[UNSOLVED] Whenever I Start a game, CMD.exe Error pops up with error code 0xc0000142

[Jai22]

Whenever I Launch any game cmd.exe - Application Error pops up. with error code 0xc0000142.

It keeps poping up in a group of 2s in every 5-7 minutes for 15-20 minutes and then stops.
It is only happening with Games.
Example: League- Whenever I launch the client it gives me 2 errors and once I get in a game the cycle starts. This happens in all the games. I am running Windows Defender with no Anti Virus.

What I have already Done:
- SFC Scan Now
- DISM Tool
- Updated Windows
- Updated Nvidia Drivers
- Startup stuff from msconfig
- Changed System Locale
- for %1 in (*.dll) do regsvr32 /s %1
- .NET Framework Reinstall
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Windows - Set to 0
- DLL Repair
- Reinstalled Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable

Any help will be useful. Thanks in Advance.

[StDragon]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

 

Check the startup enviroment to make sure you don't have some vestage of a rootkit or other ATP component. Seems something is trying to execute via the command prompt when running one or multiple executables.

 

Also you can install 3rd party updates (inlcuding .NET and Visual C++ updates) in Windows 11 within PowerShell by running the command "winget update --all"

[FireLegend]

1 hour ago, Jai22 said:

Whenever I Launch any game cmd.exe - Application Error pops up. with error code 0xc0000142.

It keeps poping up in a group of 2s in every 5-7 minutes for 15-20 minutes and then stops.
It is only happening with Games.
Example: League- Whenever I launch the client it gives me 2 errors and once I get in a game the cycle starts. This happens in all the games. I am running Windows Defender with no Anti Virus.

What I have already Done:
- SFC Scan Now
- DISM Tool
- Updated Windows
- Updated Nvidia Drivers
- Startup stuff from msconfig
- Changed System Locale
- for %1 in (*.dll) do regsvr32 /s %1
- .NET Framework Reinstall
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Windows - Set to 0
- DLL Repair
- Reinstalled Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable

Any help will be useful. Thanks in Advance.

Run CMD as administrator with the command widget (upgrade) or (update) --all which will update "most" of your programs but most importantly give you the most recent C++ files.

[Jai22]

17 hours ago, FireLegend said:

Run CMD as administrator with the command widget (upgrade) or (update) --all which will update "most" of your programs but most importantly give you the most recent C++ files.

DIdn't Work

[Jai22]

18 hours ago, StDragon said:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

 

Check the startup enviroment to make sure you don't have some vestage of a rootkit or other ATP component. Seems something is trying to execute via the command prompt when running one or multiple executables.

 

Also you can install 3rd party updates (inlcuding .NET and Visual C++ updates) in Windows 11 within PowerShell by running the command "winget update --all"

can you elaborate a bit more about vestage of a rootkit, what is it ill be looking for?

[Jai22]

Event Log, If this helps:

Log Name: System

Source: Application Popup

Date: 21-06-2025 15:55:25

Event ID: 26

Task Category: None

Level: Information

Keywords:

User: SYSTEM

Computer: LAPTOP-J1BDI28J

Description:

Application popup: cmd.exe - Application Error : The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application.

Event Xml:

<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">

<System>

<Provider Name="Application Popup" Guid="{47bfa2b7-bd54-4fac-b70b-29021084ca8f}" />

<EventID>26</EventID>

<Version>0</Version>

<Level>4</Level>

<Task>0</Task>

<Opcode>0</Opcode>

<Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>

<TimeCreated SystemTime="2025-06-21T10:25:25.0660485Z" />

<EventRecordID>732</EventRecordID>

<Correlation />

<Execution ProcessID="1656" ThreadID="1672" />

<Channel>System</Channel>

<Computer>LAPTOP-J1BDI28J</Computer>

<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />

</System>

<EventData>

<Data Name="Caption">cmd.exe - Application Error</Data>

<Data Name="Message">The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application. </Data>

</EventData>

</Event>

[Kevin03YZFR1]

Sounds very similar to an issue I just resolved. For me, it was because I downloaded an application to remove Microsoft Edge and it was running a script each time I ran a game for some reason.

 

To track down your issue, download and install Sysmon from Microsoft https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon#usage

 

After you install this from an elevated command prompt (right-click, Run as Administrator), it will start auditing all programs being executed and capture the log in your event viewer under Event Viewer> Microsoft> Windows> Sysmon> Operational

 

Once you have this log open, go ahead and launch a game. Make sure you note the exact time on your computer when the 5 cmd.exe windows appear. Next, refresh the log and search for an "Process create" entry and it will show you what is executing the program. It should look like the screenshot I've attached. I've highlighted one of the process names that kept appearing and the exact path showing what program was executing the program.  From here, simply uninstall or rename/delete whatever is causing the execution to occur. Hope this helps.