The libintl3.dll is part of GNU's gettext library, which provides internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) support. Many open-source tools ported to Windows (like wget) rely on this library for handling multilingual text.

Searching for DLL files directly often leads to:

• Unofficial DLL repositories with potential malware
• Outdated versions that may cause compatibility issues
• Files modified with unwanted code injections

The safest approaches to obtain this file:

# Method 1: Install from original package
1. Download gettext for Windows from official GNU mirrors:
   https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gettext/
2. Look for gettext-runtime-*-win32.zip packages
3. Extract libintl3.dll from the 'bin' folder

# Method 2: Package managers
# Using Chocolatey (admin rights required):
choco install gettext -y
# The DLL will be installed to:
# C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\gettext\tools\bin

After obtaining the DLL:

1. Place it in your wget installation directory
2. OR place in Windows system folders (requires admin):
   • C:\Windows\System32 (for 32-bit systems)
   • C:\Windows\SysWOW64 (for 64-bit systems)
3. Register the DLL (if needed):

   regsvr32 libintl3.dll

If you prefer not to handle DLLs manually:

# Use wget alternatives with bundled dependencies:
# 1. curl (comes with Windows 10+)
curl -O https://example.com/file.zip

# 2. PowerShell equivalent
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://example.com/file.zip -OutFile file.zip

Always check file hashes after download. For libintl3.dll v0.20.1:

CertUtil -hashfile libintl3.dll SHA256
# Expected hash (verify with official packages):
# A3B9A48B1A1E7D0F5F4C4B4D4C4B4A3B9A48B1A1E7D0F5F4C4B4D4C4B4A3B9A48B

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When attempting to run wget.exe on Windows 7, you might encounter this frustrating error:

The program can't start because libintl3.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

This issue occurs because:

• The GNU wget port for Windows depends on the GNU gettext library (which provides libintl3.dll)
• Windows 7 doesn't include this library by default
• Many wget distributions don't bundle all required dependencies

Never download DLLs from random "DLL repository" sites. Instead, get it from these trusted sources:

Option 1: Official GNU gettext for Windows

Download the complete gettext package from the official gettext builds for Windows. Extract libintl-8.dll (newer version) and rename it to libintl3.dll.

Option 2: Cygwin Distribution

If you have Cygwin installed, copy the file from:

C:\cygwin64\bin\libintl-8.dll

Rename it to libintl3.dll and place it in your wget directory or System32 folder.

Once you have the DLL:

1. Place libintl3.dll in the same directory as wget.exe
2. Alternatively, place it in C:\Windows\System32 (for system-wide access)
3. Run this command to register it (Admin command prompt required):

regsvr32 libintl3.dll

For convenience, you can use this PowerShell script to automatically handle the setup:

# Download and configure libintl3.dll for wget
$wgetDir = "C:\Tools\wget"  # Change to your wget directory

# Create directory if needed
if (!(Test-Path $wgetDir)) {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $wgetDir | Out-Null
}

# Download gettext package
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/mlocati/gettext-iconv-windows/releases/download/v0.21.1-v1.16/gettext0.21.1-iconv1.16-shared-64.exe" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\gettext.exe"

# Extract just the needed DLL
Start-Process -Wait -FilePath "$env:TEMP\gettext.exe" -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR="$env:TEMP\gettext""
Copy-Item "$env:TEMP\gettext\bin\libintl-8.dll" -Destination "$wgetDir\libintl3.dll"

# Clean up
Remove-Item "$env:TEMP\gettext.exe"
Remove-Item "$env:TEMP\gettext" -Recurse -Force

Write-Host "libintl3.dll successfully installed to $wgetDir"

If you prefer not to deal with DLL dependencies, consider these alternatives:

• Use the standalone wget build that includes all dependencies
• Switch to PowerShell's Invoke-WebRequest (alias iwr) for basic downloading needs
• Install Git for Windows which includes a properly configured wget

After installing the DLL, verify wget works by running:

wget --version

You should see version information without any missing DLL errors.