Many Windows (7 and 8) users have reported experiencing as issue where they receive an error message stating “COM Surrogate has stopped working“, while browsing folders containing video or media files. Some users have also reportedly received this error while trying to print. 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 and when this process crashes, the error pop-ups up on the screen. This may also be caused by corrupt codecs required to view the media. In this guide, we’ve listed some steps for you that will hopefully fix the issue.
Method 1: Rollback to The Previous Display Adapter Driver
To do this, Hold the Windows Key and Press R. In the run dialog, type hdwwiz.cpl and Click OK. Scroll to the Display Adapters section in the Device Manager. Right Click on it and select Properties. Click Roll Back Driver and proceed with the instructions on screen. In some cases, this option is grayed out, if that is the case then attempt the Method’s below.
Method 1: Add dllhost.exe to the DEP Exception
Go to Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced System settings> Performance settings > Data Execution Prevention.
Select “Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:”
Click on “Add“ and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\dllhost.exe
After Adding dllhost.exe to the exception list, Apply changes or click OK
Method 2: Re-register the DLLs
Run the following commands in an escalated command prompt. Click Start, type cmd ; right Click on the “cmd” program from the search results and select Run as Administrator.
In the Command Prompt window, type the following Commands and press Enter key one by one:
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll
Method 3: Check Disk For Errors
If this error occurs when opening files saved in a particular DRIVE other then C:\ then that drive should be checked for errors, other wise if no additional drives, then the C:\ should be checked.
Hold the Windows Key and Press E. On Windows 7/Vista – You will see the drives listed. On Windows 8, chose This PC from the left pane to view the drives. Right-click on the Selected Hard disk drive that you want to check and then select “Properties”.
Click the Tools tab from the top and then click Check Now under Error-Checking.
Check both the Options and the Click Start.
Method 4: Update Codecs
Another manual method to solve this error is to update all the Codecs of the Windows (7, 8 or 10) to their latest updated versions. You can download and install your latest Windows Codec Pack from here:
Windows 7 Codec Pack: http://www.windows7codecs.com/
Windows 8 Codec Pack: http://www.windows8codecs.com/
Method 5: Reset Internet Explorer
The issue can also be caused by due to cached files, that were corrupt. In this instance, it would be best to Reset IE. To do this, hold the Windows Key and Press R. In the run dialog, type inetcpl.cpl and Click OK. Go to the Advanced Tab and choose Reset. Put a check on Delete Personal Settings and hit the reset button again. Once done, reboot the PC and test.
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