Getting com surrogate has stopped working in Windows 10, 8.1, and 7? Sometimes while you were viewing photos or watching videos suddenly an 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) that 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.
Post Contents :-
- 1 what is a com surrogate?
- 2 COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working Solution
- 2.1 Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention ( DEP ) exclusion list
- 2.2 Re-register .dll Files using command prompt
- 2.3 Check your hard drive for errors
- 2.4 Rollback Display Driver
- 2.5 Uninstall recently installed applications and drivers
- 2.6 Disable Thumbnails
- 2.7 Restore system to a previous working state
what is a com surrogate?
COM Surrogate is the process in your computer which you probably won’t notice until it crashes. The 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 the taskbar, even if you close the program.
You can face this issue while browsing through file manager in local drives or printing any document through the Internet Browser. Users report while browsing folders containing video or media files users face the error COM Surrogate has stopped working and Some users have also reportedly received this error while trying to print. If you are also suffering from this issue COM Surrogate has stopped working, Here we have some tips to fix this error.
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 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 follow the steps to Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention ( DEP ) exclusion list.
How To Add Com Surrogate to Data Execution Prevention
Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Or you can press the Win + R key on the keyboard Run Type sysdm.cpl click ok. 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 the Radio button. Next 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:WindowsSystem32dllhost.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.
Disabling Data Execution prevention for a windows program or service may expose your computer to damage from viruses or other programs. To continue disabling Data Execution prevention, click OK.
Here click on ok and Restart the windows to take effect the changes. Hope after these changes you didn’t face the Error com surrogate has stopped working.
Re-register .dll Files using command prompt
If the above method does not work for you then try Re-registering the .dll files. to do this first Open Command Prompt as administrator.
on the 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 opens type the following commands 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 didn’t face the com surrogate has stopped working Error. still, face the same error follow the next step.
Check your hard drive for errors
If this problem occurs when you insert a USB flash drive, then it may be due to an error on the drive, to fix the drive scan that flash drive for errors. If you don’t use a USB flash drive, you can check your hard drive for errors:
Here is 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 the 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.
Right-click on This PC or My Computer and select properties. Now on the left click on Device Manager. Expand Display Adapters and then right-click on the display device select properties.
On graphics 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 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 a corrupt image or video file can cause issues with the COM Surrogate process. 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 the corrupt file, and if this happens, the 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 the start menu search type file explorer. When the File Explorer Options window opens, go to the View tab and make sure that you check Always show icons, never.
Click Apply and OK to save the changes.
After download runs 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 a previous working state
If nothing option working for you then it’s the better time to use the system restore option to revert back your system to its normal working state without 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
These are some best working solutions to fix com surrogate has stopped working error, com surrogate has stopped working error on windows 10, 8.1, and 7 computers. Have any query, suggestion feel free to comment below.