[Solved] Error 0xc0000005 on most programs after 1803 update

[theworldwithin40]

Hi all - I'm currently having an issue where most programs, when I try to start them, give me the error "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000005). Click OK to close the application."

Here are the specifics that I know:

• 
  ■ This happened after (1) installing the April update (1803), and (2) I deleted the old windows files via Disk Cleaner. I'm fairly certain I got the error only AFTER deleting my old windows files, but I might be wrong. That said, I can not roll back.
  ■ Programs DO start when I keep trying to open them again and again. The behavior is inconsistent - after I get them to open once, they might refuse to the next time.
  ■ They DO open when I run as administrator - however, some programs can take a LONG time to open even with this, or even just not open at all. Discord, for instance, just did not open even as admin, but it didn't throw the error - I cannot get the error to throw when running as admin.
  ■ Some programs work all the time - Chrome and Steam are two examples.
  ■ New programs also throw the error, such as installers that were just downloaded (for installing a program)
  ■ I used CCleaner to fix registry errors - made no difference
  ■ I have considered doing a "Fresh Start" install of Windows, but this looks like it'd be a large inconvenience, and I don't know if program settings would be cleaned, in addition to the windows settings. I'd like to not lose my settings if possible, and reinstalling programs would likely be a pain.
  ■ I tried reinstalling the latest security update, which also reinstalled the April update - the problem stayed
  ■ When Avast, my anti-virus, is disabled, the problem still persists. Also, turning off windows defender seems to cause it to persist, but I'm not sure that turning off the slider for realtime protection is all I would need to do to fully disable it.
  ■ I have not tried disabling data execution prevention. This sounds important and I don't want to try an extreme measure that may leave my system vulnerable
  ■ I've tried SFC /scannow and Repair-WindowsImage. The scan didn't find any errors or issues
  ■ In safe mode, there is no issue. So some difference is going on between the two modes.

With regards to safe mode, I took a look at the services that were running in safe mode, and then tried to disable ones in regular mode to look for any that might be causing it. I disabled all I could in regular mode, and the problem persisted. Some I couldn't disable due to insufficient permissions (which, I'm not sure if I can change - I haven't looked into it yet), so there's a possibility one of these is causing the problem. See the pictures below:

These are the services that were running in safe mode:

And these were the ones running in regular, once I'd stopped all others I could:

I'm not sure what else to do, or what to try next. Can anyone here provide any guidance or help as to how to solve this? I've seen many solutions, on this site and others, but I haven't gotten traction with them - that said, some of the more extreme things I haven't tried yet. If there's any guidance anyone here can give, I'd be most grateful.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Colif]

why did you delete windows.old? Space? Win 10 would have deleted it in 10 days time anyway

do you get same error if you try to open powershell?
right click start button
choose powershell (admin)
type SFC /scannow and press enter
once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:
Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth and press enter
SFC fixes system files, second command cleans image files, re run SFC if it failed to fix all files and restart PC

The most typical causes for the ‘0xC0000005: Access Violation’ error are: corrupt registry, malware, faulty RAM or device driver, incorrectly written, installed or updated software or even Windows security features. - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3376773/windows-error-0xc0000005.html

 

[theworldwithin40]

Ok, I neglected to mention I'd used SFC /scannow before, BUT I hadn't done it in safe mode or safe mode with networking. I'm also not sure if I did Repair-WindowsImage. However, I just went and did both those in safe mode and safe mode with networking. Problem still persists.
And yep, powershell starts without issue.

For corrupt registry, would CCleaner's tool be enough, or are there more complete tools out there? And yeah, I do suspect the security part of the update might be to blame, but not sure yet.

For windows.old, I deleted it due to space.

Thank you for your reply btw! Glad I could have more to try

Edit: also, repairing the image gave me:
Online - False (even with internet on)
(something - Repair?) - True
Restart (needed?) - False

 

[theworldwithin40]

Ok, I was able to solve it by doing a "Fresh Start" reinstall of Windows via the security center. Still don't know what caused it, but at least it's solved. Thank's again for your help, Colif! And anyone who read this thread. : )