How to extract an assembly from the GAC?

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I used the advice from this article to get an assembly from the GAC.

Get DLL Out of The GAC

DLLs once
deployed in GAC (normally located at
c:\windows\assembly) can’t be viewed
or used as a normal DLL file. They
can’t be directly referenced from VS
project. Developers usually keep a
copy of the original DLL file and
refer to it in the project at
development (design) time, which uses
the assembly from GAC during run-time
of the project.

During execution (run-time) if the
assembly is found to be signed and
deployed in GAC the CLR automatically
picks up the assembly from the GAC
instead of the DLL referenced during
design time in VS. In case the
developer has deleted the original DLL
or don’t have it for some reason,
there is a way to get the DLL file
from GAC. Follow the following steps
to copy DLL from GAC

  1. Run regsvr32 /u C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\shfusion.dll

    • shfusion.dll is an explorer extension DLL that gives a distinct
      look to the GAC folder. Unregistering
      this file will remove the assembly
      cache viewer and the GAC folder will
      be then visible as any normal folder
      in explorer.

  2. Open “%windir%\assembly\GAC_MSIL”.

  3. Browse to your DLL folder into the deep to find your DLL.

  4. Copy the DLL somewhere on your hard disk and refer it from there in your
    project

  5. Run “regsvr32 %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\<.NET
    version directory> \shfusion.dll” to
    re-register the shfusion.dll file and
    regain the original distinct view of
    the GAC.

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