I haven't been able to settle on the definitive answer to the problem of referenced memory errors. The replies on this one seem to cover a fairly wide span of possible solutions. Maybe my problem can help establish a cause and hopefully a fix for it.

I upgraded my AV on the advice of CA and after that (?because of that) I started getting these weird error messages that start off with a box that says autodown.exe application error then goes on to say:the instruction at "0x00e124e5" referenced memory at 0x00e423e0"The memory could not be read. Click OK to terminate the program. Sometimes I get the same message but the headline is about ie.exe.

I have uninstalled the AV program and reinstalled but to no avail. Am I making the logical error of before this therfore because of this when I point an accusing finger at the AV program or is there a more subtle cause. Anyway although the error message doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong the message itself is becoming a real drag.

So is there a settled view out there of the problem or better yet the solution?

:unch:
Ok first of all, I've looked through everyones thread here, I myself have had the same problem with the refrence memory error with ie.exe
Ive replaced my motherboard, CPU, and the memory, because i was getting BSOD's, and lockups. And now i get these popups with the memory refrence error.

Here is the reason why you are getting this:

Bad coding in Internet Explorer - affecting all Windows Products

IT is VERY unlikely that its hardware related, since this has long been a problem with Windows products, going back as far as Windows 2000.

And I can almost tell you that Windows will probably never release an update for this, why you may ask? Well lets just say that they cant CODE WORTH &@$# Bill Gates is layin on his lazy billionare #$% helping writing bad code for Windows....I HATE WINDOWS WITH A PASSION. I have an a Apple Powerbook G4, and I ve never been happier, I only built this system because I wanted a gaming computer, and I had to put this $%^# on my computer, because OS X doesnt dominate like this crap does (Windows)

I was really pissed when i got this, i mean everytime im on windows, its something new thats wrong....why cant Microsoft get the hint and just let people from UNIX redo there ENTIRE OS!?!??!?!?!

Microsoft is EVIL!!!!!!!

:hotbounce

Hey guys I got this problem (like the rest of yous do) that I've had for quite some time now (talking 6 or more months) and I've been trying to get rid of it for about the same amount of time.

The Error Message
-----------------------------------------
(app name) - Application Error

(X) The instruction at "0x01c33195" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be "read".
Click on OK to terminate the program.
[ OK ]
-----------------------------------------

OK the first set of numbers "0x01c33195" always change but the 0x is the same, the other set of numbers "0x00000000" always stay the same and never change.
Also the app name can be any program.

I can recreate the problem easily just by opening (running) a program then quitting /exit/ending out of it at which time I'd receive the error msg.

I've done FULL viral scans plus spyware scans, all with different types of products. I have take out all RAM and replaced it with no luck.

Just a note: any program I open runs fine and does what ever the program is meant to do with out problems.

It is not just MS software like IE, Firefox will do it too when I close it (it's not specific to browsers I just used it as examples of not being MS products only).

My best guess so far is that programs call for some type of instruction from the OS to close but crash instead of executing the close command. but that's my best guess.

Also thinking it could be a registry problem but not knowing where to look or what to look for, kinda stops me from going there at the moment.

Also I don't wish to format and re-install, I'd rather work the problem so if I ever come across it again I can fix it for my self or let other know how to fix it.

Below are most of the pc spec's that has this error but I think the main things to know is the OS type.

Pc Info (all latest drivers)

Windows XP Pro
Firefox (default browser)
Intel P3 866 MHz
1.15 gig Ram (sdram)
2x hhd
1x dvd rom
1x cd-r/rw
NVIDIA GeForce 5600 FX 128mb
SB live!
2x nic's
2x pci to usb cards



Thx in advance

I read over all posts on this tread and will try some of the fixes, but my problem is a bit different than what I've read.

I get the same error messages that are described in detail in previous posts. I have WinXP SP2 with all critical updates installed.

I get a MS Explorer application error (failure to read memory at ###) EVERY time I log into my home computer. My wife, who has her own login on our home computer (we only have two logins) *never* has had this problem.

Therefore, for me, it is not a hardware problem.

When I click OK, Explorer restarts, my task bar and desktop refresh, and then all my start up programs continue to load.

The only time I get this error outside of the startup process when logging into my account is when starting Mozilla Thunderbird. I get this message frequently with Mozilla Thunderbird, but not consistently. My wife also runs Mozilla Thunderbird and she never has this problem, but she does have far fewer extensions to Thunderbird installed then I do.

I will try some of the suggestions on this list, but I see no reason to play around with memory sticks or mess around with any hardware as it works well for my wife and she is the primary user.

