Some times while you were viewing photos or watching videos suddenly a Error message pops COM Surrogate has stopped working. this is a rare but very annoying issue. COM Surrogate is the executable host process (dllhost.exe) which runs in the background, while you are navigating through files and folders. Due to this process you are able to view thumbnails. but when this process crashes, the error pop-ups up on the screen COM Surrogate has stopped working.
COM Surrogate is the process in your computer which you probably won’t notice until it crashes. Problem with COM Surrogate is probably caused because of codecs and other COM components installed by various software, like some versions of DivX or Nero. Once you get “Com Surrogate has stopped working” popup it will be always there in task bar, even if you close the program.
You can face this issue while browsing through file manager in local drives or printing any document through Internet Browser.Users report while browsing folders containing video or media files users face error COM Surrogate has stopped working and Some users have also reportedly received this error while trying to print. If you are also suffering with this issue COM Surrogate has stopped working, Here we have some tips to fix this error.
You can face this issue while browsing through file manager in local drives or printing any document through Internet Browser.Users report while browsing folders containing video or media files users face error COM Surrogate has stopped working and Some users have also reportedly received this error while trying to print. If you are also suffering with this issue COM Surrogate has stopped working, Here we have some tips to fix this error.
How to Fix com surrogate has stopped working in windows 7 , 8.1 and 10
COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working’ Solution: Update Codecs
The most common issue with the COM Surrogate lays in the codecs installed on your computer. So you always should make sure that your codecs are fully updated,
Download Windows 7 Codec Pack
Download Windows 8.1 & 10 Codec Pack
If you have DivX or Nero installed, you should also update them to the latest versions, as well.
Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention ( DEP ) exclusion list
Here the solution that i have found from various forums and reported by many users is that adding the dllhost.exe to the exclusion list for DEP (Data Execution Protection) work for them and they no more face this issue COM Surrogate has stopped working. If you’re not sure what that means and what you should do, don’t worry here’s fallow the steps to Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention ( DEP ) exclusion list.
Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. or you can press win + R key on keyboard on Run Type sysdm.cpl this will open the system properties window here click on the Advanced tab and then Settings under Performance. Now click on the Data Execution Prevention tab and you’ll see two radio buttons:
select the Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select Radio button. now
Click the Add button and browse to the location of the executable for the program you want to remove from DEP protection, and add the following:
C:\Windows\System32\dllhost.exe
For 64-bit windows , you have to exclude the dllhost.exe file in this path:
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\dllhost.exe
when you click on apply this will show a message
Re-register dll files using Command Prompt
If above method not work for you then try to Re-registering the .dll files. to do this first Open Command Prompt as administrator.
on search bar type Command Prompt and right click Command Prompt from the list of results and choose Run as administrator. when the command prompt window open type following commends one by one and press enter key after every command.
After that once Restart the system and check hope you din't face the com surrogate has stopped working Error. still face the same error fallow the next step.
Check your hard drive for errors
If this problem occurs when you insert USB flash drive, then it may be due to error on drive, to fix drive scan that flash drive for errors. If you don’t use USB flash drive, you can check your hard drive for errors:
here how to check your drive for errors.
Open This PC and find the drive you wish to check. Right click it and choose Properties. Go to Tools tab and click the Check button.
This will check the drive for errors.
Rollback Display Driver
Sometimes recent updates of display drivers may cause this error if you recently updated a driver for your display or even some other hardware on your computer, try to roll back the driver to the previous version. It’s usually more so with the display driver than anything else. In some cases, updating to the most recent version of the display driver can also fix the issue, so you’ll have to play around with either upgrading the driver or rolling back the driver.
To rollback or update the display driver follow these steps:
Right click on This PC or My Computer and select properties.
Now in the left click on Device Manager.Expand Display Adapters and then right-click on the display device select properties.
on graphic properties window move to Driver tab Here you will get driver details, update driver Roll Back Driver. from here make changes like roll back driver and update the driver.
Uninstall recently installed applications and drivers
Disable thumbnails
Sometimes corrupt image or video file can cause issues with COM Surrogateprocess, and since this image or video is corrupt, COM Surrogate won’t be able to access it. In certain cases, COM Surrogate might not work properly due to corrupt file, and if this happens, only solution is to delete the corrupt file from your computer. Before we can delete the problematic file, we need to disable thumbnails first:
To do this first open file explorer on start menu search type file explorer. When File Explorer Options window opens, go to View tab and make sure that you check Always show icons, never.
