Instant Crash on Launch - Lots of Details Included [Win 10 Pro]

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Description of the issue:

Everything was OK…

Closed Brave and restarted PC on 2024/06/07
(just as housekeeping - no Windows Updates applied)

Once restarted Brave now crashes instantly every time launched

  • sometimes appears on screen for a fraction of a second
  • same for normal and private windows (using shortcut with --incognito)
  • task manager shows Brave open then close
  • happens 100% of the time

How can this issue be reproduced?

  1. double click the standard Brave desktop icon
  2. double click the Brave private browsing desktop icon
  3. single click the standard Brave start-menu icon
  4. single click the Brave private browsing start-menu icon

Expected result:
Brave opens and restores current tabs

Brave Version( check About Brave):
1.66.118 Chromium: 125.0.6422.147
(on Windows 10 Pro 22H2 b19045.4474)

Additional Information:

  1. I probably had the Brave bookmark sidebar open when I last closed Brave
    (I only mention this because I usually don’t use the sidebar at all)
  2. I have been using Brave 12h/day for years without issues
  3. Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are unaffected
  4. I have submitted 10+ crash reports
  5. PC is up to date with no viruses or malware detected

Things I Tried

  1. installing with setup exe “RV” from Brave.com
    ~ installer advised that Brave was already installed
  2. installing with the “unmarked” setup exe from Brave.com
    ~ installer complete but Brave still crashed
  3. restarting PC again
  4. disabling Avast antivirus
  5. opening normal and private Brave links “Run as administrator”
  6. carefully disabling adblock flags in notepad as per Brave forums
  7. temporarily removing extensions folder as per Brave forums
    [summary: zero progress]

Progress made in the last 24h

  1. created a new Windows 10 user profile (only other is my main profile)
    ~ Brave opens successfully
  2. switched back to my main/original Windows user profile
    ~ Brave normal mode still crashes instantly, same as before
    ~ Brave private mode will now open where it wouldn’t
  3. I can’t switch Brave profiles because I can only open private browsing windows
    ~ I go to Help>About Brave and it opens a normal Brave window
    (even though I can’t do this using the Brave shortcut)
  4. I can now access Brave user profiles so I start a new profile
    ~ Brave will now open in normal and private modes for this profile
    ~ my original profile/bookmarks/extensions are obviously unavailable
  5. any attempt to switch to my original profile crashes Brave exactly as before
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