[Fix] The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000005)

The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000005). Click OK to close the application error usually occurs with internet browsers but it is not confined to these. Any application inside the Windows can stop responding due to this error. So, it needs to be fixed in order to revert those essential software’s back to work.

What Causes 0xc0000005 Error on Windows?

There are a number of known reasons causing this error to disturb the operations of various software in Windows 10. One of those reasons that are considered as a major cause is a third-party antivirus program causing conflicts with executable files and influencing their operations. One the other hand, registries can get corrupted due to malware and viruses causing the programs to behave abnormally. Sometimes, bad hardware drivers can also be the culprit causing this error.

Solutions to Fix the Windows 10 Error 0xc0000005:

Based on the reasons mentioned above, the solutions are straight-forward. So, go through the following methods to get rid of this frustrating error message.

1. Fixing the Antivirus Program

Antivirus programs can influence the executable files of a number of programs. So, in order to fix this problem, you are required to disable the third-party antivirus program to check whether it was the culprit or not. Please note that disabling antivirus programs can result in some serious threats to your computer when connected to the internet.

You can also rely upon Windows’ own security software i.e. Windows Defender. It has the same functionality as of any other antivirus. You can disable antivirus by navigating to its Settings and turning the shield off.

After it is disabled, check for the error again. If, it still persists, move to the next method.

2. Fixing Registries

The registry is the central database of Windows that is constantly being used by your PC to help it read many different files & settings that it needs to run. Registries can get corrupted due to damage to some certain files required to stack everything in place. Therefore, most experts recommend that you make sure to backup your Registry and keep this backup stored on a conventional USB stick so that you may be able to revive your Registry in the previous state in case of corruption. But, if you didn’t back up your Registry, follow these steps to fix registries in order to resolve the error 0xc0000005.

1. Download registry cleaner software from this link.

2. After it is downloaded, install it using the recommended settings. Open the software after the installation process is finished.

3. On the interface, click on the Registry tab present on the left pane and click the button labeled as Scan for Issues. It will start searching for errors in the registry and when the search will be finished, a button Fix Selected Issue will be activated. Click on that button and everything will be fixed.

3. Fixing Faulty Drivers

Drivers are the software programs that help the computer to communicate with hardware attached to it. So, when they are damaged, the hardware tends to cause glitches. Fixing these faulty divers can help you out in a number of ways. Follow the steps below.

1. Open the Device Manager by pressing Win + X and selecting it from the list.

2. Inside the Device Manager, scroll down to see if there is any hardware with a yellow mark. If there is, then, right-click over there and select Update Driver Software. If you have installed drivers recently, reinstall those drivers too.

3. On the window appearing after, click on Search automatically for updated driver software to let it search and install drivers automatically. In case, if, you have downloaded the drivers manually, click on the option below to browse and install them. After the process is done, check for the error.

4. Fix BCD

This method is to be carried out by the users at their own risk. This did work for some and did not for some. You will also need to re-activate Windows after performing the steps in this guide.

1. Hold the Windows Key and Press X. Choose Command Prompt (Admin)
2. Type “bcdedit” and press ENTER. If your Windows Boot Loader Path is xOsload.exe then you need to remove some files and repair your BCD. You can see this in the PATH field after you execute the “bcdedit” command.
3. Once done, execute the following commands below, some may return not found but ignore the errors and proceed till the last. Make sure, you hit the ENTER key after each command.

Del D:\Windows\System32\xOsload.exe
Del D:\Windows\System32\xNtKrnl.exe
Del D:\Windows\System32\Drivers\oem-drv64.sys
attrib c:\boot\bcd -h -r -s
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /rebuildbcd

5. Checking for Windows Updates

Windows Updates often contain fixes for some bugs and glitches but they are also notorious for giving way to new issues on people’s computers. However, in this step, we will be checking for any updates for your Operating system because Microsoft often patches any issues that come from their updates. In order to do that, follow the guide below.

1. Press “Windows’ + “I” to open Windows settings.
2. In the settings, click on the “Updates and Security” option and from the left side, select the “Windows Update” option.

