Windows 7: Right Click on desktop causing Explorer.exe crash!!!

Yeah--I feel the same way...just acknowledge it and say you are working on it. I'd be fine with that!

So yes--someone needs to light a fire under them!!

This same thing is happening to me...

are you guys also getting random BSOD's?

I tried reading my minidump file, but couldn't get debugger working to see if it helps..

Maybe someone else has? or could read mine?

no random BSOD here...just constantly right click -----> crash

for me it happens 90% of the time when I am right clicking on the desktop and the rest of the time it usually happens when I am right clicking to create a new folder within a directory.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is happening to quite a few more people than we realize, and they don't think anything of it because they assume it's something wrong they are doing..

Windows 7 just got officially released, watch the number of cases go up as people receive their new laptop/desktops from Dell, Gateway, etc.

I guess the BSOD and right click errors are not related..

Wonderful, 2 issues to sort out now.
haha.


When my right click doesn't work it'll pop up with the 'Search for a solution' or w/e it is and I do it, and it sometimes fixes it (by restarting explorer) Have you tried that?

No BSODs for me either...just right-click and get a dialog that says explorer is done followed by another dialog stating that it is restarting. I then usually (always?) lose all open windows. Actually, everything at the Shell-level (including the task bar) disappears momentarily and then comes back after Explorer restarts.



I found a couple of images on the net that look close to what I am seeing:

I dont click on the Search for a solution

I choose the bottom choice similar to "click here to just restart Explorer"..I have found that if I do that enough times it will start working like normal again...Not a pretty solution but at least it works

This is a total PIA, and even if I reboot to "fix" the problem it still happens again within a few hours of the reboot.

If you aren't already, then make sure you're submitting all your error reports to Microsoft.

I try and do this at least once a day.

If it weren't for this issue then Windows 7 would be perfect!

Also, no BSOD for me on Windows 7, ever. Just the random explorer crashes, mainly on right-clicking the desktop or Recycle Bin, and sometimes in Control Panel.

Oddly, I normally only get the issue around 00:00-02:00 in the morning... Go figure? This may just be when I use my computer the most, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

For me this issue did not occur until the final RTM build, all the beta and RC builds were fine.

I might use one of my Technet support incidents and see how that goes, had never thought of doing that until now.

Maybe Neowin, Paul Thurrott, or Long Zheng could help? These people seem to get noticed by Microsoft if they have something to say...

BTW. I forgot to say, yeah, the issue will occur once and then continue to occur around four to six times, then revert back to normal behavior.

@Most of the posters on this thread:

I empathise with your pain, though I can't necessarily offer any solutions. A few thoughts...

An Explorer crash is one of those generic symptoms which can occur for umpteen different reasons. References to "this issue" abound (not just in the quoted text), and from an end-user point of view it's certainly understandable that all Explorer crashes are mentally "bucketised" as the same problem.

However, it's many different problems which all look the same from the outside.

Explorer is a pseudo-container process, almost like IExplore.exe. They're targets for all sorts of add-on code which would seek to extend the functionality of the OS in various ways. Some of those add-ons, like shell extensions, are relatively easy to deactivate because of the availability of specialised tools. Others are "injected code" which is far more difficult to spot and isolate at the sysadmin level.

My (relatively confident) guess is that Microsoft gets thousands of reports every day regarding "Explorer crashing" - most as automated WER report submissions, some by users seeking phone support, and many in the form of web submissions/complaints. Windows 7 is not special in this regard - similar symptoms always occurred under older versions too, the vast majority due to add-ons.

Hence, Microsoft presumably wouldn't be particularly perturbed until their reporting telemetry and some form of debug analysis identifies crash patterns which point at their code as the culprit. When your installed user base is measured in the millions, even thousands of generic problem reports do not necessarily mean there's anything wrong in your own code.

Suggestions:

a) If your aim is simply to give yourself the greatest possible chance of getting rid of the symptom, without necessarily understanding it, reinstall the OS and be very judicious about add-ons afterwards. Try to add shell extensions and context menu handlers slowly, one-at-a-time, so that you get a feel for the likely culprit if things start acting up again. Easier said than done, I realise.

b) If you'd like to understand, go through this procedure to generate a memory dump of the crash, and then examine it with a debugger, or start your own thread if you'd like assistance:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-loc...g-process.html

The results may be in the "obvious 3rd-party involvement", "unknown", or "points at MS" categories, but at least you'll have a better idea of what it might be.

c) Be careful about reading too much into others' misdiagnoses. In the absence of information, people come up with all sorts of bizarre explanations, and then manage to comprehensively convince themselves (and others) that the observed patterns fit their theory.

I received the error that is tied into explorer.exe and ntdll.dll:

Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 6.1.7600.16404, time stamp: 0x4a765771
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5be02b
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000051da0
Faulting process id: 0x14c
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca5da6248fff9d
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 95c50508-c999-11de-8bc4-0022158deba1

I've done two fresh re-installs of Windows 7 64-bit. I'm also using the Upgrade DVD. Not sure if the OEM would have been a better choice. I have the Vista and XP OEM discs.

At any rate, I never got this error with XP. However, I have seen Explorer crashes in Vista that were similar. Not sure if they were caused by ntdll.dll, didn't look. I had basically the same types of programs installed on Windows XP and Vista that I do on Windows 7.

Not saying I'm going to go back to XP because it's already registered and installed on my old AMD system.

Also ran the system file checker, did a few system restores, as well as the ShellEx thing and disabled any non-MS stuff.

Some guys over at MS TechNet said it might be caused by O&O software or Avast. Said something about a file named "base.dll". The cause could be any number of things since everyone's system is different. If it is Avast, I don't know if I know of any good free anti-virus software as good as Avast. I know of AVG, but don't think it catches as many things. I could probably do without O&O Defrag because there's lots of free defrag programs out there.

I don't know what I'm going to do for the time being. My system is usable, except for the error.

one thing we have in common is that I do have O&O Defrag installed (the 64-Bit version)

That's interesting that he mentioned that