Solved Windows explorer.exe crashes multiple times a day

geneiusxie

New Member
Messages
19
Ever since I started using Windows 8, both my HP Pavilion desktop and Sony Vaio Pro 13 has explorer.exe crash pretty often. The Vaio crashes more often - multiple times a day - maybe because it's my main computer now and I use it more often. Upgrading to Windows 8.1 didn't make a difference. Crashes are sometimes caused when I try to copy a folder, right click on a disk image or USB drive, right click on a file, or even when not while using it. Sometimes it crashes when I'm just watching a movie and it's pretty annoying because it shows the taskbar over the full screen movie after it restarts.
So far, I haven't lost any data, but I want to get this fixed before anything really bad happens. Is there a way to upload a crash dump or something so someone can take a look at this problem? I have similar programs installed on both computers, so I'm guessing it's a specific program that's just buggy with Windows 8 (btw, I have never had this problem with Windows 7 on my old macbook, so yeah...)

The HP desktop specs:
Ivy Bridge quad core i5 and
AMD 7770 graphics card
256gb Sandisk Extreme SSD
6GB DDR3 dual channel

Sony Vaio Pro specs:
Haswell i7 ultra low voltage
Integrated Intel 4400 graphics
8GB single channel LDDR3

-Gene Xie
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
Check Event Logs for clues and answers.

Recommend AVG removal to test, although it's probably not the problem.

You can not lose data and nothing bad can happen (unless there is malware present.) The issue is very common and happens from 3rd party junky software.

If you have poorly encoded media files, and you navigate to the folder with them, or a folder above them where explorer tries to make thumbnails, those can cause it too.

Play with this: ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
I have already disabled all 3rd party context menu handlers a while back. Should I try using ShellExView to disable all the other stuff like Browser Helper Objects too?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
Yeah, it's surely worth a test. The culprit is likely to be something lesser known. Not something famous like Java etc...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
This is getting weirder. I disabled everything non-Microsoft in ShellExView yesterday and explorer only crashed once. Then i decided to reenable half of the stuff to try to get to the bottom of this. Then it crashed immediately after restarting my computer and opening it. So I switched the half of the stuff to disable - which gets us to the weird part - explorer still crashed. Now I just tried disabled everything and it's crashing again.

And now it's crashing immediately when I try to open the explorer. As in, I can't even see my own hard drives. Does anyone have a solution?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
Try uninstalling (not disable) AVG.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
Alright apparently there was an option in ShellExView to "Show 32-bit Shell Extensions" that I just found. Unfortunately, after some further testing, I think it might be more than just one shell extension that's causing the crashing. I'll let you know which one(s) if I ever find out.

Btw, can a virus also cause explorer to crash? I don't think I'm infected since I used AVG and Windows Defender to scan my computer a while back, but just in case...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
Have you considered doing a refresh or restore ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Alright apparently there was an option in ShellExView to "Show 32-bit Shell Extensions" that I just found. Unfortunately, after some further testing, I think it might be more than just one shell extension that's causing the crashing. I'll let you know which one(s) if I ever find out.

Btw, can a virus also cause explorer to crash? I don't think I'm infected since I used AVG and Windows Defender to scan my computer a while back, but just in case...

Try uninstalling (not disable) AVG.

^^^
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
Ok, it randomly crashed once again even after disabling everything (non-Microsoft) in ShellExView. Much more stable than before though.

Have you considered doing a refresh or restore ?

This is my main computer and I do a lot of work on it and stuff. Refreshing/Restoring it might only take 5 minutes but it would probably take a few hours to reinstall all my programs.

More importantly, since my desktop is also having the same issue (and most of the same programs), I think I would literally just be reinstalling the problem along with my apps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
Scanned the machine w/ Malwarebytes recently?

Removed AVG yet?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
Ok explorer is still crashing again. Is there a way to just export an error log so someone can take a look at what's going on?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
In elevated command prompt:

sfc /scannow

then press Enter.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
I got "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations."
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
I hope this works :/
 

Attachments

  • AutoRuns.zip
    173.9 KB · Views: 102

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
Once you have completed those steps, download the attached file.

Right click and select run as Administrator.
 

Attachments

  • DISM.bat
    129 bytes · Views: 92

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Enterprise
It looks like I can't uninstall McAfee because I have Intel Anti-Theft installed on my computer
I can't find vProt in the "Programs and Features" window, but I did find Akamai Netsession Interface and uninstalled it.
I ran the batch file you sent me and "The operation completed successfully"

I think I'm going to see if explorer crashes again over the next few days

EDIT: Wait apparently if I "press any key to continue . . ." instead of exiting, it actually continues and does more operations. Sorry about that haha :doh:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Pro 13
    CPU
    Haswell i7 ULV 1.8Ghz
    Memory
    8GB LDDR3 1600 single channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4400
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
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