Windows 7: Windows Explorer crashes with MP4 files in Large Icons(thumbnails)view

Whenever I view a folder which contains .MP4 (H264) video files in large icon view (shows thumbnails), Windows 7's Explorer crashes. Explorer loads for a few seconds, the green progress bar shows up, and then boom!, Explorer crashes. The thumbnails are not shown before crashing. Does anyone know how to fix this?

I tried setting Folder options to 'Always show icons, never thumbnails' (disables thumbnails) on the same folder with MP4 (H264) video files and Explorer doesn't crash if the MP4 thumbnails aren't shown. I tried testing in other folders containing other video formats (with 'Always show icons, never thumbnails' set to off) like .AVI/Xvid, without an MP4/H264 file, and Windows Explorer shows the thumbnails fine without crashing.

I have not currently experienced problems with other formats, only MP4/H264. The only media players that I have installed are KMPlayer and VLC Media Player which both do not install external codecs, AFAIK. The only external codec I have installed is CoreAVC, but I have been using CoreAVC for months (KMPlayer+CoreAVC is one of the first things I installed in Windows 7) without any problems (this issue just arose a few days ago).

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate, 32 bit.

Note: I prefer a solution that will not end up disabling video thumbnails for MP4 files. I still would like to see MP4 video thumbnails, if possible. If the video files themselves are problematic, I reckon Explorer should not crash and just not show the thumbnails.



Event Viewer log and HiJackThis log here:
Event Viewer and HiJackThis log - 8806b

Hi,
Try reinstalling your KMPlayer and VLC player.

After that do system file checker:
Right click Command Prompt → run as admin → sfc /scannow

Here's the sfc /scannow log:

sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
___

I have experienced crashes with .MKV (H264) video files too.

I checked out my Media player and Codec installation settings and it appears to be, as of this moment, caused by Haali Media Splitter (which is an optional installation component, that is checked by default, with CoreAVC's installer). I've uninstalled Haali Media Splitter and I now experience no crashes with MP4 or MKV video thumbnails, so far.

I guess the next questions should be: what does Haali Media Splitter do? What might have caused it to crash Explorer (I have it installed for months along with CoreAVC)? And is it needed for watching H264 (MP4/MKV videos) in KMPlayer (which I configured to use CoreAVC)?

I will post here if there are any updates in case someone else also has the same problem.

This issue has plagued me with large MKV files for some time on my Windows 7 x64 system.

I finally fixed it, working from the assumption that it was a shell extension causing the issue, rather than native Windows code. I downloaded a free Shell Extension manager that lets you disable individual shell extensions, ShellExView from Nirsoft (I have no connection to the company):

ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows

I ran that (as administrator), and looked for all non-Microsoft Shell extensions of type "Thumbnail". I'd disable one at a time, then try opening a folder with a 30GB+ MKV known to crash. If it still crashed, I'd re-enable the shell and move on.

After disabling the "SynShellEx Class" v10.49.2.0 from AutoDesk, the problem went away.

Hope this helps someone else!

Note: I did NOT have "show thumbnails" on, and was still having issues, which is what sent me down the path of exploring other shell extensions.

This is good to know. Thanks for this!