Error 0xc000142

Question

Error 0xc000142

Kelsey Holdt 0

Good Day, I need help. Everything was working great for the past years. When I turn on my laptop and try to open Outlook, Word, or Excel, it says 'Application Error'. I tried the quick repair and online repair. also error. If I need to reinstall, I lose all my work and calendar items. can't back up, because I can't open outlook to back up. Please help.

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2 answers

Answer 1

The error code 0xC0000142 (STATUS_DLL_INIT_FAILED) means:

{DLL Initialization Failed} Initialization of the dynamic link library %hs failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

We must determine the DLL file causing the problem. Please run a Procmon trace and share the log file on OneDrive or GoFile.io.

Download Process Monitor: http://live.sysinternals.com/procmon.exe
Launch Process Monitor.
Reset the filter options and click OK.
If tracing does not start automatically, press Ctrl+E.
Start an Office app and let it throw the error 0xC0000142.
Now, switch to Process Monitor and stop tracing (Ctrl+E).
Save "All Events" in a PML log file.
Zip the log file and upload it. Zipping it reduces the size by 90%.
Share the zipped file on OneDrive or GoFile.io and post the link here.

Answer 2

Kevin Kelly 0

Hi, I followed the instructions, a year on this issue is still occurring with no easy fix. Here is the link to my process monitoring event file https://gofile.io/d/GBt4NdjR please get back to me if you can. Thanks.

Ramesh 182K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T10:18:14.6966667+00:00

@Kevin Kelly Which app is throwing that error? Can you post a screenshot?
Kevin Kelly 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T10:27:35.7266667+00:00

Microsoft Word and Excel and Powerpoint - I have heard of others having issues with outlook aswell
Kevin Kelly 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T10:28:21.06+00:00

I am running another online repair right now to see if anything changes so I cannot screenshot yet.
Ramesh 182K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T10:41:19.17+00:00

Ok. Let me know how it goes.

You could try winword.exe /safe to see whether the same error occurs. It opens Word in safe mode.

If possible, uninstall Sophos, restart Windows and test again.
Kevin Kelly 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T10:47:06.9733333+00:00

Ok that worked, I think the remedy was actually quite simple: 1. ensure all windows updates are installed fully 2. carry out an online repair. I did a quick repair and it did not work so beware of that mistake. Thanks for your help Ramesh.
Ramesh 182K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T10:48:38.85+00:00

Great, thanks for the feedback. You may unshare or delete the Procmon log.
Kevin Kelly 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T10:52:04.61+00:00

Ok it literally just began to fail again. I was using the OneDrive sign in as a test which worked so I thought I was in the clear but Word failed again. Any ideas?
Ramesh 182K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T10:55:38.0666667+00:00

Does winword.exe /safe work?

If that doesn't help, uninstall Sophos, restart Windows and test again.
Kevin Kelly 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T11:04:32.07+00:00

Ok tried both that did not work. I am going to try completely uninstalling office, restarting and then reinstalling.
Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T11:43:42.6033333+00:00

@Kevin Kelly

Since this thread is a year old, please start a new thread if further follow-ups are required. Use the Ask a question option. You can include a link to the current thread. Good luck.