Corel DRAW X3, X4 and X5 crashes on Open, Save As, Export. A.R.M. error.

June 22, 2009
By

The bigger they are, the harder they fall

Corel Draw is one of the most expensive pieces of junk I ever saw. I take that back :) Considering that still X3 was decent compared to 11 and 12 and also that X5 is pretty good considering Corel’s history and also most important because I’ve seen much more expensive piles of junk since I wrote this.

Nevertheless I, and probably you too have to use and maintain it. I had the following problem on a fresh installation of Windows XP SP3: every time I wanted to export, save as or open a drawing Corel Draw X3 would crash regularly with it’s darned Crash Wizard.I tried applying the patches found on the Corel support page but it didn’t help. After some digging I found that it’s a problem related to the Common Dialogue function found in comdlg32.

You must launch regedit (ALT+R or START->RUN and type regedit and press enter) and go to:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32]
and change NoFileMru from 0×00000001 to 0×00000000

Download nofilemru.reg
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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ComDlg32]
"NoFileMru"=dword:00000000

If on your computer it’s already 0 it’s worth trying the other way around, just remember to set it back if it doesn’t help.

UPDATE: I encountered the very same problem with Corel Draw X4 (even after applying the Corel Service Pack for X4) with the ugly difference that the cause of the crash is not reported. Fortunately repeated crashes on open, save, save as and export made me remember this article and sure enough this was the cause.

UPDATE: Users are reporting the same problem of crashing with Corel X5 and Windows XP.

Am I the only one thinking Corel is getting crapier and crapier by the version? Well not really, updating this article now, after some time I feel that x4 is really an improvement over the x3.

UPDATE: Some users reported the same problem on other Windows versions. Also X5 had the same issues.

If this article saved you a session of hair pulling you could buy me a beer or a coffe :)

 

 

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  • s. unmesh

    i face thae problem of a.r.m. error in coreldraw x3 package.
    so please give me tips on that.
    thanks

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    The fix for the problem is clearly stated above. let me know where you get stuck.

  • http://yahoo.com jay

    how cant i save as the corelphotopaint. i cant not see were folder they save.. the big problem is were can i find the saving pacture

  • hardik123

    Thanks its also work on my Corel Draw X5 in windows xp

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    Hey, thanks. Never realized that X5 is out. I updated the title and article accordingly.

  • required

    God bless you

  • avi

    you’re a fken god !!
    lolol….
    u have no idea how popular this will make me at work. -yes at work

    im going to charge 50 $ per computer i fix ahh HAHAHHAHAHA

    love u

  • http://pixelsandtricks.com Alvin Liwag

    thanks a lot..you solved my problem. you are so great!

  • Rockevin

    Tanks, it was useful to me

  • Pawan

    Hi everyone, while working with Coreldraw X5 version it’s get crashed many time and the file is become damaged. It’s a majour issue with this latest one. So, please reply if anyone have a solution on this topic.

  • http://www.gmmc.com fcdesigner

    you are a lovely … thank you for your help…. +100!!!

  • PADDY

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32 NOT ON MY LIST. WHAT TO DO???

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    Add it yourself.

  • Tirdad

    Silviu

    You are great, and solve my problem. Thanks a lot and god be with you dude…

  • damang

    thanks for the tips,
    i have searched for the spesific string tha you mentioned in the registry, but i didn’t find any…

    i always turn off the C.A.R.M function, because it always bugging me.

    now i’m having a new problem, x4 and x5 repeatedly close/exit by it self and left me loosing unsaved data without any backup. And when i want to open the original file, x4 and x5 seem to trying to open, but when its status bar reaches app 90%, it closes the window.

    do you or anyone have the same problem?

  • corel sever

    thanks, this solved my problem.

  • Oregoner

    I have Vista 64
    A bit of clarification on adding the key please? I added the key folder \com32dlg and now I add what to that folder? String value? Binary value? Dword? Qword? I don’t have to edit the registry much so please forgive…

    I only get the crash if I “save as” and then try to change the destination folder. It just hangs. I might have the crash report turned off cuz it’s useless as tits on a boar. LOL

    I have to say that I really pull my hair out using Corel draw sometimes, but using AI is not as suitable for drawing technical illustrations.

  • Rimas

    Man, you are god!!!

  • http://myniteowl.biz DVanasek

    Having big crash problems when editing large photos. I can get about two sets of 5 or 6 opened and edited and renamed before the crash genie starts popping up out of the bottle. I can tell it’s coming because the previews start showing as little black squares instead of the edited photo. I’ve upped my RAM settings in Windows 7 but it doesn’t seem to be helping.

    Read your fix and tried to do this but I am not finding a “Policies” folder at the end of the path you suggest and cannot locate the NoFileMRU. I’m using 64 bit Win 7 and wonder if it is set up slightly differently. Can you point me to where I might find this setting on my system so I can try the fix?

    Thanks much.

