DLL load failed: %1 is not a valid Win32 application for NumPy
Question: I downloaded NumPy through Anaconda and copied and pasted the NumPy file from
there to the site-package file in the Python 27 folder.

I was trying to import NumPy from a 2.7.5 shell, and it gave me an error:

> DLL load failed: %1 is not a valid Win32 application.

I tried to research ways to get around it like verifying that I downloaded the
right version (64-bit, Python 2.7) and even tried downloading it again, but it
still gave me the same error.

    
    
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "<pyshell#5>", line 1, in <module>
    import numpy
    File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\numpy\__init__.py", line 168, in <module>
    from . import add_newdocs
    File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\numpy\add_newdocs.py", line 13, in <module>
    from numpy.lib import add_newdoc
    File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\numpy\lib\__init__.py", line 8, in <module>
    from .type_check import *
    File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\numpy\lib\type_check.py", line 11, in <module>
    import numpy.core.numeric as _nx
    File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\numpy\core\__init__.py", line 6, in <module>
    from . import multiarray
    ImportError: DLL load failed: %1 is not a valid Win32 application.
    

How can I fix this?


Answer: > I downloaded NumPy through Anaconda and **copied and pasted the NumPy file
> from there to the site-package file in the Python 27 folder**.

Don't do this! [Follow the instructions on the Continuum
website](http://docs.continuum.io/anaconda/install.html#windows-install) and
install using the `.exe` file.

Anaconda is a fully self-contained environment that includes its own
installers for Python - you don't need to do anything to your system-wide
`site-packages` directory.

