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How to Remove COM Surrogate Error in Vista

23 May 2007 50 Comments

I have been using Windows Vista for 3 months now and one error that has always annoyed me is the “COM Surrogate Error ” . This error generally occurs when you open a folder thaty contains a lot of media files . The error is

Beleive me it is irritating . This error is mainly caused due to codecs i,e Divx , Nero etc which might not be compatible with Vista . Some possible solutions to this problem are

1) Upgrade your Nero or Divx to latest version .

2)You can disable Thumbnail previews . Though it is the easiet solution , no body will want to do it .


3)It might be caused due to ffdshow codec pack . Try some alternative

How ever i nice solution is available at Helpero . To solve the error follow the steps

  1. Click on start . Right Click on Computer and Select Properties
  2. Click Advanced System Settings located at top left corner
  3. Under the Performance field click settings

  1. Go to Data Execution Prevention Tab
  2. Select Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those i select
  3. Click the Add.. button
  4. Browse to c:windowssystem32 and select dllhost.exe . Click ok when done . You will get a windows like this
  5. Click Apply.
  6. Restart your computer and the problem will be solved .

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  • 50 Comments »

    • Links for 25-May-2007 | -| Life Rocks ! 2.0 |-Technology, Internet, Blogging, Life and Thoughts said:

      [...] How to Remove COM Surrogate Error in Vista -by Madhur [...]

    • Link O! Byte - 5 said:

      [...] How to Remove COM Surrogate Error in Vista Some Vista users may get error messages like ‘COM Surrogate has stopped working’. Learn ho to fix COM Surrogate in Vista [...]

    • Rewarding Regular Readers - 26 May 2007 said:

      [...] How to Remove COM Surrogate Error in Vista - Madhur [...]

    • Shankar Ganesh | Tech Blog » Blog Archive » Weekly links said:

      [...] How to get rid of the COM Surrogate error in Vista - Madhur [...]

    • Web 2.0, PC Tweaks @ AVirtualExit.com » Blog Archive » Quick Links - Episode 5 said:

      [...] Madhur Kapoor on  How to get rid of the COM Surrogate error in Vista [...]

    • abhishek bhatnagar said:

      Gr8 tip buddy…but it can also be solved if u just upgrade your vista to the latest to avoid any incompatibility problems with the other applications. but this solution is much better..thanks for sharing.

    • J0k3rman said:

      okay i have done all these fixxes none work so yeah come up with something better

    • Madhur Kapoor said:

      Try upgrading to the latest version of Divx player

    • THJ said:

      I just tried it, but no help. It failed right on startup… Thanks for the effort though.

    • JAY PATEL said:

      THAT WAS AWSOME TO SORT THE PROBLEM OUT THAT WAS FROM MY FRIEND SO ITS SORTED GENIUS MAN.

      THANKS

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    • scotty said:

      How do you just turn the damn thing on/off
      I dont have that prob but i dont get the preview either how do i fix this.

    • Kim Roger said:

      Thanks alot. Works perfectly now.

    • windhead said:

      after using this trick my whole folder browser would crash and empty all running programs from screen.

    • M.G. Lazarus said:

      Great tip… it worked!! Thanks!!
      http://www.proventherapy.com

    • danin said:

      hey great soln buddy.really awesome

    • Phil said:

      I tried this but got the error message “You can not set DEP attributes on 64-bit executables.”

      Any other ideas?

    • Karim said:

      ohh

      i did what you said…

      but still gives the same error

      if you have any other trick, please tell me

      djdumba@hotmail.com

    • aaron said:

      thank you for your solution ,but there’s only one question .does this DEP function be in laptops,i am facing the same problem of com surrogate in my laptop please help

    • aaron said:

      thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery much that irrating window is out, you are super cool man please share some of your knowledge

    • NaGaShReTuRnS said:

      ok i recently got pinnacle 71e dazzle tv stick for my laptop and after installation i found a problem with com surrogate and after alot of research i have found another way round the problem. you go into C:program files\pinnacle\shared files\filter and search in there for H264Codec.ax and change .ax to .bak and thats it problem solved hope this helps you lot out like it did me

    • kameya said:

      still keep getting the error… i uninstalled divx completely and now my protools won’t even start up!

