“COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working” Error in Windows Vista

Whenever you browse folders containing video or media files in Vista,  may get  the error COM Surrogate has stopped working  . This occurs mainly because of codecs and other COM components installed by various software that aren’t compatible with Vista.

 

 

If you use a codec pack, uninstall it and check if the problem is fixed. Try installing individual codec from here on.If you are using Nero or DivX , then  upgrade  to their latest versions .Also try to disable  Thumbnail previews.

One more  possible solution is  turning off DEP for dllhost,for that do the following

• Right click on Computer, and choose Properties
• Now click on Advanced System Settings, and then under Advanced, click Settings> Click the “Data Execution Protection” tab, and then click “Turn on DEP for all programs
• Click on the Add button, and then browse to C:\Windows\System32\dllhost.exe ,Click Open, and then OK.