The 0xC0000005 Error

Every day many people see this message on their PC screens:

‘Error: access violation 0xC0000005’

Did you encounter this error too? Read about possible solutions to 0xC0000005 errors on this website. If you don’t find a fix for your case here, leave us a message describing your 0xC0000005 error and we’ll try to find a fix and add the information for your case on our website.

Let’s free ourselves from 0xc0000005 errors!

Solutions to 0xc0000005: Access Violation Error

When 0xc0000005 Error Occurs

0xc0000005 is a critical Access Violation error that requires immediate reaction.

However, you should not hurry to pay the mad money starting from $250 to $1000 and more for the services of PC repair shops (that’s the average amount requested for routine procedures you could do on your own at little or no cost). Chances are that they will use the methods and tools the same as those listed on our website. We hope the information on this page helps you resolve 0xc0000005 error and save around $500 for something really worth that money.

As a rule, you get the 0xc0000005 error message when you try to start one of your programs in Windows or install software. The program terminates with the 0xc0000005 message and you can’t get it work.

The most typical causes for the ‘0xc0000005: Access Violation’ error are: corrupt registry, malware, faulty RAM, faulty drivers, incorrectly written, installed or updated software and even Windows security features.


If you are not a computer expert use the following first-aid solution:

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If you would like to dig deeper, below you can read more about 0xc0000005. You will find some specific examples of 0xc0000005 error messages and possible solutions and tools for specific cases. However, if you are not a computer technician we strongly recommend to use specialized software suggested on this page or contact an expert on this issue. The software, information and tips below are suggested by PC experts, the Microsoft Company or the users who successfully resolved 0xc0000005.

Variations of 0xc0000005 Error Messages:

How to fix the 0xc0000005 error

0xc0000005 error case 1: Repair Your Registry

0xc0000005 error may be caused by poor maintenance of your computer and corrupt registry entries that pile up as you install and delete programs, especially when you install new programs over old ones. Windows registry is considered to be a single point of failure (SPOF) by many experts. This means that the entire system is bound to the registry and if the registry fails, the entire system will be disabled. To get rid of the 0xc0000005 error you can check all the registry entries manually and remove invalid ones, but this procedure is long and complicated. If you are not a computer expert checking your registry manually may take several days. In addition, you may damage important registry entries and disable your system. So if you are not a PC expert use specialized software to repair your registry.

We recommend TuneUp360, an award-winning PC tool recognized by experts and editors as the world’s best registry cleaner. TuneUp360 was created by Spotmau, an internationally acknowledged and multiple award winning leader in system repair, system performance and security tools. It is one of the most popular and easy to use registry cleaners for Windows that safely cleans, repairs and optimizes your registry and speeds up your machine in a few mouse clicks. In addition, if you wish TuneUp360 will protect your Internet privacy by ensuring all traces of your online Internet and computer activities are permanently erased and unrecoverable on your PC! Read more about TuneUp360.

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0xc0000005 error case 2: Driver Errors

Driver problems may cause 0xC0000005, especially faulty 3rd party drivers, incompatible or outdated drivers. Update old drivers, replace 3rd parry drivers with native ones and see if it solves 0xc0000005 error.

0xc0000005 error case 3: Bad RAM Memory

Quite often this problem results from a faulty RAM memory. This is most likely the reason if you started getting the 0xC0000005 error message after installing a new RAM memory. To check this you can remove the new memory and see if the 0xC0000005 error disappears. If so, get a refund or ask to replace the faulty memory with a good one.

Don’t forget to do the following before you start removing the memory:

1) Turn off your computer and remove all cables (power, network, etc.)
2) Remove the battery (if you have a laptop)
3) Ground yourself out before you touch the memory!!(for example, touch metal screw on a lightswitch).

0xc0000005 error case 4: Virus

Your computer may be infected with malware. In this case the 0xc0000005 error informs that the system prevented execution of a malicious application. Install the latest version of an antivirus program and scan your system.

0xc0000005 error case 5: Video Driver Update

Sometimes 0xc0000005 errors occur after video card driver updates. If that is the case rollback to the drivers you’ve been using before the update. And inform the vendor about the issue.

0xc0000005 error case 6: DEP

Quite often the nasty 0xC0000005 error occurs because of Data Execution Prevention (DEP) introduced by Microsoft in Windows SP2 and used in later versions. DEP is a set of security features that prevents code execution from non-executable memory segments. It’s a vivid illustration of a typical 0xc0000005 Access Violation error. Learn how to fix 0xc0000005 errors caused by DEP.

0xc0000005 error case 7: IE6

The ‘Access Violation (0xC0000005 exception)’ message may appear in IE6 when a web page or a html document contain a SPAN tag which was not correctly closed. As to solutions, why use IE6 at all? Install a later version or use another browser like Mozilla Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome.

0xc0000005 error case 8: Google Chrome

If you are using Google Chrome you may get the following message: ‘The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005). Click on OK to terminate the application.’ Learn how to fix the 0xc0000005 error in Google Chrome

0xc0000005 error case 9: Windows Service Pack

Install the latest Service Pack for Windows. Sometimes that removes the 0xC0000005 error.

0xc0000005 error case 10: Development Issue

If you are a software developer and you keep getting an exception with status code STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xC0000005), your program might attempt to violate DEP. You could try the following: If your application is designed to use executable memory, it must have this attribute set on the appropriate memory by specifying

PAGE_EXECUTE_, PAGE_EXECUTE_READ, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE or PAGE_EXECUTE_WRITECOPY

in the memory protection argument of the Virtual memory allocation functions.

If the above solutions don’t help run your program in debugger. Maybe you haven’t initialized the pointer correctly. When debugger stops on a violation simply check the call stack and open every file until you see what piece of code produced the violation. And don’t forget to check for useful tools listed on this site.

0xc0000005 error case 11: Symantec Antivirus

The 0xC0000005 error may appear if you are using Symantec Antivirus. If the error message mentions SAVRT.SYS, that must be the case. All you have to do is update Symantec Antivirus, that removes the 0xC0000005 error.

0xc0000005 error case 12: Printer Drivers

Sometimes 0xc0000005 error occurs when your current printer profile is incompatible with the updated settings of one of the programs you are trying to use. You may reinstall the program, printer drivers or even the entire system over and over again and that won’t help. The reason is that every time you will install the same default user profile included in your printer installation package by the manufacturer. The simplest way to fix 0xc0000005 is to create a new, clean user profile for the printer.

0xc0000005 error case 13: STOP c000021a 0xc0000005

The error STOP c000021a 0xc0000005 frequently occurs during logon. As a rule, the error is caused either by a corrupt system file (after applying a service pack) or an existing bug in a system file that makes system crash when a username of specific length is used. Read hoe to fix this problem on STOP c000021a 0xc0000005 page.

0xc0000005 error case 14: STOP 0x0000007e 0xc0000005

STOP 0x0000007e 0xc0000005 may be caused by a wide range of issues, from viruses to faulty drivers. More about 0x0000007e 0xc0000005

We hope the information above helped you resolve the 0xC0000005 error.

0xc0000005 error case 15: 0xc0000005 in Windows 7

0xc0000005 frequently occurs during Windows 7 installation, upgrade or printing in W7. Read more: 0xc0000005 in Windows 7

We hope the information above helped you resolve the 0xC0000005 error.

What if 0xC0000005 still occurs…

If 0xC0000005 still occurs use this all-in-one Windows fix:

Reimage fixes the entire system with the help of a full online database of replacement files. This program is the last resort solution for the cases when all other methods do not work and the cause of 0xC0000005 is still not clear.