"[programname] has stopped working...Windows can check online fora solution..."

[Rick]

I get this error when updating certain programs via their internal
updater mechanism. For instance, RealPlayer has a menu item 'Check for
Update' on its Tools menu. I click this, it goes out to its web page
and starts downloading files for its internal patching/updating process.
When I click 'Install' it starts the process but eventually generates
the message:

RealPlayer has stopped working
Windows can check online for a solution to the problem
-- Check online for a solution and close the program
-- Close the program

Clicking the "View problem details" link displays various Problem Event
Names. If I then click "Check online for a solution..." it never finds
anything, and everything eventually closes/crashes and RealPlayer never
gets updated.

I get the same error dialog whenever Firefox needs to update one of its
add-ons, but with Firefox I can just close the error dialog ('X') and
then Firefox does continue loading and it does get updated.

Seems like there's something off with Windows for me but I'm not sure
what. Any thoughts?

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

What are the fault buckets:
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#bucket
for those crashes according to the Problem Reports and Solutions Center
control panel?

I would be less worried for you if it was just happenign in one application.
If it happens across applications, that's slightly stranger. Is it just
Real and Firefox? Does Real work right if you run their player As
Administrator? It's possible that their code simply isn't non-admin
friendly.