Error 0xc0000005: Why a Program Crashes and How to Fix It

Updated 2026-09-01

You double-click a program and it dies straight away. Windows shows a small box with a long number in it: The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000005). Or the program simply vanishes with no message at all.

It looks serious. It usually is not. This error almost always points at one program, not at your whole computer.

Here is what the number actually means, and how to get the program running again.

Quick Answer

Error 0xc0000005 means a program tried to use a piece of memory it was not allowed to touch, so Windows stopped it. The usual causes are damaged program files, a leftover update that did not finish, a missing Visual C++ component, or a security setting blocking the program.

Start by repairing or reinstalling the program itself. That fixes it for most people, and it does not touch anything else on your computer.

What 0xc0000005 Actually Means

Windows gives every program its own area of memory to work in. If a program reaches outside that area, Windows stops it immediately rather than letting it carry on. The code for that is 0xc0000005, also called an access violation.

So the number is not a diagnosis. It is Windows saying "this program did something it was not allowed to do, and I shut it down".

That is good news, in a way. It means the problem is usually inside one program, and fixing that program fixes the error.

Common Causes

• Some of the program's files are damaged or were not installed properly
• An update to the program was interrupted and left broken files behind
• A shared Microsoft component the program needs is missing
• Your antivirus or a Windows security feature is blocking the program
• A driver the program relies on is out of date
• Rarely, the computer's memory is faulty

Notice that most of these are about one program. If every program on your computer crashes this way, skip to the last two fixes.

Fix 1: Restart and Run It as Administrator

Always worth thirty seconds before anything else. A restart clears whatever was left in memory, and some programs simply need higher permissions to start.

Steps:

1. Restart the computer
2. Right-click the program's icon
3. Choose Run as administrator
4. Click Yes when Windows asks

If it opens now, the program needs those permissions. Right-click it, choose Properties, then Compatibility, and tick Run this program as an administrator so you do not have to do it every time.

Fix 2: Repair or Reinstall the Program

This is the fix that works most often, because damaged program files are the most common cause.

Many programs can repair themselves without a full reinstall.

Steps:

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings
2. Go to Apps, then Installed apps
3. Find the program in the list
4. Click the three dots next to it, then Modify or Advanced options
5. Choose Repair if it is offered

If there is no Repair option, uninstall the program and install it again from the maker's own website. Microsoft explains the removal steps on its page about uninstalling apps and programs in Windows.

Fix 3: Clear the Program's Leftover Update Files

This one is missed a lot, and it explains crashes that started right after a program updated itself.

Programs that update themselves - games launchers, chat apps, browsers - download the new version into a cache folder first. If that download failed halfway, the program can choke on the broken leftovers every time it starts.

Clearing that cache is safe. The program downloads what it needs again on the next launch.

Steps:

1. Close the program completely, including any icon in the system tray
2. Open File Explorer and go to the program's installation folder
3. Look for a folder named package, update, cache or downloads
4. Delete the archive files inside it - files ending in .zip or similar
5. Leave the folder itself and any other files alone

Fix 4: Check Whether Something Is Blocking the Program

Security software sometimes decides that a perfectly normal program is behaving oddly and stops it. From your side it looks exactly like a crash.

Windows has its own version of this, called Exploit protection. The name sounds alarming, but it is not about viruses. It simply watches how programs use memory and steps in when something looks unusual. Older programs sometimes look unusual to it without being dangerous at all.

Steps:

1. Open your antivirus and look at its recent activity or quarantine list
2. If the program appears there, restore it and add it to the exclusions
3. Then open Windows Security from the Start menu
4. Click App & browser control
5. Click Exploit protection settings, then the Program settings tab
6. Look for your program in the list and check whether anything was switched on for it

If you turn protection off to test something, turn it back on afterwards.

Fix 5: Add the Program to the DEP Exception List

Your computer's memory holds two different things: the instructions a program follows, and the data it works with. Data Execution Prevention, usually shortened to DEP, makes sure a program never tries to follow instructions from the data side.

Some older programs cross that line by accident. They are not doing anything harmful, but Windows shuts them down anyway - with this exact error.

Steps:

1. Press Windows + S and search for Advanced system settings
2. On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings
3. Open the Data Execution Prevention tab
4. Choose the second option, which turns DEP on for everything except the programs you list
5. Click Add and select the program's .exe file
6. Click OK and restart the computer

Fix 6: Repair the Visual C++ Components

Many programs rely on a shared Microsoft package called the Visual C++ Redistributable. When it is damaged, programs that need it crash on launch - sometimes with 0xc0000005, sometimes with a missing DLL message.

Steps:

1. Open Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps
2. Type Visual C++ in the search box
3. Click the three dots next to an entry, then Modify
4. Choose Repair
5. Repeat for the other Visual C++ entries, then restart

If you also see errors naming a missing .dll file, our guide on the VCRUNTIME140.dll missing error covers that side of the same problem.

Fix 7: Test Your Computer's Memory

Leave this one until last. It matters only if several different programs crash with this error, or if the computer also freezes and restarts on its own.

Windows has a built-in memory test.

1. Press Windows + S and search for Windows Memory Diagnostic
2. Click Restart now and check for problems
3. Let the test run - it takes several minutes
4. The result appears after Windows starts again

If it reports a problem, the memory module is failing and needs replacing. If it comes back clean, the cause is in software, and one of the earlier fixes is the answer.

One More Thing Most People Forget

Ask yourself one question: does this happen with one program or with many?

One program means the problem is inside that program. Repair it, clear its update cache, check that security software is not blocking it - and stop there. There is no reason to go digging through Windows itself.

Many programs means something shared is at fault: the Visual C++ components, a driver, or the memory. That is when the last two fixes are worth your time.

Answering that one question saves most people an hour of pointless work.

Final Thoughts

0xc0000005 looks like a serious system fault, but it is usually one program with damaged files or an unfinished update. Repairing that program fixes it far more often than anything else.

Work down the list and stop as soon as the program opens. If your computer has also been feeling slow lately, that is a separate matter - see our guide on why your computer is so slow.

Most computer problems look frightening at first and turn out to be ordinary once you know what the message actually means.