Windows Explorer Crashes

Hi all,
I am having a problem with my son's laptop, it's a Dell Inspiron 1520 running XP Pro.
The problem we are having is wth Windows Explorer, when we go to "My Computor" or "Search" we get an error message "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."

I have checked for virus's with Malawarebytes and Superantispyware and both show no infections.
I have also checked and installed all updates from Microsoft.
The laptop was purchased used from a local computor business, we do not have the XP disc available.

Has anyone encountered this problem before ? , I have tried a few "googled" suggestions but nothing has helped.

All sugestions gratefully received.

 

I'm assuming they include system restore, and driver update?

also when did this problem first occur was it after new software was installed or uninstalled?

also there is a very good chance you have a recovery partition, if so it would be visible in the disk manager. as a small 10Gb ish partition

To start Disk Management:

1. Log on as administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.
2. Click Start, click Run, type compmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
3. In the console tree, click Disk Management. The Disk Management window appears. Your disks and volumes appear in a graphical view and list view

 

Hi,

Let's make sure you're properly protected first.

If the only "protection" you have on your laptop is M.B.A.M. and S.A.S., you are not properly protected. These utilities only check for spy ware.

Furthermore, if both of these have "real time protection" enabled, they will conflict with one an other. There are free Anti-virus / Anti-spy ware

app's such as; Avast / Avira or Microsoft Security Essentials ( M.S.E. will verify your copy of Windows is legal ). Note: Avira has a pop-up ad

that appears whenever a program update is downloading; it has been the unaddressed focus of critical and user dislike for several years.

While the occasional ad that interferes with a user's work flow used to be considered tolerable for effective free security, that's no longer the case.

Avira's lack of a silent-running entertainment-gaming mode is also noticeable, since so many free and paid competitors now offer the mode.

Selection of one of these recommendations requires that "Real Time Protection" on M.B.A.M. / S.A.S. be disabled

 

@ I4N,

Here is a review of Avast for your consideration.


@ allheart,

Please don't take this as a challenge. I would appreciate knowing where you learned what you have asserted regarding M.B.A.M / S.A.S.

 

@ I4N,

I don't know what happened to the review link I provided. Below is a copy / paste of the review.


By Charles P. Jefferies

ALWIL Software's Avast Antivirus Home Edition is free for home users. How does it stack up against other free and paid solutions? We break it down in this review.

Product Overview

Avast promises pro-active protection from online threats including viruses, spyware, and rootkits while guarding traditional (Internet, disk media) and nontraditional (network and P2P/IM traffic) infection vectors.

Avast's resident shield provides real-time operating system protection and claims to be able to detect a virus before it infects a computer. Avast also has built-in measures to prevent itself from being shut down. Additionally, the program includes various scanners for e-mail and news feeds.

Avast has a light firewall built in called the network shield. It actively scans network traffic for worms and other threats.

Another notable feature is Avast's Virus Recovery Database which creates a file integrity database that can repair virus-infected files to their original state.

The free version of Avast (Home Edition) is only available for home users, not businesses. Registration is required to use the software beyond the 60-day trial period.

Download & Installation

Avast's install begins with downloading a download manager which pulls the install files from a server. After download, the install is painless and takes less than ten clicks and three minutes to complete. A restart is required to complete installation. Most other antivirus suites did not require a restart, but Avast has some very low-level components built-in, which may require the restart. Either way, not a big deal.

Registration is required to use Avast beyond the 60-day trial period. Registering grants users a 14-month license key, after which users must register the software again to keep using it. This is a con compared to Avira's and AVG's free antivirus, which do not require registration.

Program Interface



Accessing the interface requires right-clicking the Avast A system tray icon and then clicking start; ideally users should simply have to double-click the icon.

Avast's interface is very unique in several ways. It is entirely icon-driven, which means a certain learning curve. However, Avast is quicker to navigate than most antivirus programs once you're familiar with the interface. It is also unique because the interface is very small; most antivirus program interfaces are several times its size.



Avast is generally easy to navigate. The three icons on the right select which areas to scan (hard disks, external media, additional folders), and pressing the play button on the far left starts the selected scan. The three buttons on the left from top to bottom open the virus chest, set the on-access scanner sensitivity, and launch a manual update. Updates are performed automatically every 24 hours.

Clicking on the up arrow in the top left launches the settings menu. Advanced settings and other miscellaneous items can be accessed here. Avast allows users to change skins; the version at the right was included with the install. A nice touch, though changing skins means re-learning what all the icons stand for.

Overall the interface is fresh and unique; it has a small learning curve but is simple to use afterward.

