ui32.exe - Application Error

[Kowalski]

Whenever I attempt to start Wallpaper Engine after recently resetting my PC, I get an error with the message, "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000005)." Attempts to launch from steam don't give me the error but the program still does not work.

I'm running an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300, Nvidia GTX 750Ti, and OS Windows 10.

[Biohazard]

Some prerequisite is missing from the PC. Have you installed all Windows and driver updates? Has Steam shown the 'first time setup' dialog as it should?

[Kowalski]

Steam did do the "First time setup" upon the first startup of the program, and I do believe I have all of the updated drivers. Is there any way I would check and see?
I've also run the "repairredist.bat" in hopes of it repairing it, but to no avail

[Biohazard]

Just make sure there are no pending Windows updates, otherwise install and restart them until Windows is done.

It's either missing a system file or a file from the installation folder. Files that could be missing from the system are DirectX9 (which Steam should install) or Windows media playback files. Are you able to watch any mp4 videos in Windows Media Player?

[Kowalski]

I am able to watch MP4 videos in Windows Media Player, yes, should I do a check on DirectX9 along with a file integrity validation?

[Biohazard]

Yes and after verifying the files, the program should show the setup dialog again. Make sure there is no error detected there, that would indicate missing files from the installation too.

[Biohazard]

Actually reading this, I think it might be something else after all: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/hearthstone/topic/20742904659

If it doesn't work after the above steps, could you make the error show up again and do this: http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/2/1473095331509794520/

[Kowalski]

Here's your output: https://pastebin.com/d6FR6PgE
Also, I've added the entire folder of Wallpaper Engine's install directory to Malwarebytes exclusions, so it should'nt be blocked by anything.
I also had this error before I even installed Malwarebytes.

[Biohazard]

Could you try installing the redistributables from here? Specifically the one for 2017 x86 could matter: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

However, you should be getting a different error if this was the problem and I also haven't built the program to require them at all. But since it stopped working after resetting the PC, it seems more likely something is just missing that was installed before.

[Kowalski]

I did that and restarted, but it still doesn't work, what kind of drivers might I need to update? I'm sure I've updated the Graphics Drivers, but that's about it.

[Biohazard]

Graphics and audio are the only things I could think of, yeah.

Could you close Steam and launch the program directly from here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\wallpaper_engine\wallpaper32.exe

Then right click the tray icon and open 'settings', does that work?

From your pastebin I can see that it's still missing steamclient.dll. So it seems that the process either dies before loading that from Steam or maybe *because* of that. But even when Steam is closed it might still try to load those anyway, so maybe this test is pointless.

[Kowalski]

Didn't change anything but I did install chipset drivers for my motherboard and about to restart, I'll see if that does anything and no the "Settings" button didn't work

[Kowalski]

The farthest I've ever been able to get is here: https://gyazo.com/35aa9f43edbaa6c7afc6959c9ef33d16

and this is after closing the application error around 10 times, same error just appears 10 times.

[Biohazard]

Originally posted by Kowalski:

and this is after closing the application error around 10 times, same error just appears 10 times.

What if you launch the program with the third option in Steam, the one that says "disable hardware acceleration"?

For this to have any effect, you need to make sure that it's fully closed, i.e. the tray icon is gone too.

[Kowalski]

I made sure it was fully closed, and opened it with the third launch option, but nothing different than the usual happened, app opens but does not do desired function, I'll think about a few things I might have forgotten.

[Biohazard]

Hm, have you set ui32.exe to use any Windows compatibility mode? Your pastebin shows this file: SortWindows6Compat.dll. I think this file is only loaded when a program is forced into Windows Vista compatibility mode. Can you make sure nothing there is altered in the file properties?

I just tried this myself, the file shows up as I expected, but the program didn't crash. But still, this should not be loaded by Windows under normal circumstances, so it's weird.