Regardless of the cause, it seems that more and more users of QuickBooks 2016, 2017 and now 2018 Desktop products, are starting to have COM Errors, which are crashing QuickBooks.
In my most recent article titled, "The Return of Com Errors to QuickBooks Desktop," I reported that many of the instances of this error I was familiar with, especially those involving QuickBooks 2017 products, resulted after a Windows update (in late summer). I also mentioned that when I rolled back the Windows update, the Com Errors in QuickBooks went away.
That seemed to confirm Intuit technical support's contention that a Windows update was causing the problem.
But this most recent crash may be associated with other causes, because many of the problems are being encountered after users either upgraded to a different version of QuickBooks, received a QuickBooks update or even a QuickBooks critical fix (behind the scenes) update.
Unlike earlier rounds of the Com Error problem, users are not reporting that the update to newer QuickBooks releases resolve the problem. Many users are reporting that none of the resolutions methods recommended, including those outlined in my earlier cited article, are helping either.
The potential for programming incompatibility may be a distinct possibility since some QuickBooks Technical Support personnel are advising those seeking assistance that Intuit and Microsoft are both aware of the issues. They say that they're working together toward an immediate and permanent solution.
Another temporary fix alternative is to use a Windows feature called the "compatibility mode." In this mode, a number of specific windows behind-the-scenes operations take on older modes of operation, rather than the current way of doing things within the operating system.
In other words, Windows attempts to run the application using settings from a previous version of Windows rather than the current version.
To try this option:
1. Right click the QuickBooks icon on your desktop, then select Properties
2. When the Properties window opens, select the Compatibility tab
3. In the Compatibility mode section of the Compatibility tab, check the box, Run this program in compatibility mode for:
4. From the associated drop-down option, select Windows 7
QB in Windows Compatibility Mode Fig 1
5. Within the Privilege Level section of the Compatibility tab, check the box reading, Run this program as an administrator
QB in Windows Compatibility Mode Fig 2
6. Select Apply and then click Okay
Try to run QuickBooks normally and see if the Com Errors return or if the issue is resolved, at least for the present.