In Use & Effectiveness

Avast did not affect daily office productivity or Internet surfing. Unlike some free antivirus suites, particularly Avira, it does not have any advertisements built in.

To test the effectiveness of Avast I used several virus files from Eicar.org, an IT security website. Please see the test description for extensive information on the tests.

Avast blocked all four test files from downloading; most antivirus applications let malware download and only detect later once they're on your PC. Avast ties the expensive Kaspersky antivirus suite as the most pro-active software we have tested since it detected all four files immediately. Very impressive!

Performance Impact

We evaluate the performance impact and system resource usage of using anti-virus software in three ways:

1. Overall system performance measured before and after installation using PCMark

2. Memory footprint

3. Time it took to perform a full system scan

Our test system is an HP Pavilion dv5t.

Overall System Performance Impact Measured with PCMark Vantage

The PCMark benchmarks as measured before (left) and after (right) the Avast install are shown below.



Somehow the benchmark actually had higher numbers after running the suite so system performance impact is a non-issue!

Memory Footprint

Avast took up about 12 MB of system memory, which is about a third of what AVG requires (35 MB), a little more than half what Avira needs (20 MB), and three times what Microsoft Security Essentials uses (4 MB). That said, even 35 MB is practically nothing by modern memory standards; Firefox will often take up 100 MB all by itself.

Time it took to perform a full system scan

Avast took 34 minutes to scan our computer's hard drive with 122GB of data; this is a short time and faster than most paid solutions. It bests Avira's 45 minutes but doesn't quite catch AVG at 23 minutes. Note that this is using the default scan settings; there are more in-depth scanning options available.

Conclusion

Avast is one of the most impressive antivirus solutions we tested, even including the paid software. It is extremely pro-active, provides many layers of protection, is easy to use after learning the icon-driven interface, and has virtually no impact on system performance. We highly recommend it to home users searching for an antivirus solution with the above-described features.

PROS:

• FREE of charge
• Simple interface
• Highly pro-active, extensive protection

CONS:

• Quirky interface launcher
• Icon interface takes some learning
• Requires registration

 

PC Mark tests a systems CPU and GPU raw processing power, it would have no impact on what AV you are running.

MB and SAS are the equivalent to Windows defender (much better versions but none the less) windows defender is just a very basic malware program and runs in conjunction with a firewall and an AV product.
Some AV products have the ability to monitor malware but most are basic like windows defender, meaning you should check that you have both AV and Malware protection

 

Thanks for the many replies already, forgot to mention we are already using Avast as well.

Match, checked in Disk Managment, there is no recovery partition.

Whats next ?

 

I found this info. during a search for an answer to your problem.

Troubleshooting Windows Explorer Errors

A Help With Windows Tech File

​

I get messages from people having problems with Windows Explorer crashes on a regular basis. Mostly they go something like this: "When I right-click a file in Windows Explorer, I get a message that Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" or "When I try to browse through the folders on my computer, I receive an error message that Windows Explorer needs to close."

In a lot of cases, these errors are caused by 3rd party shell extensions that are not functioning properly.

These shell extensions are responsible for creating the options you'll see on the menu when you right-click a file using Windows Explorer. Some 3rd party applications will add their own "action" to this menu, and this can cause problems.

If you look careful at the picture on the right, you'll see several non-standard additions to the right-click menu: "Send to Fax Recipient", "Scan with Norton Antivirus", "TextPad" and "Winzip".

To try and find if a 3rd party shell extension is causing your Windows Explorer to crash on certain actions, you'll need to download this handy (and free) utility: ShelExView. It will let you view & disable shell extensions.

After you downloaded & executed it, ShelExView will show all shell extensions installed on your system. You could sort the entries so that you'll have all non Microsoft shell extensions grouped together. Next, select all these non Microsoft shell extensions, and disable them. Try the sequence that would previously have resulted in Windows Explorer crashing (for example browsing a folder, or right-clicking a file). If no crash occurred, one of the shell extensions you disabled has been causing the crash. To find out which one, start enabling one shell extension at a time, each time testing to make sure you can still use Windows Explorer without it crashing, until you find the shell extension that would cause Windows Explorer to crash.

ShelExView gives you all additional information you need to know such as the product & company name of the shell extension, as well as the version number. If you would like to continue using the software of the 3rd party whose shell extension is causing the Explorer crash, contact the company responsible, and check to see if there is an updated version of the software you are trying to use.




