Our life is filled with many problems, whether big or small. Overcoming the difficulties in our life is what helps us in achieving success and getting near towards our goals. Similarly, while operating the computer system, every one of us has to face a set of problems which can be annoying too sometimes. Recently users are getting a message by the name “COM Surrogate has stopped working” while browsing folders containing media or video files. It is being described as annoying and frustrating by them, as it prevents users from accessing important data.
COM Surrogate is a host process which is running in the background while we are accessing files and folders. This process enables us to see thumbnails, and whenever this process crashes, our system starts displaying error. The causes for this error can be due to codecs which are required to view the media getting corrupted. COM Surrogate is known as a sacrificial process as it protects the explorer from crashing as the entire dependency is taken by it. To deal with this annoying issue a lot of methods have been developed.
Contents
- 1 Top 10 Methods to Fix Com Surrogate has Stopped Working
- 1.1 Method 1: Rollback to the Previous Display Adapter Driver
- 1.2 Method 2: Add dllhost.exe to the DEP Exception
- 1.3 Method 3: Re-register the DLLs
- 1.4 Method 4: Check Disc for Errors
- 1.5 Method 5: Update Codecs
- 1.6 Method 6: Fix Internet Explorer
- 1.7 Method 7: Disable thumbnails
- 1.8 Method 8: Update Antivirus Software
- 1.9 Method 9: Uninstall EaseUS Data Recovery
- 1.10 Method 10: Uninstall recently installed drivers
- 2 Conclusion
Top 10 Methods to Fix Com Surrogate has Stopped Working
Method 1: Rollback to the Previous Display Adapter Driver
- This method can be used by opening up the run box first. By holding the windows key and pressing R, you can open up the run box.
- In this box type hdwwiz.cpl and press OK.
- In the device, the manager section goes to the display adapters section.
- Right click on it and choose properties.
- Now click on Roll Back Driver and follow the instructions displayed by the system to complete the process and fix the Com Surrogate has Stopped Working error.
Method 2: Add dllhost.exe to the DEP Exception
COM Surrogate is known as an executable host process (dllhost.exe) which is running in the background while browsing files and folders, by adding it to DEP exception can help in fixing your problem. During this case, you need to follow the given below steps:
- Open up the run box by holding Windows key and pressing R.
- Now type control within the box and press enter to open up the control panel.
- Click on System on the Large or Small icons. In the pop-up window, click on Advanced System settings.
- Choose Settings under the Performance box.
- In the Data Execution Prevention, click on Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select. Head to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 or System32.
- Find and double click on dllhost.
- Click on Apply first and then again on OK to save the settings.
Method 3: Re-register the DLLs
- Use the following commands in an escalated command prompt. First click on Start, type cmd; right click on the cmd program and select Run as Administrator.
- Now, we need to insert the following commands in the command prompt window one by one by pressing Enter.
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll
- This might solve Com Surrogate has Stopped Working error.
Method 4: Check Disc for Errors
Check a particular Drive if this error occurs because of files saved in that specific Drive. If this is often not the case, then check C:\. Use the following steps for this method:
- Hold Windows key, and press E. Choose This PC from the left pane to view drives. Right, click on the Hard disk drive that you want to check and choose “Properties”.
- Now click the Tools tab from the top and then click Check Now under Error-checking.
- Check both options and then click on Start. This will resolve the error.
Method 5: Update Codecs
Another method to solve this issue is by updating all the codecs of the Windows to their latest versions. For different Windows, you can download the Windows Codec Pack as follows:
- Windows 7 codec pack: http://www.windows7codecs.com/
- Windows 8 and 10 codec pack: http://www.windows8codecs.com/
Method 6: Fix Internet Explorer
It involves the following steps,
- Press Windows key and R simultaneously.
- In the run box type “inetcpl.cpl” and press Enter.
- Now in the “Advanced tab”, select “Reset” and put a checkmark on Delete personal settings.
- The ending step is to reboot your system, and Com Surrogate has Stopped Working problem will be fixed.
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Method 7: Disable thumbnails
To perform this method take the help of the following steps:
- Type “File Explorer options” within the search box.
- Click on View and enable the option of “Always show icons, never thumbnails”.
- Click on Apply and then press OK.
- Press Windows key and S simultaneously and type “Disk Cleanup”.
- When the displayed list appears, choose “Disk Cleanup”.
- Now choose your Windows hard drive and click on OK. “Disk Cleanup” scans your drive.
- Make sure that the thumbnails are checked as “Files to delete”.
- Click on OK and the thumbnails will be removed.
Method 8: Update Antivirus Software
Sometimes, the antivirus software on the system can cause problems if it is not updated. So you need to install the latest version to deal with this issue as old software can’t provide your system with full protection. Updating the software thus helps in fixing the COM Surrogate has stopped working error too.
Method 9: Uninstall EaseUS Data Recovery
Cases have been reported where it was found that the EaseUS data recovery application was causing problems to the process of COM Surrogate. It was disturbing some of the vital parts of the COM Surrogate process. To solve Com Surrogate has Stopped Working issue, it is required to uninstall the EaseUS data recovery application by using the following steps:
- Press Windows and I key simultaneously to open settings.
- Select “Apps” and then “Apps and Features” from the left pane.
- Find and click on EaseUS data recovery option and select Uninstall.
- Follow the instructions being given to uninstall the application.
- Check if the issue is fixed or not.
Method 10: Uninstall recently installed drivers
Use these steps:
- Open up the Device Manager.
- Press Windows key and S simultaneously and type “Device Manager”.
- From the list select Device manager.
- Now search for the recently installed drivers.
- Right click on recently installed drivers one by one and then choose “Uninstall device”.
- Click on Uninstall button.
- After uninstalling all the drivers, reboot the PC. Thus, this will fix the error.
Conclusion
So the COM Surrogate has stopped working error is easy to fix. It may seem like this error won’t go away and will annoy you, but by following the simple steps stated above, you can fix this error in a short period. You need to analyze the reason for this error carefully because only then will you be able to fix this error appropriately.
I’m an IT Professional with diverse operational experience in IT industry. I am very passionate about technology and love helping people thrive in tech. I believe that every problem has a solution, you just have to find a way to fix it. And that’s exactly why I started this troubleshooting website to help people easily fix various technical errors in their systems easily with my cool guides.
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