When launching some games and applications, you may receive an Application Initialization Error 0xc0000135 message, with the only available option being to exit the respective application.

In this guide, we will look at possible causes and ways to fix error 0xc0000135 in Windows 11 or Windows 10.

Ways to fix error 0xc0000135 when starting a game or program

Microsoft .NET Framework

One of the most common reasons for an application initialization error with code 0xc0000135 is the absence of the necessary .NET Framework DLLs and WCF components. You can use the following steps to install them:

1. Run the command line as an administrator, for this you can use the taskbar search for command line and the “Run as administrator” option for the result found.
2. Enter the following commands in order, pressing Enter after each and waiting for the installation process to complete. If during the execution of the command it seems that the process hangs, be patient and wait for it to finish. dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:netfx3 /all dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:WCF-HTTP-Activation dism /online / enable-feature /featurename:WCF-NonHTTP-Activation
3. Close the command prompt and restart your computer.

In addition to the method described above, you can enable the .NET Framework components in the control panel, including when errors occur when executing the above commands:

1. Press  Win+R  on your keyboard, type  appwiz.cpl  and press Enter
2. In the left pane, select Turn Windows on and off.
3. Enable all .NET Framework components and nested items and click OK.

Another possibility is to download the latest versions of the .NET Framework from the official Microsoft website (it is recommended to install both the latest version and version 3.5).

After installing the necessary components and restarting the computer, check if the error persists.

Reinstalling the program with the previous addition to the exclusion of the antivirus

If the error 0xc0000135 appeared when trying to launch a non-licensed game or program, you can try one of the following solutions:

• Uninstall the program, download it from another source and install it again.
• Delete the program, add the installer folder and the folder where the program is installed to the antivirus exclusion, and then repeat the installation.

The problem may occur because the built-in Windows protection tools remove the modified files of the installation program, as described in the article: What to do if Windows deletes files itself , due to the lack of necessary components, you get the error 0xc0000135.

In case the error occurs with the Microsoft Store app, you can simply uninstall the app and reinstall it. Two more options for this case:

• Use the  wsreset.exe command  in a command line running as an administrator.
• Use the “Repair” and “Reset” options in the additional program options: Settings — Programs — Installed programs — selecting the program and opening additional options.

Windows system file recovery

In some cases, the problem may be caused by corruption of Windows system files. You can try the following solution to the problem:

1. Open a command prompt as an administrator.
2. Enter the two commands in order, waiting for the execution of each of them: dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth sfc /scannow

After executing the commands, check if the problem is solved.

Additional solutions

If the previous methods did not work, here are some additional methods to fix the situation:

• If the 0xc0000135 error was not observed in the same game or program until recently, try using system restore points from a date before the problem appeared.
• If you encounter an error after installing Windows updates, you can try uninstalling the latest updates. 
• Perform a clean boot of Windows and see if the error appears in this case. If not, the reason is probably some third-party services or programs.

It may also make sense to scan your computer for viruses and malware: they are rarely the cause of the error, but in theory it is possible.