Why does MATLAB crash on startup with the error: "Application Failed to Initialize Properly (0xc0000142)?

When starting MATLAB 7.6 (R2008a), MATLAB 7.7 (R2008b), or MATLAB 7.8 (R2009a) on Windows, I get the following error:

ERROR: Application Failed to Initialize Properly (0xc0000142)

MATLAB fails to start thereafter. I would like to know how to fix this issue so I can start MATLAB?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This issue can be resolved by modifying the MATLAB shortcut to point to the matlab.exe file located in the $MATLAB\bin\$ARCH folder (where $MATLAB is the installation folder for MATLAB and $ARCH is either win32 or win64 depending upon wheter 32-bit or 64-bit MATLAB is installed). To do so:

1) Right click on the shortcut to MATLAB and select "Properties".

2) Go to the Target field in the shortcut properties.

3) Change the value $MATLAB\bin\matlab.exe to $MATLAB\bin\win32\matlab.exe. For example:

"C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2009a\bin\win32\matlab.exe"

4) Press OK to save the changes.

Once saved, try launching MATLAB once more. If the error still occurs, contact the Installation and Licensing team here:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html