I’m stumped. Any time I try to start one of my Office programs, I get I’m running Office Pro Plus 2016 version 16.0.13029.20344 on Win10 version 1909.
[See the full post at: Attempt to start Office 2016 programs fails with error 0xc0000142]
![]() |
Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
SIGN IN | Not a member? | REGISTER | PLUS MEMBERSHIP |
-
Attempt to start Office 2016 programs fails with error 0xc0000142
Home » Forums » Newsletter and Homepage topics » Attempt to start Office 2016 programs fails with error 0xc0000142
- This topic has 22 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 7 months ago by
anonymous.
Tags: Office ProPlus 2016
AuthorTopicViewing 13 reply threadsAuthorReplies-
GreatAndPowerfulTech
AskWoody Lounger -
Alex5723
AskWoody Plus -
Microfix
AskWoody MVP -
woody
Manager
-
-
DrBonzo
AskWoody PlusAugust 24, 2020 at 2:36 pm #2290954 -
zasdman
AskWoody Lounger -
doriel
AskWoody LoungerAugust 25, 2020 at 5:29 am #2291146It is known, that Zoom has serious problems nowadays, seems that its infrastructure was not ready for such large numbers of users. Dunno what is happenning to maps to be honest.
Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise
HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29
PRUSA i3 MK3S+
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
-
-
OscarCP
MemberAugust 24, 2020 at 3:53 pm #2290972Any idea that this may be related to some recent Office 2016 patches?
This issue might concern all users of Office 2016, regardless of which OS they are running. I have Office 2016 in my Mac working just fine, but have not installed, yet, this month’s patches. I usually do this a week before the following month’s Patch Tuesday. The patches might not be always quite the same for both versions (Mac and Windows with Intel CPUs) but they should have plenty in common.
Office 2016 for Macs reaches EOL this October 13th, but not Office for Windows PCs, so this problem should be unrelated to that.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV1 user thanked author for this post.
-
woody
Manager
-
-
KP
AskWoody PlusAugust 24, 2020 at 3:57 pm #2290976A quick check, starts up Office 2016 Pro; Word and Excel; also I am on 1809 Pro.
You are on the Current Channel 2007 while I am Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel 2002 (currently same as Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel Preview) . I was on Current Channel 1910 until I found out about the commands below.
This will change you to Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel which should be more stable but I think it is a modification of your version of Office. I think it is a semi-re-install. I did this change on a relative slow high-speed connection (guessing less than an hour.)
Here are the commands from Susan Bradley’s article – execute 3 command lines:
cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\
OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Broad
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.12527.20988updatetoversion=16.0.12527.20988 get you to Office 2002 (2020-02)
updatetoversion=16.0.11929.20934 get you to Office 1908 (2019-08)You can choose the Microsoft Office version at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-microsoft365-apps-by-date
-
Biiljoy
AskWoody Lounger -
Speccy
AskWoody LoungerAugust 24, 2020 at 7:08 pm #2291039Woody, the 0xc0000142 error code is listed as STATUS_DLL_INIT_FAILED:
{DLL Initialization Failed} Initialization of the dynamic link library %hs failed. The process is terminating abnormally.
Office programs attempt to load multiple libraries upon execution and may fail to start during the process if one of those libraries in the memory chain is unable to load.
The “corrupted” library (“restored” by the sfc /scannow command) might be an older version (included in a botched update that incorrectly replaced a newer one) or a library tied to the online licensing verification mechanism (which would explain why an Office365 outage could cause the issue and then suddenly, out of the blue, everything starts to work again with no apparent reason).
Your C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log file contents (recorded after the sfc /scannow execution) might shed some light to identify the culprit and, eventually, the reason why that specific .dll file failed to load successfully.
-
This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by
Speccy. Reason: Fixed bold tag
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by
-
anonymous
GuestAugust 24, 2020 at 7:52 pm #2291046Office Professional Plus 2019 (Version: 2007 – Build: 13029.20308 Click-to-Run)
Windows 10 Professional (1909 – 18363.959)I have what appears to be a very similar problem which has been intermittent over the last few months.
On occasion when I open up something like Excel or Word, I initially have the orange box telling me that it is trying to update. This I can guarantee will end up with the same error message you described. Nine times out of ten, if I reboot… the program will start fine – rarely will I need to do a second reboot.
I have tried the ‘Quick Repair’ and ‘Online Repair’ by going through Settings and then Apps which makes no difference whatsoever – the problem will eventually occur again.
My next attempt will be a complete uninstall and reinstall of Office probably on the first day of the month when I normally create images of my system.
What puzzles me though is that within Office, I have specifically switched off ‘Enable Updates’ so why is this trying to run an update anyway?!
-
_Reassigned Account
AskWoody LoungerAugust 25, 2020 at 4:47 am #2291141I read somewhere (can’t find it now) that a Microsoft update was causing some issues. Not sure if it was an Office update or Windows. Seems like Office just got some updates recently?? As for using Google docs, I think that model has as many potential issues being a cloud based service. I don’t think anyone of these services claims 100% uptime or has provided a perfect record of stability to all customers. As the old saying goes Stuff Happens!
[Moderator edit for language]
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
doriel
AskWoody Lounger -
anonymous
GuestAugust 25, 2020 at 12:44 pm #2291232I too see this error on a semi-regular basis. I open an Office app, I get the orange updating box and then the error. Or sometime it cuts out the middle man and goes straight to the error.