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    Your problems are coming from some place else. This fix is specifically if you get a crash *every time* you try to save anything. If you can save your files (the save window dialog appears) your errors are coming from something else. Of the top of my head I would run a memory test (memtest86 or something).

  • Joze

    Tnx for solution. It works !!!

  • http://www.2dgraphics.net Don2D

    I am running X5 on a Vista Home pc and there is only one small issue that makes it crash for me: when I try to apply Paragraph Formatting while more than one text object is selected. This ONLY happens when the Object Properties docker window is open. I made Corel aware of this and they are putting it in the next SP release. Until they fix it, just keep the Object Properties docker closed while formatting more than one text object at a time.

    Otherwise, Corel X5 is running smoothly with no crashes and I find the learning curve is minimal from X4. Open, Save, Export all work flawlessly. I have an HP quad core with 3 GB RAM, if that helps anyone better understand their problem: newer chipsets and more RAM are always going to make any new version of software run better.

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    Thank you for sharing this information with me and the visitors of this site.

  • deepak

    thankzzz a lot dude….

  • xthretic

    worked on x4 4 me 2.
    thank you very much.

  • http://isaiasalmonte.com isaias almonte

    I found the hexkey editor, but the one u mentioned is not in my computer. I tried to add the hexkey to my computer but can’t find the way, any help??

  • http://isaiasalmonte.com isaias almonte

    I found on another page, a corel registry fixer which installed itself on the Hexkey, but that still didn’t solve the problem. I changed from cero to 1 and backwards, but still didn’t work. Any ideas????

  • Yogesh Saraf

    This worked in Admin account but same problem in user accounts. Please help.

  • Ioan

    TNX A LOT! It worked on X5.

  • Nurlan

    Hello, you say if you don’t have the comdlg32 then create it yourself, but how do you create it? there are different options, is it just a regular string or what? and how do you add NoFileMru?

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    As a string, I think, and comdlg32 was hex.

  • BBB

    Thanks, sorted my Save As crash.
    The comdlg32 key doesn’t exist on my other machine that doesn’t have the problem, as the NoFileMru was the only string value in that key, I just deleted the comdlg32 key altogether.

  • http://www.talisman.com.ro ALIN OPREA

    TNX A LOT! It worked on X5

  • sudhir

    while launching corel draw x5 error 38 comes can any one tell me how to solve this problem

  • http://www.streetlegal.ro alex

    You are great! Thank you very much!

  • http://designerrajan.webs.com Rajan Mehra

    Thanks very much Friend.THxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx……….

  • mick

    I don’t know how many times I’ve installed/uninstalled/reinstalled this software and in 5 minutes I found this site and your answer. Why the devil didn’t I just Google it before? Feeling pretty stoopid. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…

  • http://www.rdlhk.com rdlhk

    Thank you very much, problem has been fix!

  • http://www.flickr.com/tebunie Tadas

    THANKS !!! Thank you very very much ! It helped ! YOU helped.

    Once againa I’m very very greatfull for sharing such an information! Windows xp sp3 just didn’t get a long with my corel x3. Set to “0″ and they are friends once again .
    p.s. Will press on the ads for sure .

  • bia

    wow….just..wow…you are a genius!!! thank you!

  • http://karyaprinting.com Tomas

    THANKS A LOT for the soltuion… THE PROBLEM IS DONE…

  • Adrian

    Thank you.It really work’s.

  • Mike Grant

    Many thanks! This fixed the X4 crashes on my XP SP3 machine. But strangely enough – X4 has never crashed once on the new-fangled Windows 7 machine we have here! Weird or what?

  • Luke

    Hi, i’m having similar problems.

    All of a sudden X3 started turning rather simple files into absolute monsters to deal with! The problem has been that certain files i access regularly are becoming almost impossible to open, import or edit at all. I see you have offered some solutions above but i’m getting stuck at this point..Policies\comdlg32 the last option is not listed and i’m not sure how to add it to progress further with your solution.

    Any help would be great as this is absolutely killing me with production.

    Thanks in advance :)

  • kml

    my problem solved, thx a lot

  • http://www.sgvulcan.com/ silviu

    The above will probably not help your case. It addresses on very specific problem. If Corel doesn’t instantly crash EVERY TIME you try to open or save a file than your problem is not related.

  • http://was33m.daportfolio.com Waseem

    Damn… it really worked, awesome my 5 years experience with corel is added 5 years more with this tip. :D lol

    Those who couldn’t find comdlg32 key in their registry
    Just right Click on “Policies” Click New and then Click “Key”
    Name the new key “comdlg32″ when created, right click on comdlg32, click on New and then click “string value”. On the Right panel of registry Name the new string value “NoFileMru” and set the value to “0″ press enter, refresh. DONE..

  • Alucard Hellsing

    WOW thanks…for years I’d been using CGS11, knowing what madness are the new versions. Now I can run X5 flawlessly. Thanks again.

  • Rambilas

    Thank you so much ,i was thinking to change my windows . But this help me , thanks once again.

  • shailesh

    Indeed Very useful information.thanks

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