Windows explorer constant crashing

Washrag

Washrag

New Member
I have Windows XP SP2 and for one user out of several, windows explorer (not internet, but the program itself) keeps crashing when used. For example, opening My computer and clicking anything in there will result in an error and ctrl alt delete to get out. If you go into my pictures and try to right click something it crashes. Other non-explorer based programs run fine and this only happens on one user. What do I do to fix this?
 
With the XP installlation disk in the drive you can try the system file checker utlility to see if that will help. It points at the explorer.exe file or another system file being damaged somehow more then anything. You simply drop down to the Run prompt right off of the Start menu and type 'sfc /scannow" at the command line there. Press enter or click the OK button to start that up.
 
PC eye said:
With the XP installlation disk in the drive you can try the system file checker utlility to see if that will help. It points at the explorer.exe file or another system file being damaged somehow more then anything. You simply drop down to the Run prompt right off of the Start menu and type 'sfc /scannow" at the command line there. Press enter or click the OK button to start that up.
Click to expand...

My problem is I only have a recovery disc.
 
Washrag said:
My problem is I only have a recovery disc.
Click to expand...

The I386 folder will still be found on the recovery disk as well as on even an upgrade disk since that is the main folder for system files compressed into cab files found there. This has been in Windows since 98.

theresthatguy said:
I don't mean to Hijack but can this be done with Vista too?
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought since Vista now sees several changes made there. The next time I boot ibto Vista I will have to follow the same instructions I just posted above.


Using System File Checker In Vista.
System File Checker checks that all Windows files are where they should be and that they're uncorrupted. If you've done all your virus and spyware checking, error checking and defragging, and Windows is still doing strange things, then SFC can avoid a reinstall.
1. Open a Command Window in Administrator mode:

- Click Start
- Click All Programs, then Accessories
- Right click on the Command Prompt option,
- On the drop down menu which appears, click on the Run as Administrator option.
- If you haven’t disabled User Account Control you will be asked for authorization. Click the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password.

2. Start the System File Checker

- In the Command Prompt window, type: sfc /scannow,
-Press Enter.
- You’ll see “the system scan will begin”.

The scan may take some time and windows will repair/replace any corrupt or missing files. You will be asked to insert your Vista DVD if it’s needed.

Close the Command Prompt Window when the job is finished.

You need a Windows DVD to enable SFC to make repairs.
Let me know if you need anything else.

http://www.internetfixes.com/vista_tips/IF01159.htm
 
The changes in Vista are obvious there since this is telling you to open a command prompt and run it as adminstrator while in XP you simply type the same command at that if not the Run prompt. The DocumentsandSettings folder is another big change since you can't get into it with the new users folder seen.
 
PC eye said:
The I386 folder will still be found on the recovery disk as well as on even an upgrade disk since that is the main folder for system files compressed into cab files found there. This has been in Windows since 98.



That's an interesting thought since Vista now sees several changes made there. The next time I boot ibto Vista I will have to follow the same instructions I just posted above.


Using System File Checker In Vista.
System File Checker checks that all Windows files are where they should be and that they're uncorrupted. If you've done all your virus and spyware checking, error checking and defragging, and Windows is still doing strange things, then SFC can avoid a reinstall.
1. Open a Command Window in Administrator mode:

- Click Start
- Click All Programs, then Accessories
- Right click on the Command Prompt option,
- On the drop down menu which appears, click on the Run as Administrator option.
- If you haven’t disabled User Account Control you will be asked for authorization. Click the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password.

2. Start the System File Checker

- In the Command Prompt window, type: sfc /scannow,
-Press Enter.
- You’ll see “the system scan will begin”.

The scan may take some time and windows will repair/replace any corrupt or missing files. You will be asked to insert your Vista DVD if it’s needed.

Close the Command Prompt Window when the job is finished.

You need a Windows DVD to enable SFC to make repairs.
Let me know if you need anything else.

http://www.internetfixes.com/vista_tips/IF01159.htm
Click to expand...

So if it finds a problem, what do I do?
 
The system tool itself will automatically start accessing the installation disk to copy any files from the I386 folder that it finds missing or damaged on it's own. You simply sit back and watch for the 5 minutes or so that the tool takes to verify and examine all main MS files. Hopefully this will correct the problem in one run.
 
PC eye said:
The system tool itself will automatically start accessing the installation disk to copy any files from the I386 folder that it finds missing or damaged on it's own. You simply sit back and watch for the 5 minutes or so that the tool takes to verify and examine all main MS files. Hopefully this will correct the problem in one run.
Click to expand...

Thanks alot PC.
 
That would be the first place to start. Another thing seen lately effected far more then W.E. was the problem seen here with video drivers on a new model card. The latest update saw most everything in both XP and Vista corrected except for the Start taskbar set to remain visible seeing a partial washout on XP. The problem you are having seems to be too focused to one account.
 
No it didn't work. In fact, it caused me to spend an hour trying to put my computer back together again. Settings were wrecked and it wouldn't even boot.
 
The problem there is software not hardware. Being limited to one account suggests creating a new one with the exact same privileges and deletion of the problem account. That would be one option before ending up performing a repair install of Windows.
 
PC eye said:
The problem there is software not hardware. Being limited to one account suggests creating a new one with the exact same privileges and deletion of the problem account. That would be one option before ending up performing a repair install of Windows.
Click to expand...

I created a new one and copied all of the data into it. Same problem on the new account.
 
It could be that you have third party shell extensions. If you right click in explorer and the menu has more commands than when windows was installed then one of these extensions could be the cause.

Download this http://www.snapfiles.com/get/shellexview.html and it will allow you to disable the extensions one by one to see if any are causing this.
 
Being that explorer.exe is a main part of the Windows gui you may have to go a bit further then disabling one process at time to see this corrected. Everything run in Windows mainly depends on that gui being available.

The two options are a system restore to bring everything prior to first seeing the problem or performing a repair install to see all main system files reinstalled fresh while saving your current settings, programs, etc. with the non desctructive method outlined in the article seen at http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

For a good reference on the various ways to correct problems in XP including everything mentioned so far the list of things to Repair XP are found at http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm The repair install method however can bail you out of a good number of problems seen with the essential system files without having to reinstall Windows entirely.
 
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