When it happens I fix it as follows:
- open Task Manager
- look under ‘background processes’
- find the entry for ‘Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (SxS)’
- end task / stop service
- open an office app, which is a bit slower than usual because it is restarting the service that’s just been stopped
- app opens as normal
- all is well – until the next time it happens
stuck
Win 10 1909 (build 18363.959) and Office 2016 Pro Plus Version 2007 (build 13029.20344 click to run)
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
anonymous
Guest
-
-
SelfMan
AskWoody LoungerAugust 27, 2020 at 5:10 pm #2292082Hi,
next time you do the restart, try to use CMD and “shutdown -r -t 0 -f”
This will avoid the use of “fast startup” which can mess things up if it stores a invalid application state.
Never the less my problem for several weeks is that after some up-time (days) the RPC services stop responding and I am not able to start things like services.msc while other “old style” programs do run just fine.
-
SelfMan
AskWoody LoungerAugust 27, 2020 at 5:32 pm #2292083Oh and for those who dont know how to disable Fast startup, watch Mike’s video:
Viewing 13 reply threads - This topic has 22 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 7 months ago by
-

Plus Membership
Donations from Plus members keep this site going. You can identify the people who support AskWoody by the Plus badge on their avatars.
AskWoody Plus members not only get access to all of the contents of this site -- including Susan Bradley's frequently updated Patch Watch listing -- they also receive weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletters (formerly Windows Secrets Newsletter) and AskWoody Plus Alerts, emails when there are important breaking developments.
Get Plus!
Welcome to our unique respite from the madness.
It's easy to post questions about Windows 11, Windows 10, Win8.1, Win7, Surface, Office, or browse through our Forums. Post anonymously or register for greater privileges. Keep it civil, please: Decorous Lounge rules strictly enforced. Questions? Contact Customer Support.
Search Newsletters
Search Forums
View the Forum
Search for Topics
Recent Topics
-
Windows 10 22H2 Update today (5 June) says up-to-date but last was 2025-04
by
Alan_uk
12 minutes ago -
Thoughts on Malwarebytes Scam Guard for Mobile?
by
opti1
3 hours, 21 minutes ago -
Mystical Desktop
by
CWBillow
3 hours, 34 minutes ago -
Meta and Yandex secretly tracked billions of Android users
by
Alex5723
6 hours, 17 minutes ago -
MS-DEFCON 2: Do you need that update?
by
Susan Bradley
43 minutes ago -
CD/DVD drive is no longer recognized
by
WSCape Sand
18 hours, 47 minutes ago -
Windows 11 24H2 Default Apps stuck on Edge and Adobe Photoshop
by
MikeBravo
21 hours, 36 minutes ago -
North Face and Cartier customer data stolen in cyber attacks
by
Alex5723
19 hours, 42 minutes ago -
What is wrong with simple approach?
by
WSSpoke36
12 hours, 14 minutes ago -
Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy After Cash Seized
by
Alex5723
1 day, 7 hours ago -
Location, location, location
by
Susan Bradley
55 minutes ago -
Cannot get a task to run a restore point
by
CWBillow
1 day, 8 hours ago -
Frustrating search behavior with Outlook
by
MrJimPhelps
23 hours, 16 minutes ago -
June 2025 Office non-Security Updates
by
PKCano
1 day, 19 hours ago -
Secure Boot Update Fails after KB5058405 Installed
by
SteveIT
15 hours, 42 minutes ago -
Firefox Red Panda Fun Stuff
by
Lars220
1 day, 19 hours ago -
How start headers and page numbers on page 3?
by
Davidhs
2 days, 5 hours ago -
Attack on LexisNexis Risk Solutions exposes data on 300k +
by
Nibbled To Death By Ducks
1 day, 8 hours ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26200.5622 released to DEV
by
joep517
2 days, 14 hours ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26120.4230 (24H2) released to BETA
by
joep517
2 days, 14 hours ago -
MS Excel 2019 Now Prompts to Back Up With OneDrive
by
lmacri
2 days, 4 hours ago -
Firefox 139
by
Charlie
1 day, 20 hours ago -
Who knows what?
by
Will Fastie
23 hours ago -
My top ten underappreciated features in Office
by
Peter Deegan
2 days, 15 hours ago -
WAU Manager — It’s your computer, you are in charge!
by
Deanna McElveen
8 hours, 39 minutes ago -
Misbehaving devices
by
Susan Bradley
1 day, 10 hours ago -
.NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime (v8.0.16) – Windows x86 Installer
by
WSmeyerbos
3 days, 20 hours ago -
Neowin poll : What do you plan to do on Windows 10 EOS
by
Alex5723
19 hours, 52 minutes ago -
May 31, 2025—KB5062170 (OS Builds 22621.5415 and 22631.5415 Out-of-band
by
Alex5723
3 days, 19 hours ago -
Discover the Best AI Tools for Everything
by
Alex5723
2 days, 18 hours ago
Recent blog posts
Key Links
Want to Advertise in the free newsletter? How about a gift subscription in honor of a birthday? Send an email to sb@askwoody.com to ask how.
Mastodon profile for DefConPatch
Mastodon profile for AskWoody
Home • About • FAQ • Posts & Privacy • Forums • My Account
Register • Free Newsletter • Plus Membership • Gift Certificates • MS-DEFCON Alerts
Copyright ©2004-2025 by AskWoody Tech LLC. All Rights Reserved.