Playing video causes Runtime Error Program C:\Windows\system32\DLLHost.exe

Question

Computer:  Toshiba Laptop Satellite P205, Windows 7 SP1, 2Ghz CPU, 2GB Ram, 150GB HD

I play a video using Windows Media Player and when it finishes playing, the following error pops up:

Runtime Error!

Program C:\Windows\system32\DLLHost.exe

     This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.  Please contact the application's support team for more information.

I Click OK and get the following:

     COM Surrogate has stopped working.

Windows can check online for a solution to the problem.  I ask it to check and it cannot find anything.  So I then select close program.

Below are the problem details:

     Problem Signature

     Problem Event Name                                APPCRASH

     Application Name                                     DLLHost.exe

     Application Version                                  6.1.7600.16385

     Application Timestamp                            4a5bc6b7

     Fault Module Name                                 AxMJPGDec.dll

     Fault Module Version                              2.3.0.0

     Fault Module Timestamp                        4b96203f

     Exception Code                                       40000015

     Exception Offset                                     00098de7

     OS Version                                              6.1.7601.2.1.768.3

     Locale ID                                                1033

     Additional Info 1                                    55b8

     Additional Info 2                                    55b891279761359878d2e5467755090bd

     Additional Info 3                                    bdcf

     Additional Info 4                                    bccfa126ddff501b141c42e674bd14d6

When I close CMO Surrogate window, another Runtime Error window comes up with the same message as above.  I click OK and get the CMO Surrogate window again.  Click Close Program and get same Runtime Error and then CMO Surrogate messages again.

Finally, it gives and message saying Windows Explorer is not working correctly and prompts to restart the program. 

Any suggestions to a fix will be appreciated.  I have run chkdsk.  I moved all user files to public and deleted the user account and all his files.  Then logged back on as Admin and recreated his account.  But have now discovered the error occurs on both accounts.  I removed, rebooted and reinstalled Windows Media Player.  Do I have to reinstall Windows 7?  I really hate to have to do that as Win 7 has a gazillion updates.  Thanks.

Answer 1

Doing the clean installation of Windows 7 fixed the problem.  Did you realize that there are more than 104 "important" updates to Windows 7?  Don't you think it's is time to put out SP2 to incorporate all these into one installation?

Thanks.

Answer 2

Hi Edith,

Thank you so much for keeping us updated on the status.

You may continue with the installation process and let's know the result at the end.

If you need any further assistance, please get back to us and we'll be glad to assist you with it.

Answer 3

I tried the sfc scan and it did not fix the problem.  I have determined that whenever I access the videos directory in the library, or a folder containing videos, the problem occurs and eventually file explorer restarts.  I also ran a chkdsk and did a defrag. 

Next I tried doing an "upgrade" install of Windows and did get an error message during the first reboot after the installation that there was a problem with .NET framework version 4.5 and it was corrected.  However, the same thing happened as soon as I clicked on Videos in the Library.

So I am now in the process of doing a Custom install wherein all file and folders are deleted and a new copy of Windows is installed.  Am still in the process of installing all the updates.  Will let you know if this fixes my problem.

Answer 4

Hi Edie,

Please let’s know the following information for a better understanding about this issue:

1)       What are the recent changes that you have made to the computer prior to this issue?

2)       Does this happen only with the Windows Media Player?

3)       Do you get these errors when you play any videos files on the computer?

I would suggest you to check if this is caused by any system file corruption on the computer. To find this, let’s run the SFC Scan and check the result.

Method 1:Run an SFC Scan

The “sfc /scannow” command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

a)       Click on “Start” button and type “cmd” in the search box.

b)       Right click on “Command Prompt” icon from the search results and then select “Run as administrator”

c)       On the command prompt window, type the following command, and then press “Enter”

sfc /scannow

d)       Follow the on-screen instructions and complete the scan.

For more information, you may refer to the article given below:

***Use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7***

Please let’s know the scan result. If the issue still persists, then try the next method to check if this is caused by any virus infection on the computer.

Method 2: Boot the Computer in Safe Mode with Networking and then perform a Full Security Scan using Microsoft Safety Scanner

Step 1: Boot the computer in Safe Mode with Networking

In Windows, we can start the computer in different advanced troubleshooting modes to find and fix problems on the PC. One of such troubleshooting mode is Safe Mode with Networking. Here we start Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services, including the network drivers. Please refer to the steps in this article to boot the computer in safe mode with networking:

***Advanced startup options (including safe mode)***

After booting the computer in Safe Mode with Networking, download Microsoft Safety Scanner to perform a complete security scan.

Step 2: Run Microsoft Safety Scanner and check if there are any infections on the computer.

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You can download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner from this link:

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***Download Microsoft Safety Scanner***

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Important: When running a scan using an anti-virus program, any data files that are infected may be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

Please get back to us with the results.