Terminal failing to launch: conpty exception and missing pcwutl.dll after update to v1.120

[MariaJulietaMolina]

Bug Description

Since updating to the latest version (v1.120), the integrated terminal has completely stopped working. Every time I try to launch any shell (PowerShell, Command Prompt, or Git Bash), the process fails immediately during startup.

Error Messages

1. Inside VS Code Terminal:

"The terminal process failed to launch: A native exception occurred during launch (cannot launch conpty). Winpty has been removed. See https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_109#_removal-of-winpty-support for details. You can also try enabling the terminal.integrated.windowsUseConptyDll setting."

2. Windows System Error Dialog:
   Right after the terminal fails, Windows throws a RunDLL error stating:

"Problema al iniciar C:\Windows\system32\pcwutl.dll. No se puede encontrar el módulo especificado." (Problem starting pcwutl.dll. The specified module could not be found).

Troubleshooting Already Attempted

I have tried the following workarounds based on similar issues, but none of them worked:

• Setting "terminal.integrated.windowsUseConptyDll": true (and false) in settings.json.
• Changing default profiles between PowerShell and CMD.
• Running VS Code as an Administrator.
• Running sfc /scannow (reported no integrity violations).
• Running regsvr32 pcwutl.dll (fails with RegSvr32 error: module could not be loaded / found).

It seems that forcing the conpty dependency in these newer versions triggers a fatal compatibility failure on my system due to the missing/unreadable pcwutl.dll module.

Environment

• OS: Windows
• VS Code Version: 1.120 (Latest update)