An App-V v5 virtualized application fails to start with error 0xc0000142

This article provides a solution to the issue a Microsoft Application Virtualization version 5 (App-V) virtualized application fails to start with an application error 0xc0000142.

Applies to:   Windows 10 - all editions
Original KB number:   2777003

Symptoms

The error appears as a popup message stating:

The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application.

You also see a related App-V Event for this application launch failure:

Log Name: Microsoft-AppV-Client/Virtual Applications
Source: Microsoft-AppV-Client
Date:
Event ID: 18005
Task Category: Application Launch
Level: Error
Keywords: Virtual Application Launch
User: contoso\user1
Computer: TEST-PC
Description:
The virtual application 'path to virtualized executable' could not be started because the App-V Subsystem 'Virtual Filesystem' could not be initialized. {error: 0x74300C0A-0x20006}

Cause

This can occur if an NTFS setting called 8.3 Short name creation is disabled on the machine. This setting is governed by the value data of this registry key: KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation.

Resolution

You need to enable NTFS 8.3 Short name functionality on the client. To do this set the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation to 2 and reboot the machine. For more information on enabling and disabling NTFS 8.3 Short names, see How to disable 8.3 file name creation on NTFS partitions

Note

If the package was added to the client when Short names were disabled, you might need to remove the package using the PowerShell command Remove-AppvClientPackage and re-add the package using the method it was added initially. In addition to this, you might also need to remove the user specific information about the package. To do this, delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\AppV\Client\VFS\<PackageID>.

If Short names were disabled on the Sequencer, but enabled on the clients, the Package should be unpublished, re-sequenced after enabling Short names on the Sequencer, and then re-published to the clients.

More Information

For more information about NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation, see NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation.