the application was unable to start correctly (0x0000142)

Hello Bindu Madhava,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers Forum!

Please provide us more information.

a)    Have you made any recent software or hardware changes on the computer?

b)    How long have you had this issue?

c)    Which security software is installed on your computer?

You may have to run the command prompt as administrator. Try these steps and check if it helps.

Click on start > type in cmd in search box > right click on the command prompt and then click on Run as administrator.

If the issue persists, then try to boot your computer in safe mode and check what happens.

Please let us know the status in safe mode. Follow the steps below:

1. Restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press the F8 key when the Boot Menu appears.

2. Select Safe Mode when the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then press ENTER.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

If you’re able to open command prompt in same safe mode, then try to perform SFC scan. Please follow the steps from the below article.

The SFC /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

For more information how to do SFC/ scan, please follow this link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212

I hope this information helps. Please get back to us if you have any more questions about this issue.

Thanks and Regards
Mir - Microsoft Support                                                            
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