My After Effects started crashing on startup

[Neoassyrian]

My after effects was perfectly running fine yesterday. Today, one of my projects that I was working on crashed it and now the whole AE is not starting. 

I updated the graphic drivers to the latest, updated windows 10 and also made sure the  AE is also updated. 

I even uninstalled all of CC apps and CC and used the Adobe clean up and re installed it and still not working. 

I tried ALT+SHIFT+CTRL on launch and reset preferences, still the same. 

The crash report mentions the below. 

Process: AfterFX.exe [21640]
Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2020\Support Files\AfterFX.exe
Product Version: 17.1.1.34
File Version: 17.1.1.34
Code Type: x64
Parent Process: Adobe Desktop Service.exe [10720]

Date/Time: 2020-08-23 00:35:14 AUS Eastern Standard Time
OS Version: 10.0.19041.292
Report ID:

Time Awake Since Boot: 1765 seconds

Crashed thread: 16 [4944] THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL

Exception Code: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION
Exception Parameters: User-Mode data execution prevention (DEP) violation at location 0x0000000000000000
Exception Message: 3221225477 The instruction at 0x%p referenced memory at 0x%p. The memory could not be %s.

[nishu_kush]

Hi Neoassyrian,

Sorry for your issue.

How do you launch After Effects - by clicking its icon or by double-clicking the project file? What's the exact version of After Effects you're using? Have you tried launching it as administrator?

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Nishu

[KinKitsune]

I'm having an identical problem. Launching app via its Taskbar icon, and tried running as Administrator. All result in crashes while the splash screen still says "Initializing Required Components..."

Tried rolling back both After Effects and my GeForce GameReady Graphics Drivers to previous versions hoping to revert to a previous working environment. Can't get AE back and need to work...

[Neoassyrian]

I think I figured it out. I was using a docking station with 2 monitors and when I disconnect it it seems to work. Not sure if it is my NVIDIA/Intel graphics or the displayLink drivers. 

[Neoassyrian]

I think I figured it out. I was using a docking station with 2 monitors and when I disconnect it it seems to work. Not sure if it is my NVIDIA/Intel graphics or the displayLink drivers. 

[KinKitsune]

Thanks for this! I think we found the cause, but not quite the solution. Not for me, anyway. I also have a two-monitor set up, with one connected via USB and DisplayLink drivers. If I disconnect the USB monitor, After Effects does load up fine. However the Composition window doesn't update after rendering the frame it was on when I last saved. It seems to render that one frame, then no changes to the comp affect the preview, so AE loads but is still unusable.

[nishu_kush]

Hi KinKitsune,

Sorry for the delayed response. It sounds like a different issue. Could you share your system specifications (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS) and a screen recording of the issue? It'll help us to understand the issue better. This issue could be related to the GPU driver, please make sure that your GPU drivers are updated.

Thanks,

Nishu

[KinKitsune]

Hi Nishu,

This is behaviour with second (USB) monitor connected:

This is behaviour with second monitor disconnected:

System Information:

After Effects: 17.1.3.41

Windows: 10.0.19041 Build 19041

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ @ 2.6GHz, 2601Mhz, 4 Cores, 8 Logical

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M

          Driver: GeForce Game Ready Driver 452.06, Release Date: 17/08/2020 (latest)

Onboard Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 530

          Driver: 27.20.100.8190 (reverted to baseline version recommended by Adobe)

                      https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/multi/drivers-video-win-intel.html

RAM: 16.0GB (15.9GB available)

-Chris

[nishu_kush]

Thanks for sharing the details, Chris. I had a similar issue (the preview issue) in After Effects a while ago and installing the latest version of the Intel GPU resolved the issue. Please try that. If it doesn't help then try disabling the GPUs one by one using the Windows Device Manager and see if that helps.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Nishu

[KinKitsune]

Hi Nishu,

Updating the Intel drivers did not resolve the issue. It was present with latest drivers, which is why I rolled them back to the baseline mentioned above. I've tried reinstalling the latest drivers and the issue persists.

I believe the issue with still related to using a DisplayLink-driven harcware to connect an extra monitor. If I load Windows without the monitor connected, so the driver never gets loaded, After Effects works okay. Disconnecting or disabling the monitor after Windows has loaded does not. Rebooting each time I want to use After Effects isn't ideal; my productivity in other apps (including the rest of the CC suite) is greatly improved with multiple screens.

Is there any way to force After Effects to use the discrete NVIDIA graphics card, and/or ignore the DisplayLink hardware?

-Chris

[hallojanelle]

I am also experiencing this problem. I am using a docking station (DisplayLink Plugable UD-3900) with 2 monitors and after effects crashes (on startup) only when the docking station is connected to my PC. All my GPU drivers are updated.

I agree with what @KinKitsune said. I also need 2 monitors when working on my project. It would be a hassle to remove the USB every time I need to open After Effects.

I have no issue with the docking station when using Premiere Pro.

Hopefully someone can resolve this!

-Janelle

[Thomas5FBE]

I have the same issue.  Worked through Adobe and Nvidia chat support.  It is the display link USB drivers through my Targus USB docking station that is causing the issue. Is there any way to force After Effects to use the Nvida drivers rather than the docking station? I assumed the docking station was just a pass-through and all the important processing was done using the display card.

[pablo1421]

I have this same issue, and am also using the DisplayLink Plugable UD-3900... If anyone's found a work around please share.

[pablo1421 · Accepted solution]

Hello Everyone, I found a solution that worked for me with the UD-3900!!

I got this procedure from Microsoft: (I did have to also disable the Intel Display Adapter)

Try this:

1. Right click on blank desktop>select Display settings.
2. Scroll down and select Graphics settings.
3. Click on browse and select the Application .exe from program files.

 For example - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC (version number)*\After Effects.exe *Version number is whichever version you are using.

1. Select the app>click on options> select high performance graphic card and Click on 'save'.
2. Restart the computer.

Try launching AE. If this doesn't help then try the step below without changing the setting done above.

Go to Device Manager>Display adapters. Right Click on Intel and Disable it. Restart the machine and check if Intel is still disabled. If yes, launch the app and check.

[Thomas5FBE]

This resolved my issue and After Effects now starts

[pablo1421]

That method does work, but then I noticed that my laptop screen would never turn off, it would go blank when the sleep timer hit, but would never shut off. I also would get an nvidia error saying I didn't have any display hooked up to the nvidia adpater. SO this fix is not 100%.

[Gavacho13]

Same. I'm using a Targus USB-C universal docking station with an HP Z-book laptop. I went around in circles for weeks with adobe and other tech support, and we found that the docking station was causing After Effects to crash on startup. Won't run at all. The only way I can get AE to run on my laptop is to unplug it from the docking station.

[jonathanm10648450]

Was there any official fix for this? I am unable to use my docking station with After Effects, when I tried to boot it up while plugged into my docking station it will crash, when not plugged in, it starts up fine. 

[manojcn]

I was facing a similar issue. After breaking my head for almost 3 weeks, I figured out that it was caused due to a plugin called AEJuice. Please try unintalling this plugin from the control panel and see if it works. Or try for other plugins that you see on control panel. Another solution might be to update your Windows if you're using it.

[александрч63678443]

I fix this bug by deleting KeenTool Plugin folder at 
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\Plug-ins\7.0\MediaCore

So problem can be because some of your plugin.

Try to find it at crush report here
C:\Users\{Username}|\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\After Effects\24.0\logs

[Selim Rumi]

My problem has been solved, thank you.