If you've been getting the error COM Surrogate has stopped working whenever you browse folders containing video or media files, you have come to a good place for some possible solutions. This problem is caused because of codecs and other COM components installed by various softwares that aren't fully Vista-compatible, like some versions of DivX or Nero. Here's the error message:   There are a number of possible solutions to this problem, and the right solution depends greatly on what software is actually causing the problem. Some of the most well-known problem causing softwares are DivX and Nero, but there are others that cause the problem as well. Possible Solutions

  Alan McC wrote in with this fix that might solve the problem in a much easier way. Essentially, turning off Data Execution Prevention on dllhost (the COM surrogate) can fix this problem for some people. This solution is detailed below. Right click on Computer, and choose Properties

Click on Advanced System Settings, and then under Advanced, click Settings

Select the "Data Execution Protection" tab, and then click "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select