   

3. On the next screen, click on the “Check for Updates” option and it will automatically prompt Windows to check for any available updates.

   

4. After the update check is complete, click on the “Download” button to trigger the downloading and installation of new updates on your computer.
5. After these updates have been installed, check to see if doing so has fixed the issue on your computer.

6. Restoring Computer

If you have just started getting this issue, it might be getting triggered due to a faulty driver installation or even due to a rogue application that you might’ve installed on your computer recently. Therefore, in this step, we will be reverting the state of the computer to an earlier date and hopefully, this should get our issue fixed if it was due to the above-stated reasons. In order to do this:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “rstrui” and press “Enter” to open the restore management window.

   

3. Click on “Next” and check the “Show more Restore Points” option.
4. Select a restore point from the list that is before the date on which this issue started occurring.
5. Click on “Next” again and follow the on-screen instructions to revert everything back to the selected date.
6. After the restore is completed, check to see if the issue still persists.

7. Enable Firewall

It is possible in some cases, that the error is being triggered because the application is suspicious or at least if it has been marked suspicious and the Windows Firewall isn’t running on your computer to validate this suspicious. Therefore, in this step, we will be making sure that the Windows Firewall is enabled in order to get rid of this error. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “Control Panel” and press “Enter” to launch the classical Control Panel interface.

   

3. In the Control Panel, click on the “View By:” option and select the “Large Icons” button.
4. After making this selection, click on the “Windows Defender Firewall” option to launch the Firewall and then select the “Turn Windows Defender Firewall On or Off”.

   

5. Make sure to check the “Turn on Windows Defender Firewall” for both the available options to turn the Firewall on.
6. After making this selection, save your changes and close out of the Window.
7. After doing so, check to see if the issue still persists.

8. Run SFC Scan

In some situations, you might’ve installed a bad driver on your computer or at some point, due to a storage failure, some system files or drivers might’ve been corrupted. Therefore, in this step, we will be running a complete system scan to identify any drivers that are missing signatures or to fix any abnormalities in the system files. For that:

1. Press “Windows’ + “R’ to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “cmd” and then press “Shift’ + “Ctrl” + “Enter” to provide admin permissions.Running the Command Prompt

   

3. Type in the following command inside the command prompt and press “Enter” to execute it.

   sfc /scannow

4. Let the computer scan for any broken or corrupted items and it should automatically replace them with working ones.
5. Check to see if doing so fixes the error message.

9. Disabling Data Execution Prevention

Data Execution Prevention is a program that prevents certain programs or executables from being able to run on your computer because it suspects that they might be viruses. Due to this prevention, sometimes, as a false alarm, legit applications might also face issues while trying to run on your computer. Therefore, in this step, we will be disabling this setting from the system configuration panel. For that:

1. Press ‘Windows’ + “R’ to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “Control Panel” and press “Enter” to launch the classical control panel interface.

   

3. Inside the Control Panel, click on the “View By:” icon and then select the “Large Icons” option.
4. After selecting Large Icons, select the “System” option.
5. Click on the “Advanced System Settings” option on the left side of the screen.
6. In the advanced System Settings, click on the “Advanced” tab from the top.
7. In the advanced tab, click on the “Settings” option under the “Performance” heading.

   

8. On the next window that opens up, click on the “Data Execution Prevention” tab, and then select the “Turn on DEP for all programs except those I Select” option.
9. After that, click on the “Add” option and point to the executable of the application that you are facing issues with.
10. This way, that application will no longer come under the jurisdiction of the DEP program.
11. Check to see if doing so has fixed the issue.

If the above process is unable to fix the issue, it might be because the executable isn’t the only one being affected by the DEP program. Sometimes the DEP might actually be preventing a herd of executables from being run on the computer and to counter this we will be disabling DEP completely.