Another cause of Windows Explorer crashes can also be attributed to the existence of viruses or spyware on the machine. To tackle this, start by running one or two on-line virus scans. I'd suggest the on-line scan from eTrust and/or Trend Micro's HouseCall.

To combat any spyware that might lurk on your machine, I'd suggest the following programs: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Javacool's SpywareBlaster, or SUPERAntiSpyware. As with Anti-virus scanners, run at least two different ones, they will detect different things!

If you need more help in fighting Spyware or Virus infections, start by reading these instructions on our WindowsBBS.com support forum, and post a message in the appropriate forum.






Below I have listed a number of Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles dealing with Windows Explorer crashes:

KB Art. # Title Applies to 175211 Fatal Exception Error When Opening or Closing Control Panel Windows 95, 98 188540 You receive an "Invalid page fault" error message when you try to view the contents of a folder or its subfolders by using Thumbnail view in Windows Explorer Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP 191609 Explorer Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module... Windows 98, Me 192315 "All Folders" pane missing or Windows Explorer is blank Windows 95, 98 193903 Err Msg: Windows Encountered an Error Accessing the System Registry Windows 98 221085 Error Message Typing Address in Address Box or in Open Box Internet Explorer 4.x, 5.x 227152 Error Message: Explorer Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Pdm.dll Windows 98 Second Edition 227472 Cannot Rename System File in Windows Explorer Windows 2000 Server 255758 Error Message: Explorer.exe Has Generated Errors and Will Be Closed by Windows Windows 2000 257675 Windows Explorer May Hang When Viewing Images Internet Explorer 5.x 259096 Error Message When You Open a New Folder Windows 98, ME 266320 Error Message When You Use Windows Explorer to Search for Files or Folders Windows 2000 266644 Windows Explorer Stops Responding When You Take Ownership of Folder Without Selecting a New Owner Windows 2000 275599 Dr. Watson Error Message May Occur When You Copy and Paste Files by Using Windows Explorer Windows 2000 289799 Desktop Is White and Error Message Reports a Windows Explorer Error in Browseui.dll Windows Me 291343 FIX: "Explorer.exe has generated errors" error message when you click the "Properties" of Outlook 2000 or search for files or folders Microsoft Outlook 2000 293174 Error Message: Explorer Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module Browseui.dll Windows 98, 98 SE 306599 Error Message: Error Loading Explorer.exe You Must Reinstall Windows Windows 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition 314867 You receive an "Explorer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows" error message Windows XP 315094 Windows Explorer May Stop Responding When You Close a Window Windows XP 317250 Access Violation in Windows Explorer When You View Printer Properties in Active Directory Windows 2000 319124 Error Message When You Start Windows Explorer: Explorer.exe Has Generated Errors and Will Be Closed by Windows Windows 2000 320563 Windows Explorer Quits When You View Contents of My Computer Windows XP 322857 Windows Explorer Quits and Generates an Error Message When You Try to Map a Network Drive Windows 2000, XP 326572 Explorer.exe Repeatedly Generates Access Violation Error Messages After You Log On Windows 2000 326612 "Explorer.exe Has Generated Errors and Will Be Closed By Windows" Error Message When You Try to Install Service Pack 3 Windows 2000 SP3 329692 Explorer.exe may generate an application error when you close a folder Windows XP SP1 555177 Windows XP halts on desktop when loading Windows Explorer, after upgrading to Service Pack 2 Windows XP 810891 Access Violation Occurs in Windows Explorer When the My Computer Window Is Refreshed Windows 2000 811266 You receive a "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" error message when you try to open My Network Places in Windows XP Windows XP 815240 Windows Explorer Stops Responding When You Try to Rotate a JPEG Image in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Windows XP 815494 "Access Violation" Error Message in Windows Explorer on Windows 2000-Based Server Windows 2000 Server 816375 Windows XP Explorer Pane flickers on mapped network drives Windows XP 817768 Windows Explorer Stops Responding When It Tries to Sort More Than 1 Million Objects on a RAID Controller Windows 2000 821403 Mipmapi.dll Error Message When You Point to "Send To" and Then Click "Mail Recipient" to Send a File in an E-mail Message Windows 2000, XP 822797 "Explorer Has Encountered an Error and Needs to Close" Error Message When you Start Windows XP Windows XP 824136 Error Message Occurs When File is Right-Clicked, or Problems Occur When Opening Certain Files in Autodesk or Discreet Products Windows 2000, XP 830780 Windows Explorer stops responding and the shortcut menu does not close when you use the SHIFT+F10 keyboard shortcut Windows XP 831938 My Computer and Windows Explorer unexpectedly quit when you try to open My Network Places or Shared Documents in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003, XP 833161 Windows Explorer Does Not Start After Resuming From Hibernation Windows Server 2003, XP 873414 A delay may occur before the contents of a folder are displayed in the Windows Explorer Folders pane in Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Windows Server 2003, XP 883791 Explorer.exe repeatedly quits unexpectedly in Windows XP Windows XP, XP SP1 888162 You receive an "Explorer.EXE - Entry Point Not Found - The procedure entry point SHCreateThreadRef could not be located in the dynamic link library Shlwapi.dll" error message after you install the MS04-038 security update Windows XP SP2 897089 Windows Explorer stops responding, or you receive an "unexpected network error occurred" error message when you use the Client for NFS service to connect to a NFS volume in Windows Services for UNIX 3.5 Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX 3.5 898051 Windows Explorer may exit unexpectedly when you use it to view TIFF files in the Details view in Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 900004 The Explorer.exe process may unexpectedly quit when you try to search for a file in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003, XP 914222 Error message when you restart a Windows XP-based computer: "Explorer.exe unable to locate component" Windows XP 918165 You may experience problems in Windows Explorer or in the Windows shell after you install security update MS06-015 Windows 2000, Server 2003, XP 920155 Windows Explorer randomly generates an access violation and closes when you refresh the wireless network list on a Windows Server 2003-based computer or on a Windows XP x64-based computer Windows Server 2003, XP Professional x64 925066 Windows Explorer may stop responding on a Windows XP-based client computer in a domain environment, and CPU usage is very high on the primary domain controller Windows XP Professional 930092 Windows Explorer stops responding on a Windows Vista-based computer when you try to open a file or a folder that resides on a Sony Ultra Portable universal serial bus drive Windows Vista 931702 Windows Explorer crashes when you try to remove the $WINDOWS.OLD folder from a computer that has been upgraded to Windows Vista Windows Vista 933771 Windows Explorer stops responding or the Svchost.exe process stops responding when you try to copy encrypted files to a WebDAV resource in Windows Vista Windows Vista 937093 Error message when you log on to Windows Vista: "Windows Explorer has stopped working" Windows Vista 938828 Error message when the Explorer.exe process crashes on a Windows XP SP2-based computer: "STOP 0xc0000005" Windows XP SP2 942435 Error message when you try to copy files from a Windows Vista-based computer to another computer by using Windows Explorer: "Out of memory There is not enough memory to complete this operation" Windows Vista 944883 FIX: Windows Explorer crashes when you minimize Windows Media Player Windows Vista 946529 You receive an error message in module Olkfstub.dll in Windows Explorer when you open a folder that contains many .msg files or many .oft files Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 946758 Windows Explorer closes and restarts on systems that run OneCare Family Safety Windows Vista, XP 949109 Why do I receive the following error message when I use Windows Explorer in Windows Vista to rename folders: "The file or folder does not exist" Windows Vista 955359 Windows Explorer stops responding when you try to view thumbnails for Quick Time content on a Windows XP-based computer that has Windows Live Photo Gallery installed Windows Live Photo Gallery 957322 Windows Explorer crashes when you try to use a shortcut to open a file that is located in a WebDAV folder Microsoft Office 2007 961038 Windows Explorer may crash when you try to expand a parent folder in the Windows Explorer navigation pane in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008, Vista 971405 Windows Explorer stops responding for approximately 30 seconds when you try to access the DFS resources in a Windows Server 2008 domain Windows Server 2008

 

Kojak, a very informative reply, thanks.
I have downloaded and checked shellexview, 250 items, all non microsoft or windows items disabled, but unfortunately the problem still exists.
Checked out any likely Knowledge base articles but the only one that came close was about Kodak stuff which we don't have.
I will disable/enable each shell extension one at a time and try to eliminate the problem, very time consumming, and I will have to come back to it later, other jobs to do ! will I have to retart after each "shell disable" ?

 

I did a quick read of the article. I didn't find that suggestion. Leaving for work now. Cylatr.

 

It seems logical to me that there is a risk of conflict, if I have two utilities that perform the same function with real time protection activated in each.

But I don't "know it all" as some would say of themselves. I brought a measure of experience and understanding with me when I returned to C.H.F.

And by participating I have gained experience, learning more than I knew prior to doing so.

 

Well, I have ploughed through 250 shell extensions, right near the end of the list, had to be didn't it !, found a "portable devices" type shell folder, a microsoft one. Disabled it and all systems back to normal.

Thanks for the help, mark this one as solved

 

It pleases me greatly to have been of assistance.

P.S.

You're welcome.