HTTP.IOHandler := SSL; HTTP.HandleRedirects := True;

user wants a long article about the Delphi 7 Indy 9 "Could not load SSL library" error. I need to provide a comprehensive guide. I'll follow the search plan as outlined. The first round involves parallel searches to cover different aspects. I'll start with the basic search for the error message. search results have returned various resources. I'll open them to gather detailed information. search results provide a good amount of information. I also need to search for Indy 9 specific OpenSSL binaries. search results have provided a good amount of information. I'll now structure the article. The article will include an introduction, why the error occurs, a step-by-step troubleshooting guide, how to programmatically control SSL library loading, the solution of upgrading Indy, and a conclusion. I'll cite the sources appropriately. "Could not load SSL library" error is a common but manageable issue when using Delphi 7 with Indy 9 for SSL/TLS connections, such as sending email via SMTP or making secure HTTPS requests with TIdHTTP . This guide explains why the error occurs and provides practical solutions to resolve it.

If another application in your system path has different versions of libeay32.dll or ssleay32.dll , it can cause conflicts. Using local application-folder DLLs prevents this.

Here's a code snippet demonstrating its use:

Even with the correct DLLs, modern servers (e.g., Gmail, Stripe, AWS) have disabled TLS 1.0 and 1.1. The handshake will fail with a different error, or the connection will be rejected silently. You might see “SSL negotiation failed” after loading the libraries.

Indy 9 is an older library. Modern versions of OpenSSL (specifically the 1.1.x and 3.x series) have different function signatures and filenames compared to what Indy 9 expects.