I have never seen this problem with MS 2000, which I use at work, but others on this list have, so I can't blame SP2 for WinXP.

My best guess is that Windows Explorer was messed up by some program I installed or some tweak that I made. How can I perform a clean install of Windows Explorer?

Referenced memory errors are not always due to physical problems with memory. They can also occur when you are short of available RAM memory.

You touched on this when you said you have more "extensions to Thunderbird installed". Check in Windows Task Manager to see how many background tasks you have running just after boot up compared with your wife. I suspect you have many more - using up much more RAM and causing you to have this error.

Other than critical system tasks the only ones you should have running are those that you need continuosly or use frequently. Others you should disable (if you don't need them at all) or set to manual (if you do not need them continuously/frequently) in Windows' Services panel.

HTH

Gunny, I am sure that you are correct, but the more I try to tweak the system and stop processes from running the more problems I seem to have. I'm tempted to just reformat and reinstall everything, just to get a clean system. I figure that I can can remember what to reinstall, I don't need it. Besides I am anal-rententive about software registration info so I can always re-download and reinstall software that I forgot about but later rediscover a need for.

But I wonder if it would make sense to simply delete my login and create a new one. My wife isn't complaining about any problems, and copying over all the email and program settings and files I want to migrate to a reinstall is a p.i.t.a.

Also, I am hesitant to blam Thunderbird. I will do a clean reinstall of TB anyway. With version 1, you were supposed to be able to install over the prior version. But with previous versions that was always taboo. You were to always install in a new folder and delete the prior version if you didn't need it. I'm thinking that most of my problems with my home installation of TB is due to not performing a clean install.

Yet how would this explain explorer choking at login? My best guess is that it has nothing to do with TB, but -- as you pointed out -- too much starting up at the same time. Some programs that seem to take a while to get started an have always slowed down login times are:

Active Words - takes forever. But I've come to love and rely on this program so much that I wouldn't want to use Windows without it. I suppose I can just start it manually every time I log in, but what an annoyance that would be.

...and I quote. Okay, I don't need this. It pops up a quote when you start the computer and changes your e-mail sig to give a new quote everytime you start it. I'll probably kill it.

Beyond those two, I think the biggest culprits, ironically, are the various anti-spyware that load at start up. I have Spyware Search and Destroy, which also runs an ap in the background detecting registry changes (which has proven more a p.i.t.a. than useful), PestPatrol that has memory check app that runs at startup, Spyware Guard and Spyware blaster, both which update themselves at startup and run in the background). Since I use Firefox most of the time and only use Explorer for certain sites that Firefox can't display, I don't think that I really need all this anti-spyware running in the background all the time.

In addition, Zone Alarm Pro and Norton Anti-virus both run in the background and have tasks to perform at startup *and* Norton interferes with spyware, scanning their updates.

So, uh, yeah, too much going on at startup chokes explorer. It can't get enough memory and faints and needs to be revived. That makes sense.

Here's the rub. My wife doesn't have this problem. Also, if only I used the computer, I would be happy stop all background anti-spyware processes, but I just don't trust my wife to know how to avoid spyware and web bugs.

Also, and I don't know if this is related, the title bar in windows explorer always displays as a line of question marks. What would cause this?

I think the extra extensions to TB may just be contributing to the problem. I doubt they are the sole cause of the problem.

I don't know how you are "tweaking" the system but there are several ways to control which processes start up at boot time. Look at the Startup folder in the Start Menu and remove whatever you don't want. But not all processes are started there. Then look at the Startup tab of msconfig and deselect unnecessary processes there and reboot. I use a free utility called Codestuff Starter to control my startup processes.

You complained about Active Words taking forever. It may be taking forever at startup precisely because a lot of starting processes are contending for run time resources all at the same time. It may be quicker after boot up. Also, like WinWord and other major apps it probably takes a little longer to start only the first time you use it during a session.

Also, do you use Active Words frequently and continuously all during a typical session. If not, i.e. if you use it for a few minutes once or occasionally during a typical session it would be better to start and stop it when you actually use it. You should ask the same question about every other process that you now have running continuously.

You have far too many spyware utilities running. I have none. I just scan with Spybot, Ad-aware and HijackThis once a week. You can disable them with Codestuff Starter. You can also prevent many apps from starting at boot up from within the apps themselves. Too many apps when you install them try to get themselves started at boot up and want want to put their icons everywhere - even up one's 'er whatsit (ahem, ahem).

