steps you have tried so far.