Some users see this error when trying to run Abaqus 6.12, usually for the first time:

“ImportError: DLL load failed: The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect.”

Abaqus 6.12 requires a newer version of the MS C++ runtimes compared to Abaqus 6.11. The required Microsoft Windows Visual C++ runtimes are available in the Windows platform (win86_XX) directory on the Abaqus 6.12 DVD or download media. They are also available to SIMULIA commercial users through the SOSS and the Knowledge Base.

• When Abaqus is installed on a file server, these runtimes will also need to be installed locally on each of the individual workstations that reference the installation on the server.

• In addition, in the case of Windows HPC clusters, these runtimes must be installed on all the compute nodes. See the “Installation and Configuration” section of the “Support for Distributed memory parallel analysis on Window platforms” answer available to SIMULIA commercial users in SOSS and Knowledge Base.

I hope you find this useful

Cheers, Bill E.