    • Filip said:

      Go to folder options, and under tools, folder options, and under the View tab, try this, check the first box, that says, Always show icons, never thunbnails, and also, uncheck display icon on thumbnails, and apply…
      It should help!

    • john said:

      My computer completely shut down after a mailfinder trojan installed itself. When I reboot, it says it can’t load the com surrogate, or won’t let it or something, and all I get is my desktop. I have to run all my programs from task manager. I’ve found and deleted the trojan, but this problem still persists. If it is related to driver files, did this trojan ruin some driver file that I need to re-install?

      Thanks.

    • pinkslippers said:

      thanks a lot! :D

    • ashish1099 said:

      hey guys no need to download or uninstall or install nero or dixv player
      if you people have vista codec player just go to the program file in that u will tools click on that and double click to installed codec
      over there you will ur installed codec find out ffdshow video decoder make it disable after that all is fine no com surrogate
      try it
      it work for me

    • Jaggu said:

      I did hw u wrote here but i cant deal with this problem.So Please anyone help me

    • Cody said:

      First off thanks for this tip and taking the time to put this together and sharing….This fixed it for me…I had upgraded to the newest Vista build and went through every codec…I did however discover this program that works wonders for helping discover which codec is the problem (if thats what is causing you problems)…goto http://www.nirsoft.net/util
      /installed_codec.html and check it out Thanks again for putting this together Madhur Kapoor!!

    • Cody said:

      Sorry…Cut off part of the url: http://www.nirsoft.net/util/installed_codec.html

    • djm said:

      jan 2009 fix still needed on a brand new HP Laptop , great fix
      why is vista still shipping with this issue ?
      but hey

    • Abhi said:

      Hi.I have tried with all the solutions provided but none of them worked for me. I installed new version of Divx, tried the dllhost one and everything but still it is not solved.Its really irritating. Please help me with this.

    • Thehookandtheb8 said:

      Thank you! This issue was driving me nuts. I uninstalled divx I installed vista codec package and nothing was working. Then I followed your excellent step by step and hey presto! Ty for sharing.

    • sarah said:

      thx

    • itai said:

      thank you very much the com surrogate error is complitely gone after restart ,keep it up job welldone

    • okok said:

      ok thaks man, nero was the problem

    • dichusie pojar said:

      thanks~!~!it really saved me from breakin my pc

    • khan said:

      i have tried all options in vista. after trying everything its still giving me the same error the only difference is that now i get it only at startup or when i run an executable, so if theres a permanent cure do lemme know

    • COM surrogate, this is causing my fan to go ballistic + high useage. - ScoobyNet said:

      [...] It didn’t work? Bugger. Try this, the one about data execution prevention How to Remove COM Surrogate Error in Vista [...]

    • sushil said:

      sorry….guys…

      bt same didnt work out here…

      still persists the error

    • sushil said:

      guys…its gonn…
      the best way is to dwnload new codec for ur default player…and prob is gone…..

    • Tamer said:

      I installed the latest version of k-lite codec pack and it took care of the problem.
      google k-lite…

    • Does anybody know how to get rid of the com surogate error in Vista? | Tech News said:

      [...] caused by the codecs installed with Nero. Update the version of Nero. Also go here for more info: http://www.whoismadhur.com/2007/05/23/co… Source(s): Im a free lance PC [...]

    • dude said:

      Also try loading up all the codecs…

      http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Advanced-Vista-Codec-Package-Download-55586.html

      just a thought. I am trying this now.

      dude

    • afari said:

      yeeeeeeeeeeees,it worked

    • pankaj said:

      i did all these setting in my system. I am using window 7 OS when i want to open any folder this error always pop up…. It still pop up on my system screen. when i click on close the programme button it close all the application… plz suggest me wat i do….

    • moin sayed said:

      Thanks, but it is showing that my computer can harm from viruses & threat, is it right?
      please reply me

    • suman said:

      Hi thank you it worked i was suffering with this for some time now good.

    • INDRA DeMARCO said:

      Very nice….
      This is works 4 me
      Thanx a lot,dude.

    • Gold coast hotels said:

      what burning software do you use? if you have the same error opo up few times it problem with software., then you’ll have to reinstall it.

    • Anoop said:

      Thanks, but it is showing that my computer can harm from viruses & threat, is it right?
      please reply me

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