My applications keep crashing with an access violation error.

Question

Hi, I’m having a persistent system issue and would really appreciate your help.

My applications keep crashing with an access violation error (0xc0000005) that says: “The memory could not be read.”

This happens with regular programs and also in the browser — tabs crash and disappear with the same type of error.

Example error:

Faulting application name: MsMpEng.exe, version: 4.18.25040.2

Faulting module name: mpengine.dll, version: 1.1.25040.1

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x000000000014c5bf

I also see these errors in Event Viewer:

“The open procedure for service 'ESENT' in DLL 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\esentprf.dll' failed with error code: The system cannot find the file specified.”

“The open procedure for service 'WmiApRpl' in DLL 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\wmiaprpl.dll' failed with error code: The device is not ready.”

However, the file esentprf.dll does exist in the System32 folder.

But when I try to register it manually using the command: regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\esentprf.dll

I get this error:

The module "esentprf.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found.

Make sure that "esentprf.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again.

Some background:

– About 2 months ago, I formatted both of my SSDs and performed a clean install of Windows using the official image from Microsoft.

– The installation only succeeded on the 3rd or 4th attempt — the previous ones failed midway without clear explanation.

– About 2 weeks ago, I upgraded the RAM from 2x8GB to a single 32GB module. It's recognized correctly by the system.

– All drivers and Windows updates are installed. I’ve run full system scans — no malware or integrity issues were reported.

Can you please help me figure out what could be causing these issues?

Could this be a hardware problem (RAM/SSD), a corrupted system component, or something else entirely?

Any guidance on diagnostic steps or tools would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

A few thoughts:

MsMpEng.exe is the executable file for Windows Defender, the antimalware app built into Windows 11. Similarly, mpengine.dll is related to Windows Defender.

Not all DLL files can be registered. In particular, esentprf.dll is a non-registerable DLL file, so the error when you attempted to register it using regsvr32 is expected and normal.

Given that the errors are being thrown by Windows system files, and especially the error "access violation error (0xc0000005) ... The memory could not be read,” coupled with the fact that these issues seemed to start after you upgraded the RAM, I suspect that there is a problem with the RAM module (but see the thread here: https://www.tenforums.com/performance-maintenance/75627-event-viewer-error-open-procedure-service-esent-dll.html) 

I suggest downloading and running MemTest86. This is a free utility: https://www.memtest86.com/ 

Start with "Creating a boot disk in Windows" here and then click "Usage" for more instructions: https://www.memtest86.com/tech_booting-memtest.html

You misunderstood me a bit. I reinstalled Windows with a clean installation and formatted the hard drives, using the original factory RAM (2x8GB), specifically because applications started crashing with access violation errors. Thinking the issue was caused by the RAM, I bought new RAM (1x32GB).

And i did MemTest86. No errors.

Well, at least now I know the problem isn’t with esentprf.dll.

I’ve tried a lot already. At this point, I even managed to get Windows file verification to stop showing any errors. I updated using a Windows ISO file (downloaded from Microsoft site) while keeping settings and files - although it only worked on the sixth attempt or so, since the update kept failing and rolling back to the previous state.

Answer 2

A few thoughts:

MsMpEng.exe is the executable file for Windows Defender, the antimalware app built into Windows 11. Similarly, mpengine.dll is related to Windows Defender.

Not all DLL files can be registered. In particular, esentprf.dll is a non-registerable DLL file, so the error when you attempted to register it using regsvr32 is expected and normal.

Given that the errors are being thrown by Windows system files, and especially the error "access violation error (0xc0000005) ... The memory could not be read,” coupled with the fact that these issues seemed to start after you upgraded the RAM, I suspect that there is a problem with the RAM module (but see the thread here: https://www.tenforums.com/performance-maintenance/75627-event-viewer-error-open-procedure-service-esent-dll.html) 

I suggest downloading and running MemTest86. This is a free utility: https://www.memtest86.com/ 

Start with "Creating a boot disk in Windows" here and then click "Usage" for more instructions: https://www.memtest86.com/tech_booting-memtest.html