Disabling DEP completely cannot be done through any Windows setting and it needs to be done manually through the command prompt. Remember to take this step as a last resort because this can in some cases makes your computer more vulnerable to viruses and malware attacks. In order to disable DEP through the command prompt:

1. Press “Windows” + “R’ to open the Run prompt.
2. Inside the Run prompt, type in “cmd” and then press “Shift” + “Ctrl” + “Enter” to launch in admin mode.

   

3. Inside the command prompt, type in the following command and press “Enter” to execute it on your computer.

   bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

4. Once the command has been executed, run the application that you want to and check to see if the error message still persists.

10. Disable Firewall and Windows Defender

In some situations, the executable that you want to run on the computer might actually be blocked by the Firewall and it would not be able to make contact with its servers this way. Therefore, we will have to allow the executable in our Firewall for both public and private networks which should get it working if the Firewall is preventing it.

In addition to that, sometimes the Windows Defender might prevent the application from running on your computer because its local files might be suspicious and not properly signed. This can be due to a false alarm as well so we will be disabling the Windows Defender for the application as well by adding an exclusion. In order to do that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to launch the Run prompt.
2. Type in “Control Panel” and press “Enter” to launch the classical control panel interface.

   

3. Click on the “View by:” button, select “Large Icons” and then click on the Windows Defender Firewall option.
4. Select the “Allow an app or feature through the Firewall” button on the left pane and then click on the “Change Settings” button and accept the prompt.

   

5. From here, make sure that you check both the “Public” and the “Private” options for the application and its entries.
6. Save your changes and exit out of the window.
7. After that, press “Windows” + “I” to launch the settings and click on the “Update and Security” option.

   

8. From the left pane, click on the “Windows Security” button and then click on the “Virus and Threat Protection” button.
9. Select the “Manage Settings” button under the Virus and Threat Protection Settings heading.
10. Scroll down and click on the “Add or Remove Exclusions” button in the next window.

    

11. Click on the “Add an Exclusion” option and select “Folder’ from the File type.
12. Make sure to specify the application’s folder with which the issue is occurring and exit out of this window after saving your changes
13. Check and see if doing so has fixed the error message.

11. Reinstall Firefox

If you are getting this error while trying to launch Firefox, it might be occurring because the applications haven’t been installed properly on your computer. Therefore, in this step, we will be launching the app management window and uninstalling Firefox after which we will reinstall it completely by downloading it from the Firefox website. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “appwiz.cpl” and press “Enter” to open the app management window.

   

3. In the app management window, scroll down and right-click on the “Firefox” application.
4. Select “Uninstall” from the list and then follow the on-screen instructions to remove the software from your computer.
5. Repeat this step for all instances and bundled applications of the software installed on your computer.
6. Make sure to disable any third-party antiviruses at this point to make sure that the software is installed smoothly.
7. Head on over to the Mozilla website and click on the download button.

   

8. Click on the downloaded executable and install it on your computer following the on-screen instructions.
9. Check to see if doing so has fixed the error message on your computer.

12. Scanning for Malware

It is possible in some cases that the computer has acquired malware that is preventing the user from being able to run all the system functions on their computer. Therefore, in this step, we will be using the default Windows Defender to scan our computer thoroughly for any viruses or malware that might’ve found its way on our computer. For that:

1. Press the “Windows” + “I” keys simultaneously on your PC to open the Settings tab.
2. Navigate to the Update & Security option and then click on the “Windows Security” button on the left tab.

   

3. After that, click on the “Open Windows Security” and select the “Virus and Threat Protection” option.
4. After that, click on the “Scan Options” button below the “Quick Scan” window.

   

5. Click on the “Full Scan” option and then hit the button of “Scan Now”.
6. Wait for a few seconds while this process gets completed and then finally check if the error gets resolved now.

Microsoft Security Scanner is an additional tool that you can use to test the system for any further viruses and malware because sometimes the default tool isn’t able to perform the scan properly. Therefore, in this step, if the issue still hasn’t been resolved, we will be using the Microsoft Security Scanner to further make sure for any issues.

1. Launch your browser and download the Microsoft Security Scanner from here.
2. After downloading the executable, run it on your computer and let it install.
3. Accept the License Agreement terms and click on “Next”.

