Windows 7: One solution to "XYZ has stopped working"

I am running Windows 7 Home 64bit with some 32bit software application on it. All worked fine until some weeks ago, when suddenly (probably after a Windows/and or driver update) some of the programs stopped working. The well-known message was
"XYZ has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program."
No further hint about the cause for the problem provided, which was pretty annoying.
The programs affected were

• Ipswitch WS_FTP 12 Pro,
• Coffeecup HTML Editor 9,
• Amiga Forever 2012 Plus Edition,
• Micrografx Picture Publisher 10, and even
• Avira Antivirus (the messenger was disabled)

I googled for some answers and found out, that likely a driver problem is causing this malfunction. By tinkering with the graphics card drivers (ATI Radeon 4600), I isolated the problem. Here is my solution, which worked on my machine.

I tracked the problem down to the Ray Adams ATI Tray Tools, that causes the problem. The tools are stored unter x86 programs, which indicates, that they are 32bit, like the programs affected.

On my machine, it's enough to turn off the tray tools, and the programs listed are working properly. If I turn the tray tools on, the programs stop working and the Windows message appears.

Conclusion: Something in Ray Adams ATI Tray Tools affects some dll or settings, that the other programs need to function properly.



If you have a problem with this Windows 7 message, I suggest that you turn off or de-install all tools that effect your graphics card settings. Also, an update to the latest graphics card driver would be recommended.