Cannot start CMD, Error code 0xc0000142

[BryanJames16]

My friend gave me a laptop. It has an error that shows an error when "CMD.EXE" is spawned (either through "run", search bar, or directly from Windows folder). It says: "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application.". In my USB drive, I tried using a utility called "Command Prompt Portable" and "Console Portable" (both are utilities from portableapps.com), but neither works. What should I do?

 

[Ztruker]

Does Powershell work? If yes, you can run sfc /scannow from there and see if that fixes the problem. To run Powershell:

Click the Start button, type powershell the right click on Windows Powershell and select Run as Administrator.
Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.

If that doesn't fix it I suggest restoring the laptop to it's factory state then go from there.

What is the make and full model number? We should be able to find the instructions for doing this in the online users guide.