I don't know about ZoneAlarm Pro but I have the free ZoneAlarm running continuously with NAV without any problems. I think they are critical. ZA has two processes (zlclient and vsmon) and NAV has about five processes. I also have Spybot's Teatimer utility to warn me of any changes attempted to critical areas of the registry and ask for my permission. In addition I have GoBack running.

I have even disabled a few Windows processes that I have no use for and which are not critical. For example I have set Windows' Automatic Update to Manual. I start it and set it to Automatic from Windows' Service panel once a week when I check for updates. Then I stop it and set it back to Manual immediately. Occasionally, when I receive a Microsoft Security Bulletin I will do this right away.

All told, I have 30 processes running just after boot up. Fourteen of them are critical system processes. The rest are the ones I have mentioned above. I am tempted to bet you have many more. And the less RAM you have the more critical all this becomes.

I don't think you need to do anything as drastic as a reinstall or recreate your logon, etc. Just start cleaning up with Codestuff Starter. I think you can download it from www.majorgeeks.com. Otherwise Google for it.

I think you are overly worried about your wife and spyware. Aside from the above I don't take any special precautions about that. And I know with certainty that my PC is completely clean. Compare your list of processes with your wife's. Those that do not appear in hers are non-critical and you should weed them out if you don't really need them very frequently or continuously. Things like the quote utility may be nice but ...

I have not had the question marks in Windows Explorer so I don't know anything about it but I suspect it is very probably related.

What if the memory reference had to do with the virtual memory file on the disk and windows inability to distinguish the difference between and administrative user and an owner.

I've had this problem for quite some time on my work computer along with another problem with "sharing violation" errors.

Ok my thoughts: Everytime you exit out of a program Windows writes all of your latest information into the virtual memory file. If for some unknown reason windows decided that you should no longer have full access to this file, then when the OS tries to read from it, it would be denied. Seeing as the OS thinks this file is memory, not a disk file, you get a reference error rather than a sharing violation error.

The above explanation would account for the seeming random memory range and the fact that it happens to multiple applications.

Now what I haven't figured out is how to fix it.

Suffice it to say, it is not specific to WinXP because I'm on a Win2K system, both of which have documented sharing and access problems.

This the design of the windows. The first 64k is inaccessible (ie 0x00000000 - 0x0000FFFF). Read or write to the first 64k result in access violation. Program access the first 64k is prohbited and don't treat as it hardware error and usually it is a software error at application. Unless it is hardware problem at the cache memory, the original data at the cache is reset the value to zero. If your PC has hardware error, it will crash with blue screen with bugcheck code 0A, 1E, 50 or 8E.

ok im getting the same error as everyone else, however im getting it at start up. the only thing you can do is hit the ok button and when you do it reboots and the same thing happens in an endless loop. ive tired pretty much everything in the thread (except reformatting) and nothing has helped.

the numbers are 0x77f5234c and 0x0070803c. im not able to get onto my desktop and i have deadlines to meet. anyone have any ideas? im dying over here and microsoft support sucks.

Try booting into Safe Mode. There look at what's in the Startup subfolder in your Start Menu and remove anything suspicious from it. Also, run msconfig32.exe and go to the Startup tab and do the same there.

By "suspicious" I mean anything that you have just installed - if you can remember, anything shortly before the problem started - and that you don't really need.

Also, if you don't have it, get the free Codestuff Starter utility and install and run it. In addition to the above it shows you everything that gets started from the Registry. You can disable anything suspicious from within Codestuff Starter. I think Codestuff Starter will run in Safe Mode but I'm not sure.

Finally, if you have Spybot turn on the option to run TeaTimer there. It notifies you when anything tries to change these and, I think, other critical areas of the Registry - and gives you the option to allow or deny it.

You appear to have some kind of malware that is getting itself started at boot up and is probably trying to access the Internet - to which you are probably not yet connected - and thus giving you this problem.

HTH

To fix this error which happens after SP2 update you need to delete each user and re add them back in. Its something to do with the desktop links or the system tray . Any way this seems to work ok

ive tried to boot up in safe mode and what happens is about 20 file addresses appear on the screen then the system reboots.

Oops! That doesn't sound like a malware problem.

Those file addresses are device drivers the OS is loading. There should be many more than 20. One of the essential device drivers may have been corrupted.

Also, other essential OS software could have been corrupted. So could the MBR (Master Boot Record) on your boot hard drive - but if you are seeing any device drivers load I doubt this is the cause.

Try booting from the Windows XP CD and go into the Recovery Console and do a Windows Repair.

