Windows Host RunDLL32 process has stopped working

Random error codes that usually don't say much about who or what caused it are the worst kind because you never know which of your actions caused the error and what action to take to prevent it from happening.

The error “The Windows host process (Rundll32) has stopped working” it is quite generic, but they are a couple of well known causes of this problem and some of them even sound strange at first glance. Follow the rest of the article to find out how to solve this problem.

Solution 1: strange control panel setting

This first solution to the problem is probably the strangest and it seems that the whole error is simply a bug related to the way icons and thumbnails are displayed. There are many people on the internet who claim to have tried every possible solution they could find online, but nothing helped more than this little tweak. This method is useful if you get the error code when accessing folders containing images or videos.

1. Open the Control Panel by searching for it in the Start menu.

2. Change the View By option in the Control Panel to Large Icons and find the File Explorer Options section.

1. Click on it and navigate to the tab “Watch” of the window that opens. The first option in the Files and folders section of the advanced settings should be “Always show icons, never miniatures”. Check if it is unchecked and apply the changes.

2. Restart your PC and check if the error appears again.

Solution 2: remove certain icons from the systray

Some users claim that it took them several months of research and testing of various methods before implementing this simple solution which solved the problem instantly. This method is very successful if new icons were recently added to the systray. Support for these icons appears to be missing and this causes this error to appear.

1. Take a look at the bottom right of the screen, right in the systray where the clock is usually.

1. Mouse over the icons that are there or that appear after clicking the error that is also in the systray.

2. Try to locate the icon that displays the following message: “Show or remove blocked startup programs”.

1. A pop-up window should appear requesting your permission to continue, so be sure to grant it by clicking “Yes” O “continue”.

2. Look at each line to see if you recognize any items that you have recently added to your programs or system hardware. Some users claim that the cause of their problem was the NVIDIA icon.

3. There is a check mark next to that item, so be sure to remove it for each one you have recently added.

4. Press the application button and when it asks you to reboot your system, do it. Check if the error stops appearing from now on.

Solution 3: reinstall certain programs known to cause this problem

Some third-party programs and applications are known to cause this error after a while of installation and users have reported that reinstalling these programs has helped them get rid of the annoying error.. Some of the programs include:

Nero Tools and Applications

Vivo

Realtek Audio Controller

Sound blaster

Adobe Speed ​​Launcher

Adobe ARM

Follow the instructions below to uninstall and reinstall these tools successfully:

1. First, make sure you are logged in with an administrator account, as you will not be able to remove programs with any other account.

2. Make a backup of the data you want to save because removing these programs will remove them.

3. Click on the start menu and open the Control Panel by searching for it. Alternatively, you can click gear icon to open settings if you are using windows 10.

1. In the control panel, select View as: Category in the upper right corner and click Uninstall a program in the Programs section.

2. If you use the Settings app, by clicking Applications, a list of all programs installed on your PC will immediately open.

3. Find the tool you want to uninstall in Control Panel or Settings and click Uninstall.

4. Your uninstall wizard should open with two options: Repair and Remove. Select Remove and click Next to uninstall the program.

1. A message will appear asking: “Do you want to completely remove InsertNameHere for Windows?” Choose yes.

2. Click Finish when the uninstall process is complete and restart your computer to see if the errors continue to appear.

Solution 4: update the graphics card driver

Some users went online and claimed that a file named “nvd3dum.dll” caused the crash after investigating the log files located on your computers. This file is closely related to the NVIDIA graphics card driver and you should definitely consider this solution if you have an NVIDIA graphics card.

Follow the set of steps presented below.

1. Click Start and type Run. Select Run. A Run dialog will appear.

2. Scribe “devmgmt.msc” in the run dialog and click the OK button. This is to open the Device Manager window.

1. Find your graphics card driver by referring to the Display adapters section. Click the arrow to the left of this section to see the list of display adapter drivers.

2. Right-click on your graphics card adapter and select Update Driver from the context menu. If you are using an integrated graphics card, there will probably only be one item in the list. If you use an external graphics card, you can only update this.

1. Click Search automatically for updated driver software. Windows will find and install the new driver for you.

2. Restart your PC for the change to take effect.

Note: You can also visit the site of the manufacturer that made your graphics card and download the latest driver from their site. They often provide assistance in choosing the correct driver for your system.

What's more, if there are no new versions of your graphics card driver, you can always choose to reverse it by choosing the appropriate option from the menu and following the on-screen instructions.