Windows 11 is one of the best iterations so far the operating system has received, be it in terms of design, interoperability of apps, or under-the-hood improvements. However, even this iteration is not free of bugs.

Reportedly, many of the users have been facing the 0xc0000135 error on their PC whenever trying to run a .EXE file. Though the problem is peculiar, fortunately, the problem is very simple to resolve and since it is a software-based problem, you can resolve it on your own.

However, before you dive deep into resolving the issue, let’s first understand what is the root cause of the issue and how you can prevent it from impacting your PC the next time.

What Causes the Application Error 0xc0000135?

To put it simply, the error is caused due to some files missing from the .NET framework installed on the PC. Now, since every application requires a specific .NET framework to work, if a file goes missing in the framework, it will impact all the programs that use the specific framework.

If you wish to get a bit more technical, the error presents itself when programs request to use the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) in the .NET framework but they have not been enabled on your computer.

Moreover, there can be a scenario where some of the apps are working correctly, while a bunch of others is not able to launch or are not operating as intended. This could be due to apps using different versions of the .NET framework to compile and execute themselves.

To get some more perspective on the problem, consider this. Suppose there are two versions of the .NET framework installed on your computer, namely, frameworks 3 and 4, and a DLL file goes missing in the framework 3, all the apps using it will either not launch or work properly, while the apps working on framework 4 will operate normally.

Along with that, there could also be a possibility of this error arising due to incompatible drivers or leftover cache files of a previous install. Whatever may be the cause, it can be easily resolved using the methods provided in this guide.

Now, that you are acquainted with the problem, let’s head on to resolving the issue.

Ways to Fix Application Error Oxc000135 on your Windows 11 PC

  • Enable .NET Framework 3.5
  • Clear Cache Files
  • Rollback the KB5012643 Update

Method 1: Re-enable .NET Framework 3.5

Most probably, your PC will already have this version of the framework installed. However, as mentioned earlier, re-enabling the framework can resolve the issue pretty easily.

To reenable the .NET framework, first, head to the Start Menu and type Windows Features in the menu to perform a search for it. After that, from the search results, click on the ‘Turn Windows Features On or Off’ tile to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.

After that, from the separately opened window, locate the ‘.NET Framework 3.5’ option and click on the preceding checkbox to select the option. After that, click on the ‘+’ button preceding the checkbox to expand the section further.

Now, click on each checkbox preceding the individual option listed in the expanded section to select the options. After that, click on the checkbox preceding the ‘.NET Framework 4.8 Advanced Services’ option to select it. After that, click on the ‘+’ button preceding the checkbox to expand the section.

Then, click on each of the checkboxes preceding every individual option to select them. After that, click on the ‘OK’ button present at the bottom right corner of the window to confirm the selection and install the selected features on your computer.

Once the features have been installed on your PC, the system might ask you to restart the PC. Click on the ‘Restart Now’ button to restart your computer. Once restarted, try launching an app that you were facing an error with and it should be resolved by now.

In case you are not able to enable the framework components using the GUI method, you can also use the Command Prompt to enable them.

Enable .NET Framework 3.5 Using the Command Prompt

Enabling the framework using the Command Prompt is very simple. It only requires you to execute a couple of commands and you will be done with it before you know it.

First, head to the Start Menu and type Terminal to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, right-click on the Terminal tile and click the ‘Run as administrator’ option to proceed.

Now, a UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an admin account, enter the credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button to proceed.

Now, on the Terminal window, click on the ‘chevron’ (downward arrow) icon present on the top bar and click to select the ‘Command Prompt’ option to continue. Alternatively, you can also press the Ctrl+Shift+2 keys together on your keyboard to open it. This will open the Command Prompt in a separate tab on the window.

Then, on the Command Prompt tab, type the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute it. 

dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:netfx3 /all

After that, to enable WCF on your system, type the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute it.

dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:WCF-HTTP-Activation

Next, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command and hit Enter to execute it.

dism /online /enable-feature/featurename:WCF-nonHTTP-Activation

Once all the commands have been successfully executed, restart your computer from the Start Menu. After the restart, try launching the app with which you were facing the issue to check if it persists.

Method 2: Clear Cache Files from your Computer

Clearing cache files is one more great method to eliminate any residue of files present from the previous installation of the .NET framework. Now, there are not one but many categories of caches in Windows. That being said, you can follow the steps mentioned below and easily breeze through the process.