You might also have had a non-catastrophic head crash on your hard drive. But I think Windows Repair should be able to cope with it and work around it. But if you do recover, you would be wise to first run chkdsk with the fixerror option. Open a Command Prompt window in Windows and type in chkdsk /? there.

I don't think the problem is due to SP2. I had no problems when I applied SP2. Anyway, to do what mnewton suggests you have to first get into Windows i.e. complete the boot up process - which you aren't able to do at all.

PS: I once had a problem where my PC kept on rebooting before completing the boot up process. I don't remember getting any error messages and I don't remember whether I tried Safe Mode or not. The cause turned out to be a head crash which had screwed up the MBR. I was able to go into the Recovery Console and run FIXMBR. If you do get into it type in FIXMBR /?.

Hi Gunny,

I don't know whch post that you are referring for your previous post. If it is for the following passage

the numbers are 0x77f5234c and 0x0070803c. I'm not able to get onto my desktop and I have deadlines to meet. Anyone have any ideas? I'm dying over here and microsoft support sucks.

I'm afraid that it is not quite accurate as all the windows device drivers are loaded above 2GB (ie 0x80000000 to 0xffffffff) . If the device drivers cannot access memory either to hardware or software. Windows will crash with blue screen with bugcheck code 0A, 50, 8E, D1 and etc. Hence I'm very sure that the failing for the above message is not related to device drivers. I agree it is a software error at application software but not at system software.

check the application event log. Maybe you can find some clue to diagnostic the problem.

ok, i did what you said gunny and i never got into windows. now as soon as it says windows is done loading it immediatly restarts. ive tried in safe mode, and the same problem still occurs. i even reinstalled windows and during installation it couldnt find a file, so it contined and finished installation. it didnt fix the problem at all.

Hi Re-Animate,

Two Suggestion
1. Check application event log and look for red alert entry which is related to your abend. Search google to look for solution
2. Install windows debgger such as Viscual ++ debugger. When the application fails, the C++ debugger will be triggered automatically. However you must have basic C++ debugging conceptin order to determine the root cause.

ide love to do that but i cant get into windows to do any of that. im just going to take it into a comuter service place and have professionals look at it....

CPC2004, my last several posts were addressing Re-anmiate's problem.

Re-animate, I'm stumped!!! The fact that you could reinstall Windows tells me that your hardware and your BIOS Settings are OK. About the only thing that I can now think of is the file it couldn't find during installation. Did you install from a genuine Windows XP CD? And are talking about Win XP Home or Win XP Pro? Anyway, what was the file it couldn't find?

Speculating, you may have some new hardware on your system that Windows does not recognize during installation and therefore could not find a (driver?) file for. That might account for this behavior.

Also, you said that you did a reinstall. But you did not say whether you went into the Recovery Console (not Installation) while booting from the Win XP CD. If you can get into that you will be able to see the root directory of your C: drive. If you can see it from there but cannot complete booting normally then it is your MBR that is somehow still the problem. Booting from the Windows XP CD bypasses the MBR on your C: drive but still uses the Windows installed on your C: drive. And, going into the Recovery Console leaves your C: drive unchanged.

Finally, when you reinstalled, did you completely reformat your C: drive?

If you:

1) Did the installation from a genuine Windows XP CD,
2) You reformatted your C: drive
3) The missing file was not a critical one
4) You do not have some very new piece of hardware
5) The installation completed successfully

then you should not be having any problems.

CPC2004,

You are quite obviously more knowledgeable about where the device drivers are loaded and what kind of BSOD they produce during operation. But to get to the point where they produce these errors Re-animate has to first do a successful boot up.

When you boot into Safe Mode no application software of any kind is even loaded let alone executed. So it cannot be application software that is causing this.

Increasingly, my hunch is that Re-animate has replaced a device with one that is brand new on the market and for which there is no device driver on the Win XP CD - and it "complained" about it during installation. That is probably why it is failing to load during boot up both in Normal Mode and in Safe Mode - and even reinstallation could not cure the problem.

BTW, Re-animate - are you a he or a she? Or, would a generic "he" do to refer to you?

Yo dudes.
I am having the same error come up, although it seems to be effecting my computer in a slightly different way. Every time I try to open some AVI movies, I get the (The instruction at "0x1d24151d" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be "read".) message and WinAmp or Windows media player or whatever shuts down and won't play the movie. Here's the thing though - not ALL AVI's are effected in this manner, just most of them. I got the error message while playing a computer game also, but on that occasion my sound wasn't working and the error numbers were different. Please someone come up with a solution to this madness and send me an email. Thanks.