Microsoft error: This application has failed to start because ...
Hi Experts -
Any time i try to run a Microsoft Office app (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc) I am getting the following error.
"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."
This all started after I installed RealPlayer for a work project.
Looking up this error on the net, I found many people saying that just reinstalling the app was doing nothing for them.
Many successful recommendations were to reinstall the Visual C++ runtimes. So I tried installing the VS C++ runtime for 2005 and tested, both before and after re-booting. No change. Then 2008, but same result. Finally I tried the VS C++ runtime for 2010. That didn't do anything either.
I don't have the CD's for the office installation. They came with an MSDN subscription that has since lapsed, and I don't know the key used for the installation or whether it would even work anymore. But since re-installing Office doesn't seem to solve the problem for anyone else anyway, I am wondering if that would be a useless exercise in any case.
Also, other apps not by Microsoft are failing as well, following the RealPlayer install. E.g., one app fails with a .NET error message (which I have asked about in a separate question.) So that is another reason I don't think that just reinstalling Office will make the problem go away.
I have since uninstalled Realplayer (and rebooted), but no difference. Also, I ran Malwarebytes just in case realplayer installed some virus, but there was only one item which has been cleaned up and Malwarebytes now runs clean. (And I did have Norton 360 running the whole time and it never saw anything either.)
Any suggestions for fixing this problem?
Thanks!
Any time i try to run a Microsoft Office app (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc) I am getting the following error.
"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."
This all started after I installed RealPlayer for a work project.
Looking up this error on the net, I found many people saying that just reinstalling the app was doing nothing for them.
Many successful recommendations were to reinstall the Visual C++ runtimes. So I tried installing the VS C++ runtime for 2005 and tested, both before and after re-booting. No change. Then 2008, but same result. Finally I tried the VS C++ runtime for 2010. That didn't do anything either.
I don't have the CD's for the office installation. They came with an MSDN subscription that has since lapsed, and I don't know the key used for the installation or whether it would even work anymore. But since re-installing Office doesn't seem to solve the problem for anyone else anyway, I am wondering if that would be a useless exercise in any case.
Also, other apps not by Microsoft are failing as well, following the RealPlayer install. E.g., one app fails with a .NET error message (which I have asked about in a separate question.) So that is another reason I don't think that just reinstalling Office will make the problem go away.
I have since uninstalled Realplayer (and rebooted), but no difference. Also, I ran Malwarebytes just in case realplayer installed some virus, but there was only one item which has been cleaned up and Malwarebytes now runs clean. (And I did have Norton 360 running the whole time and it never saw anything either.)
Any suggestions for fixing this problem?
Thanks!
Daniel Wilson
Have you tried a System Restore just before the point of the RealPlayer installation? That would undo RealPlayer, but should undo the problem ... and give you a relatively clean starting point.
ASKER
That is a good suggestion. I have never done a system restore, but I see that 12% of my disk is reserved for that, so I will try that and let you know. Thanks very much, DanielWilson!
What version of Windows are you running? I do System Restore operations frequently on my XP-based test machines and occasionally on my Vista machines.
ASKER
I'm running XP Pro XP3.
I tried to do system restores all day long yesterday. Only a few of them worked, but even then, the problem re-occurred. I went all the way back to July. None of the failures say anything about why they failed, but I found that usually the sys restore would work if the starting point was just before I installed some new software.
Since the problem still exists even after a successful sys restore, the only thing I can figure is that RealPlayer must have stomped on a dll that they all depend on and yet that dll isn't actually part of the O/S.
Since another of the error messages (posed as separate EE question) is that it can't find a .net v2 dll, I'm going to uninstall .net 3.5, 3.0, and 2.x, then reinstall them and see if that clears it up.
If you have any other ideas, I'd be glad to try them.
I tried to do system restores all day long yesterday. Only a few of them worked, but even then, the problem re-occurred. I went all the way back to July. None of the failures say anything about why they failed, but I found that usually the sys restore would work if the starting point was just before I installed some new software.
Since the problem still exists even after a successful sys restore, the only thing I can figure is that RealPlayer must have stomped on a dll that they all depend on and yet that dll isn't actually part of the O/S.
Since another of the error messages (posed as separate EE question) is that it can't find a .net v2 dll, I'm going to uninstall .net 3.5, 3.0, and 2.x, then reinstall them and see if that clears it up.
If you have any other ideas, I'd be glad to try them.
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ASKER
The problem was in fact the .NET framework. Sadly, even the clean up tool and accompanying user guide were insufficient to solve the problem, although it is a valuable link for a goldmine of information on this issue.