   

4. Select “Full Scan” and click on “Next”.

   

5. After you opt for a full scan, the software will start scanning your entire computer to look for any malware or viruses that might’ve disguised themselves as normal executables or applications.
6. After this scan has been finished, check to see if the error message still persists.

13. Install Missing Drivers

It is possible in some situations that your device is missing certain drivers due to which this particular issue is being triggered on your computer. Therefore, we will be checking for any missing drivers and then we will check to see if the error is fixed. In order to do this, follow the guide below.

1. Download Driver Easy on your computer.

   

2. Run the downloaded executable and install the software on your computer.
3. Run the check and see if there are any missing drivers on your computer.
4. Install these missing drivers and then install them either manually or automatically using the Software.
5. After installing all the missing drivers, check to see if the issue still persists.

14. Reconfigure Registry

It is possible that in some cases, you haven’t properly configured all the registry settings or that you unknowingly configured something incorrectly. Therefore, in this step, we will be reconfiguring our Registry to fix a certain key that sometimes, if misconfigured, causes this particular error on Windows. In order to do this, follow the guide below.

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “regedit” and press “enter” to launch the registry editor.

   

3. Inside the registry editor, navigate to the following location.

   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_Dlls

4. Double click on the “LoadAppInit_DLLs” entry on the right side of the screen.

   

5. Change the value of this registry from “1” to “0”.
6. Save your changes and exit the registry editor.
7. Check to see if doing so has fixed the error.

15. Update Disk Drivers

In some cases, the Disk Drivers that are being used to control your Storage and other Disks installed on the computer might have been outdated due to which the error is being triggered. Therefore, in this step, we will first be opening the Device Management Window and from there, we will be updating these drivers. In order to do so, follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Press “Windows’ + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “Devmgmt.msc” and press “Enter” to launch the device management window.

   

3. In the Device Manager, double click on the “Disk Drives” option to expand it.
4. Right-click on the storage device listed and select the “Update Driver” option.

   

5. Select the “Search Automatically for Drivers” option and let the setup search.
6. If there are any drivers available, Windows will automatically check for them and install them on your computer.
7. Check to see if doing so has fixed the issue.

16. Disabling Automatic Updates and Uninstalling Updates

It is possible in some cases, that this error is stemming from a faulty update install. Microsoft is notorious for pushing out updates that aren’t properly customized to work for all hardware combinations and often go on to break things instead of making them better. Therefore we will make sure that the recent update isn’t installed on our computer.

In order to do this, we will have to first disable automatic updates on our computer and then we will be uninstalling the recently installed updates. Make sure to back up any important data that you don’t want to lose just in case this goes bad.

1. Press “Windows” + “R’ to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “service.msc” and press “Enter”.

   

3. Scroll through the list and double click on the “Windows Update” service.
4. Click on the “Stop” button and then click on the “Startup Type” dropdown.
5. Select “Disabled” from the list and select the “Apply” button from the window.

   

6. Click on “OK” to close out of this window.
7. Check to see if doing so has stopped your computer from updating.

After stopping the computer from updating, we will now be uninstalling the recent updates that have been installed on your computer. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “I” buttons to open the settings.
2. In settings, click on the “Update and Security” option and then select the “Windows Update” button from the left pane.

   

3. In the Windows Update, click on the “View Update History” option.
4. In the Update History, click on the “Uninstall Updates” option and it should take you to the uninstallation screen where all the recently installed updates will be listed.

   

5. From the list, right-click on the update that was installed recently and caused this error on your computer.
6. Right-click on this update and select the “Uninstall” button to remove it completely from the computer.
7. Follow through with the on-screen instructions.
8. Check to see if uninstalling has fixed this issue.

Additional Fixes:

• In addition to some of the recommendations given above, you should try to check if there are any bad memory modules (RAM) installed on your computer which can be a cause of this.
• Also, make sure to check if you haven’t overclocked your RAM to a level beyond its recommended limit. If you have done so, try to bring it back to factory defaults and check if that fixes your issue..