I tell you true. I have given up trying to install or update the G’MIC plugin on Windows for an existing GIMP installation. So many error messages. A couple of years ago I thought I finally had it figured out. I updated G’MIC with no problems, several times in a row. Eureka! But then came another apparently routine G’MIC update that broke GIMP. Apparently I had not been updating GIMP frequently enough to stay ahead of the G’MIC updates and all those darling beloved .dll files.
So I had a choice. Devote a fair amount of time to keeping all my software updated all the time. Or spend that time taking photographs and editing them. I enjoy photography as a hobby. I do not enjoy coding or debugging or computer maintenance.
My solution, which might or might not work for you but it’s just a suggestion, is to keep two instances of GIMP on my computer. I have a version of GIMP 2.8 that I have frozen. No updates to it or to G’MIC. It is the software I use when I have work to do because I know it won’t crash on me and require an entire afternoon of debugging to get it running again.
But since I do enjoy playing with new software tools, I periodically go to Partha’s website (partha.com) and download the portable version of his latest 2.9 build for Windows. It has G’MIC already installed. It works perfectly but I try not to get too attached, because soon I will replace it with a newer build. I’m looking forward to Partha’s first 2.10 build.
I don’t intend any of this to read like a complaint. There is no way I am going to complain about nice talented people making brilliant software available for free. I am grateful to the G’MIC team and the GIMP team. But let’s be honest, sometimes it’s a royal bear to get the G’MIC plugin installed successfully on Windows. With help from Partha, end users like me (and maybe the OP as well) can enjoy the software with fewer headaches.