How to Remove COM Surrogate Error in Vista

23 May 2007 41 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

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

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

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

# 8 November 2008 at 1:13 am

kameya said:

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

# 8 December 2008 at 6:45 am

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!

# 12 December 2008 at 3:49 pm

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.

# 20 December 2008 at 6:11 am

pinkslippers said:

thanks a lot!

# 22 December 2008 at 9:15 am

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

# 29 December 2008 at 11:05 am

Jaggu said:

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

# 7 January 2009 at 12:18 am

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!!

# 17 January 2009 at 8:34 pm

Cody said:

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

# 17 January 2009 at 8:36 pm

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

# 26 January 2009 at 10:23 am

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.

# 8 February 2009 at 7:38 am

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.

# 8 February 2009 at 1:48 pm

sarah said:

thx

# 12 February 2009 at 2:28 pm

itai said:

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

# 8 March 2009 at 6:11 pm

okok said:

ok thaks man, nero was the problem

# 10 March 2009 at 4:49 pm

dichusie pojar said:

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

# 25 March 2009 at 10:36 am

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

# 24 April 2009 at 11:53 pm

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 [...]

# 29 April 2009 at 9:47 am

sushil said:

sorry….guys…

bt same didnt work out here…

still persists the error

# 10 May 2009 at 9:37 am

sushil said:

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

# 10 May 2009 at 10:03 am

Tamer said:

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

# 2 July 2009 at 5:30 pm

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