1. Run Disk Cleanup on your System

Disk Cleanup is a built-in Windows tool that helps you remove unnecessary files from your system. Though the tool has been present in the operating system for a long time, only in the latest iteration of Windows, Microsft has changed the way to access it.

To run the Disk Cleanup on your device, first, head to the Start Menu and type Disk Cleanup to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Disk Cleanup’ tile to open the app on the device.

Alternatively, you can also initiate the Disk Cleanup wizard using the Run utility. To do so, press the Windows+R keys together on your keyboard to bring up the Run utility. Then, type cleanmgr in the text box and hit Enter on your keyboard to open Disk Cleanup.

After that, on the Disk Clean up wizard window, click on the drop-down menu to reveal the list of all the storage drives. Then, click to select one of the drives you wish to run the Disk Cleanup on. Next, click on the ‘OK’ button to let the Windows compute all the files that can be cleaned up.

Once computed, another disk cleanup window will open on your screen. By default, some categories of the files would be already selected. You can now scroll the list to view all the files that can be cleaned up and select an individual category by clicking on the checkbox preceding each category.

The Disk Cleanup wizard will also display the amount of disk space occupied by each file category on the screen. Along with that as you select multiple categories, you will also be notified of the total amount of space that you will be cleaning up by deleting the files.

Once you have selected your preferred category of files to delete, click on the ‘OK’ button to proceed. This will bring up an overlay prompt on your screen.

Next, click on the ‘Delete Files’ button to remove all the selected categories of files from your computer.

2. Use Cleanup Recommendations

Another great option to clean up old residue files on your system is by using the Clean up Recommendations from the system itself. The feature has been introduced in Windows 11 itself and offers a great convenience where you can clean up the system quickly with only a couple of clicks.

To clear up space using this method, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Otherwise, type ‘Settings’ in the menu to perform a search for it. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.

Now, on the Settings window, make sure you have selected the ‘System’ tab present on the left sidebar to continue.

Next, from the right section of the window, scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Storage’ tile to proceed.

After that, from the ‘Storage’ settings page, scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Cleanup recommendation’ tile present under the ‘Storage Management’ section of the page to continue.

Now, on the ‘Cleanup recommendations’ page, first, click on the ‘Temporary files’ tile to expand the section. Then, select the categories of files by clicking on the checkbox preceding each listing. In case you wish to select more categories of temporary files, click on the ‘See advanced options’ button. Once you have selected your preferred categories, click on the ‘Clean up’ button preset at the end of the section to clean up selected files and free up memory on your Windows 11 device.

Similarly, click on the ‘Large & unused files’ tile to expand the section. All your unused and very large files will be listed in the section. Review each folder and select it by clicking on the checkbox preceding each list item.

If you wish to expand the list of files that you can remove to free up the space on your computer, click on the ‘See more files’ option. Once you have selected the required files, click on the ‘Clean up’ button to delete those files permanently from your system.

After that, click on the ‘Unused apps’ tile to expand the section. Next, if there are any apps present in the list, select them by clicking on the checkbox preceding each item. Then, click on the ‘Clean up’ button to remove those apps and their data from your system.

Method 3: Roll Back the KB5012643 Update

There is a known issue after installing the OS Build 22000.652 KB5012643 update. Microsoft is working on resolving the issue in the forthcoming updates, so you can wait for them to release a fix. Meanwhile, the above-listed solutions should also work. But if they haven’t and you’re desperate to get rid of the issue right now, you can roll back the KB5012643 update.

To roll back to the previous iteration of the operating system, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile to open the Settings window. Otherwise, type Settings in the menu to perform a search for it.

Next, on the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab present on the left sidebar to continue.

Then, from the right section of the window, locate and click on the ‘Update history’ tile present under the ‘More options’ section.

Now, on the ‘Windows history’ page, scroll down to the bottom and click on the ‘Uninstall updates’ tile situated under the ‘Related settings’ section.

After that, on the next screen, locate the KB5012643 update, and click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to proceed. This will bring an overlay window to the page. If you don’t see the KB5012643 update in your updates history but are still experiencing the 0xc0000135 application error, you can try to roll back the latest update instead.

From the overlay window, click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to commence the rollback of the update.

Once the rollback completes, your system will restart. If it doesn’t, you should restart it yourself. Once it restarts, you’ll find the application error has been resolved.

There you go, folks! Using the methods mentioned in this guide, you should be able to resolve the 0xc0000135 application error on your computer.