This error began occurring due to Windows updates in late 2017
How to Fix “Configuration System Failed to Initialize”
This is a known problem with that recent Win 10 update. The problem is with how Windows handles user settings (“Preferences” in SnapPlus) — something Microsoft did for that update just flat-out broke our settings mechanism.
There is an easy fix — just delete the settings for SnapPlus and restart the program. Those settings aren’t farms or fields or anything, they’re just odds and ends like whether you prefer the application check for updates when it starts, or show the help window on startup.
- Ensure that SnapPlus is not running.
- Open Windows Explorer (the files/folder navigator application) and go to C:\Users.
- In that folder there should be a folder with your username (on my computer, it’s “snapuser”).
- Inside that folder there’s one called AppData. It may not show by default, so you may have to click on the folder bar and add “\AppData\Local” to the path shown there (screenshot 1). Press Enter.
- In the “Local” folder inside AppData, there’s a folder whose name varies with the computer but recognizably belongs to us (screenshot 2).
- Delete that folder, and SnapPlus should be good to go.