after extracting zip file explorer keeps crashing

first off i'm sorry if this is in the wrong place but i seriously need help. my computer is not even useable right now and i've spent over an hour trying to fix it. i have hours of projects that need to get done and i can't afford to reinstall windows, which right now it looks like i'm going to have to do.

so heres what happenend

windows 7 home premium

i downloaded a zip file that had a single mkv video at about 10MB and nothing else.

when i went to extract it i got an error saying windows has crashed and has to restart, but then it happened again, and again and was a never ending loop that lasted about 15 minutes before i shut off the computer.

after turning it back on, same thing. Then i went into safe mode, in safe mode it does not happen so i figured i'd just erase the files and it'll be fixed.

So when trying to erase, rename or move, windows gets stuck on discovering files and never changes.

when trying to use command prompt to erase them i get "the system cannot find the file specified. and iv'e tried and rechecked over 100 times now.

I can open a command prompt inside the folder but same thing, system can't find the file specified.

So as far as i can tell, the files don't exist, but they show up there and i'm 99.999% sure thats whats causing the issue.

I really hope someone here can help, and fast. I'm literally going to fail 3 projects if i can't access my computer today, and reinstalling windows is pretty much out of the question as i just don't have time to do it.

so someone please please please help me.

please can anyone help?! i need this computer working ASAP.

mgorman87 said:

Have you tried re-downloading the file?

Possible virus or infection? Have you run a virus scan?

Is this happening on just the one file or all the files on your computer?

just the one file zip with a mkv inside of it. I ran a full virus scan (with eset) on the file before extracting it, extracted with the windows extract and then right as it finished windows crashed.

Also just did a full virus scan last night so i know it's not a virus.

after thinking i have a feeling that it may be crashing due to windows trying to create a thumbnail for a file that doesn't exist.

in safe mode i can extract the original file with winzip and the same exact thing happens. file shows up but can't be erased even with the command prompt.

So i'm 99% sure that if i can just somehow remove these files from the system i'll be fine. so thats really all i need to know how to do. erase a file without windows explorer or command prompt.

@mgorman: trying now.

@hopalong: yeah that was my first thought, but for some reason i have no system restore points showing up. not related but once i get this fixed i am going to need to look into that.

Ubuntu worked. Loaded it up via a CD and erased the files without any issue. Then booted back up and everything was fine.

thank you so much mgorman!

And thank you hopalong for that link, going to look into it.