Corel DRAW X3, X4 and X5 crashes on Open, Save As, Export. A.R.M. error.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall
Corel Draw is one of the most expensive pieces of junk I ever saw. Nevertheless I 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
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.
BTW if this saved you from a session of hair pulling don’t forget to click an ad 
i face thae problem of a.r.m. error in coreldraw x3 package.
so please give me tips on that.
thanks
The fix for the problem is clearly stated above. let me know where you get stuck.
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
Thanks its also work on my Corel Draw X5 in windows xp
Hey, thanks. Never realized that X5 is out. I updated the title and article accordingly.
God bless you
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
thanks a lot..you solved my problem. you are so great!
Tanks, it was useful to me
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.
you are a lovely … thank you for your help…. +100!!!
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32 NOT ON MY LIST. WHAT TO DO???
Add it yourself.
Silviu
You are great, and solve my problem. Thanks a lot and god be with you dude…
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?
thanks, this solved my problem.
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.
Man, you are god!!!
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.
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).
Tnx for solution. It works !!!
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.
Thank you for sharing this information with me and the visitors of this site.
thankzzz a lot dude….
worked on x4 4 me 2.
thank you very much.