Click Apply and OK to save the changes
Download Process Monitor
After download Run the process monitor and find the file that dllhost.exe is trying to access. In most cases that file is an image or a video file on your computer. Remove that file. You might have to close COM Surrogate or dllhost.exeusing Task Manager in order to delete that file.
Turn thumbnails back on.
Restore system to previous working state
If nothing option working for you then its the bettter time to use the sytem restore option to revert back your system to normal working state withour effect any data or document.
Read Here How to perform system Restore in windows 10 , 8.1 and 7
Check This Video Steps Performed to Fix com surrogate has stopped working Error
The most common issue with the COM Surrogate lays in the codecs installed on your computer. So you always should make sure that your codecs are fully updated,
Download Windows 8.1 & 10 Codec Pack
If you have DivX or Nero installed, you should also update them to the latest versions, as well.
Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention ( DEP ) exclusion list
Here the solution that i have found from various forums and reported by many users is that adding the dllhost.exe to the exclusion list for DEP (Data Execution Protection) work for them and they no more face this issue COM Surrogate has stopped working. If you’re not sure what that means and what you should do, don’t worry here’s fallow the steps to Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention ( DEP ) exclusion list.
select the Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select Radio button. now
Click the Add button and browse to the location of the executable for the program you want to remove from DEP protection, and add the following:
For 64-bit windows , you have to exclude the dllhost.exe file in this path:
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\dllhost.exe
when you click on apply this will show a message
Disabling Data Execution prevention for a windows program or service may expose your computer to damage from viruses or other programs.here click on ok and Restart the windows to take effect the changes. Hope after this changes you didn't face the Error com surrogate has stopped working.
To continue disabling Data Execution prevention , click OK.
Re-register dll files using Command Prompt
If above method not work for you then try to Re-registering the .dll files. to do this first Open Command Prompt as administrator.
on search bar type Command Prompt and right click Command Prompt from the list of results and choose Run as administrator. when the command prompt window open type following commends one by one and press enter key after every command.
- regsvr32 vbscript.dll
- regsvr32 jscript.dll
After that once Restart the system and check hope you din't face the com surrogate has stopped working Error. still face the same error fallow the next step.
Check your hard drive for errors
If this problem occurs when you insert USB flash drive, then it may be due to error on drive, to fix drive scan that flash drive for errors. If you don’t use USB flash drive, you can check your hard drive for errors:
here how to check your drive for errors.
Open This PC and find the drive you wish to check. Right click it and choose Properties. Go to Tools tab and click the Check button.
Rollback Display Driver
Sometimes recent updates of display drivers may cause this error if you recently updated a driver for your display or even some other hardware on your computer, try to roll back the driver to the previous version. It’s usually more so with the display driver than anything else. In some cases, updating to the most recent version of the display driver can also fix the issue, so you’ll have to play around with either upgrading the driver or rolling back the driver.
To rollback or update the display driver follow these steps:
Right click on This PC or My Computer and select properties.
Now in the left click on Device Manager.Expand Display Adapters and then right-click on the display device select properties.
on graphic properties window move to Driver tab Here you will get driver details, update driver Roll Back Driver. from here make changes like roll back driver and update the driver.
Uninstall recently installed applications and drivers
If the error started to appear, after you installed an application or install a new driver, then there is a s chance that this new program could be causing the error. for this you have to uninstall the program, then evaluating your system.
First, ensure you have administrative rights to make changes or uninstall any application.
Now open Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features. now select the recently installed Application and click uninstall. Restart windows and check.
Disable thumbnails
Sometimes corrupt image or video file can cause issues with COM Surrogateprocess, and since this image or video is corrupt, COM Surrogate won’t be able to access it. In certain cases, COM Surrogate might not work properly due to corrupt file, and if this happens, only solution is to delete the corrupt file from your computer. Before we can delete the problematic file, we need to disable thumbnails first:
To do this first open file explorer on start menu search type file explorer. When File Explorer Options window opens, go to View tab and make sure that you check Always show icons, never.
Click Apply and OK to save the changes
Download Process Monitor
After download Run the process monitor and find the file that dllhost.exe is trying to access. In most cases that file is an image or a video file on your computer. Remove that file. You might have to close COM Surrogate or dllhost.exeusing Task Manager in order to delete that file.
Turn thumbnails back on.
Restore system to previous working state
If nothing option working for you then its the bettter time to use the sytem restore option to revert back your system to normal working state withour effect any data or document.
Read Here How to perform system Restore in windows 10 , 8.1 and 7
Check This Video Steps Performed to Fix com surrogate has stopped working Error
This post first appeared on Windows101Tricks - Windows 11 And Windows 10 How To Guide, please read the originial post: here
