Windows 10: MSVCRT.dll faults during file searches

File Explorer has been crashing while doing "content:" searches on my [local solid-state] disk. I navigate to the folder of interest in file explorer and then type the likes of "content:typedef" in file explorer's search box. Searches progress for a while, possibly display some filename results, and then the window vanishes. Crashes seem independent of the text being sought or the search expression as a whole.


It does seem to be related to the folder being searched, however. Using the above content search expression on "C:\Program Files (x86)" eventually displays results and does not crash. Searches of "C:\Program Files", "C:\Windows", and the one I was trying to search: "C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local" all "poof" the Explorer window after a few minutes.


A "dir /S" command reveals my AppData\Local has 19674 File(s) of a total 2,137,937,256 bytes. The largest single file is a 130 MB zip file. I have been trying to identify something unique to the folder trees that fail versus those that succeed, and so far the only thing I can see is that the trees that fail all have at least one file with the "I" (capital letter between 'H' and 'J') attribute, i.e. 'dir /S /A:I' does not find any such files in C:\Program Files (x86), but finds some in all the other folders identified above. Could be coincidence.


Potentially relevant, yesterday I told Windows I wanted the entire disk indexed for future content searches, settings I had not previously used. [I realize what this does and does not do, but it is a recent configuration change.] However, having said that, nothing an end-user does should cause an access violation fault in something as fundamental as this runtime library when called by something as fundamental as the Windows file explorer.


Additionally relevant, I have Cortana as "squelched" or "quiesced" as permitted by the licensing. I'm told there is some integration between her and searching that may aggravate the situation, but again, this supported end-user customization should not be able to crash fundamental parts of the system.


I searched the entire disk for instances of MSVCRT.dll, and all are identical version and size as the one cited in the Event log shown below.


Sample Event Viewer display:

Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 10.0.17134.165, time stamp: 0x4031a9f8
Faulting module name: msvcrt.dll, version: 7.0.17134.1, time stamp: 0x5cbba6fd
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000000000007440f
Faulting process id: 0x2adc
Faulting application start time: 0x01d497a6b5ccda55
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\msvcrt.dll
Report Id: d816e634-4457-44b1-951b-22c6155f4a50
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:


The fault offsets for additional failure occurrences are not the same, but are fairly close together:

0x0000000000074360, and 0x0000000000074500


Yesterday, a restart incorporated Windows Defender definition update 1.283.910.0. I don't think this is in any way related to the search problem, but it is in fact something recently updated in the configuration.


December 12 was the next most recent software installation or update. I installed the cumulative Windows 10 update KB4471324. For sure, I recall no file content searches that crashed in the intervening days, but its also true that I don't recall searching my AppData\Local (or any of the other folders cited above) during that period either..

HP Laptop running Intel(R) Core(TM) I5-82500U CPU @1.8GHz with 12.0 GB RAM.

:)

 

.DLL file

Hi Jerry,

Specific programs use DLL files to function properly in a Windows environment. If the DLL file gets misplaced, deleted, or corrupted, the error "____.dll is missing" appears. We'd like to learn more about your concern so that we could provide
the proper resolution. We just have a few questions for you:

• Which build version of Windows 10 is on your computer? To check, click
  Start, type winver, and press Enter. For example, 14393.1066.
• Did you make any changes to your computer before this started happening, like installing or uninstalling a program?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

As an initial recommendation, we suggest that you disable your Startup programs to isolate the cause of the error. To do this, follow these steps:

• Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.
• Click More details.
• Go to the Startup tab.
• Right-click every listed program and choose Disable.
• Restart your computer and check if the issue persists.
  
• If the error disappears, enable one of the programs and restart your computer to check if the error reappears; this is to pinpoint exactly which program is causing the error. Do this for all Startup programs until you find the cause.
• Once you've found the program that's causing the error, you can then try uninstalling and reinstalling it.

We'll wait for your response and the results of the troubleshooting.

----

If you think this was useful, you may "mark it as an answer" to help those who are facing the same problem.

 

Edge Search Does Not Permit Change of Region


I got these suggestions from the Microsoft Community forum.No. 1 worked for me:

Thank you for posting the query on Microsoft Community. I am glad to assist you on this.
We have reproduce the issue here and we are able to access non-regional search for google using Microsoft Edge.
I would suggest you to try the below steps and check if it helps.
Step 1:
Clear browsing data option of Microsoft Edge and check if you face the issue. To do so perform the steps below.

1. Click on the More actions icon next to the feedback icon present on top right corner of the Project Spartan homepage.
2. Select Settings and click on Choose what to clear.
3. Check the boxes Browsing history, Cookies and saved website data and Cached data and files and click on Clear.

Step 2:
I suggest you to create a new user account and check if the issue occurs.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Choose Accounts and then select Family and other users.
3. Select add someone else on this PC.
4. Enter a user name and hit next.
5. Click on Finish.
6. Sign out from the current Account and Log into the new account.

Step 3:
It could also happen because of network issue. I suggest you to try with different network connection and check if it helps.

 

Faulting DLL files

FSX attempts to use the uiautomationcore.dll files that are part of the Windows OS (as mentioned by Rohn007). In some cases, users have found that they are getting a freeze or system crash, particularly when accessing the FSX Menu bar many times during
a flight. Is this when you get your FSX crash?

If you have found the error message showing, either in-game or via Event Viewer, then you could try this:

a. download an older version of this .dll (6.0.5840.16386) from:



Download DLL file uiautomationcore.dll

b. then paste the file into the root of your FSX directory (i.e. into your main FSX folder) and
not into the Windows' locations. Also,
don't move or delete the other .dlls in Windows, as they are part of the OS. What you are doing here is to force FSX to first look for this .dll from it own directory before it searches elsewhere. As FSX is
now a very old Sim, sometimes these newer .dlls present problems when FSX requires to use them.

c. launch FSX and take a flight to test whether this older .dll fixes your problem.

Chris