Windows 7 Windows Explorer keeps crashing despite repair install

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Bazzab

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Hi all,


I'm looking for some assistance.

I have Windows 7 Home Edition 64-bit op system installed on my Asus laptop.

A few months ago windows explorer started crashing. I scanned using sfc and found many problems with the op system which couldn't be repaired. To fix these I carried out a repair install of windows. However, the problem was still there.

Following the repair I again checked with sfc 4 times and found nothing wrong.

It doesn't appear to be program or file related as it happens randomly and regularly in any folder with any file type. When I say regularly, I mean every time I access windows explorer.


I have also tried setting up a new profile and accessing windows explorer but this didn't work - the problem still exists.


Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance for any assistance offered.




Barry
 
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Windows Explorer is one of the main targets of viruses and hackers, simply because it is the core of the system. I'd suggest that you scan your system thoroughly, with Malwarebytes and some on-line scanner.

This kind may be very nasty. If I could solve it, I would, right away.
 
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HI Titanic,

I have ran malwarebytes and found a few issues - none of which were high risk. I dealt with them all anyway.

I have also ran kaspersky online scanner which didnt find any issues.

The problem still exists. I have also ran stress tests and memory tests on my laptop which didnt find anything obvious.

Does anyone have any other ideas, its driving me mad!!

Thanks in advance
 
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Hi Mike,

Thanks for getting in touch.

Yes, it happens in Safe Mode, but when I tested it on Safe Mode it didnt happen as easily. When I used the forward/back buttons to cycle through folders it crashed, usually it happens quite easily when I am opening or closing folder.
 
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Hi again.

Check out this post, there's a lot of info about fixes for crashing Windows Explorer.
The first fix is really simple if it will work for you.

Windows Explorer in Windows 7 keeps crashing and restarting - Microsoft Community

If none of these help come back and maybe someone else will have an idea.

It may be time to do a repair install, not as easy as it was before Service Pack one but here are the instructions.

How to uninstall Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

If your Windows Disk has Service pack one on it you don't have to do this.
You can also download a ISO file for Windows 7 with service pack one and use that to do the repair.

One way or the other, here's the procedure.

Repair Install - Windows 7 Support Forums

Mike
 
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I was just wondering if it made any difference as to how you open Explorer, or what folders you might be checking. Possibly a corrupted file might be involved. What happens if you open it from the Start Menu as Computer instead of the Task Bar?

Do you show any recent folders/files when you right click Explorer on the Task Bar? If you do, you can right click individual ones and select remove. Maybe one of those folders is corrupted.

Not sure why the answer in Mike's link about copying explorer.exe to the System32 folder would help, unless possibly the path was corrupted, or it opened in another folder to start.
 
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I tried a clean boot and I had the same problem.

I have also been looking through my documents to try and identify any rogue file or file type which might be causing the problem. The problem seems to happen more with folders containing PDF's so I uninstalled my reader (Nuance) and installed a different reader (Foxit Reader). As soon as the installation of Foxit was complete explorer crashed.

Could my problem be in any way related to PDFs? Seems strange that two different readers cause the crash.
 
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Hi

Why don't you try uninstalling all your PDF readers and using Adobe's default reader and see if that makes a difference?
It seems unlikely that the PDF reader is causing the crash, but weirder things have happened.

Mike
 
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I was going to suggest the same thing as Mike, except uninstall all the readers and run the system for a while without one. If it is stable that way, try reinstalling a reader. You might also think about moving all the .pdf files off your system for testing, them bring them back one at a time.

If it is a .pdf situation, I would still guess some type of corruption is involved.
 
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I have uninstalled all PDF readers and it crashed again!!

At the time it crashed I was creating a short-cut for Avast Anti Virus (free edition) to paste on my desktop. This is very strange and really really annoying.
 
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Is there any file or 'recording' the moments before and after the crash to try and identify what happened? Forgive my ignorance but I have reached my knowledge limit.

UPDATE: I just deleted a folder from my desktop which contained Avast shortcut. Surely Avast couldnt be at fault?!

Thanks
 
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There is at least Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\Event Viewer. Also, it's possible to check Blue Screens, but you haven't mentioned any --- hardly the problem.

Avast could be the fault, especially if you have several different security programs running, they may collide. Why not try to disable all security programs, and test run a pdf program? With Windows 7 updated, you can stay for a few hours on Internet without really risking anything.

Also, it could be a Registry problem. I'm not so wise with those, I can only recommend what I've been using, Free Window Registry Repair: a windows registry repair freeware., it's worked well for several years BUT many experts suggest that you don't use these "simple programs". IF YOU DO, be sure to have it create a System Restore Point, that way you can return if something goes wrong.

An extra issue could be, kind of connected to the Registry, flaws in uninstall. A rather known tool is Revo, Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download - Uninstall software, remove programs, solve uninstall problems, it presumable cleans your computer better, I actually liked it as much as to by the pro version.

To find out what your computer has fed on may be just as difficult as to find out what your dog has fed on. A zillion things going on in a computer during a single day. And it's not necessarily software, it may be hardware. Anyone with warranty, not having a clue, I always recommend to contact a professional service. It's safe, sure, and it also gives a livelihood for the pros, thus securing we have the service tomorrow too.

Best of all.
 
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Hi all

Thanks for the reply Titanic. I temporary disabled avast but the problem immediately reappeared as soon as I open My documents! I havent disabled any other security apps because they werent installed at the time this problem first materialised.

I downloaded the registry repair tool and ran it. It found 1057 faults which I repaired (after creating a system restore point as you suggested). However, the problem is still there. Again, it occurred after a few minutes navigating around My Docs.

I installed Revo last week and ran that, corrected a few issues with it. But alas, it wasnt a successful solution.

I have opened Event Viewer and found the log for the crash related to Windows Explorer. The log is shown below, hopefully this can shed more light on this annoying irritation.

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 18/02/2013 21:20:13
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Barry-PC
Description:
Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7601.17567, time stamp: 0x4d672ee4
Faulting module name: ASUSWSShellExt64.dll, version: 1.1.0.27, time stamp: 0x4c7f631d
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000000051da
Faulting process id: 0x%9
Faulting application start time: 0x%10
Faulting application path: %11
Faulting module path: %12
Report Id: %13
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Application Error" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>100</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-02-18T21:20:13.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>20481</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Barry-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>Explorer.EXE</Data>
<Data>6.1.7601.17567</Data>
<Data>4d672ee4</Data>
<Data>ASUSWSShellExt64.dll</Data>
<Data>1.1.0.27</Data>
<Data>4c7f631d</Data>
<Data>c0000005</Data>
<Data>00000000000051da</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
 
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