[Solved] rundll32.exe – Application Error – The Memory Could Not Be Read – Click OK To Terminate

Trouble:

Windows is prone to a lot of virus infections. It is important to keep windows updated and keep your anti-virus updated to prevent virus infections. Read this tutorial for general tips to keep your computer safe from virus infections.

One such annoying Infection is rundll32.exe application error. This kind of problem occurs due to infected or corrupted rundll32.exe file or some infected dll files. Below is the screenshot shared by one of our readers Naralagiri:

When such error appears, it will display a dialogue box saying :

rundll32.exe – Application Error. The instruction at “0x———-” referenced memory at “0x———“. The memory could not be “read”. Click OK to terminate the program.

After this, the application you were trying to launch will ether not be launched or will get terminated during its launch.

In this article we are going to share some of the methods that can fix this problem.

Fix:

The rundll32.exe Application error is not a straight forward error. The possible reasons for this error are:

Problem 1. Corrupt rundll32.exe file – Which will cause such errors with many windows application. The solution to this problem should be replacement of rundll32.exe file. The solution is listed below in the article.

Solution 1:

To replace the file you need to put the Windows Installation disk in the CD ROM drive.
Click Start, and then click Run. Type the following without quotes and press enter

“expand X:\i386\rundll32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe”

Restart the computer. This will replace the corrupt rundll32.exe with a fresh copy from windows installation CD/DVD.

Problem 2. Corrupt DLL file for some application – Which will cause problem with that specific application or a few application which depend on that dll file. The solution to this problem is bit tricky. See the rest of the article for solutions.

Solution 2:

For this you need to narrow down on which application is causing the crash, and identify the DLL. You can replace an Individual DLL if you suspect some DLL through the error message. Else in that case, I recommend to run a Repair Setup of Windows after taking your data backup.

Problem 3. Corrupt Registry values – There maybe some registry values which might be corrupted which are creating problems with the normal functioning of certain application. The solution to this problem is comparatively simple with use of certain registry cleaning tools.

Solution 3:

To solve registry problems, you can download free registry scanner like CC cleaner which is free and effective in cleaning registry errors. Scan and fix the registry errors and restart your computer.

Problem 4. Fake CSRSS file or CSRSS Virus -  This is because of an executable file with file name similar to the system file CSRSS.exe . The fake file will run and create rundll32 errors.

Solution4 :

Go to Start > Search and search for file named CSRSS. If you find more than one files by this name in some folders like “Prefetch” or other locations, these files might be the corrupt file or malicious file if they do not have .exe extension. Delete any suspicious file and restart your computer.

These four problems and solution will fix problem in most cases. There can be more than these reasons, if you have any other solution or reasons, please share through comments below.

Author + Admin: Rohit Khurana
Software Engineer by profession. I am a part time tech blogger and believe in blogging because I enjoy writing on technology. I also write about Cars and Bikes at www.carblogindia.com. You can catch me on twitter @rohit_khurana. Get in touch with me at RohitKhurana.in.