Explorer (Not Responding) When Selecting Photos

Starting just a few days ago, every time I select a photo in Windows Explorer, Explorer goes into "(Not Responding)" mode. I've tried all kinds of things to fix this ("SpeedUpMyPC", restores, update video drivers, install latest Windows updates, etc.), but nothing has worked and it's very frustrating. Any suggestions as to what the fix to this could be?

There are many possiblities. Try downloading this file and save to your desktop:

Download : Registry Fix

Then check that Windows Error Reporting is enabled:

Start> Run then type

services.msc

Press Enter

Find Windows Error Reporting Service and make sure that it's enabled and running.

Then double click the file that you downloaded.

Reboot.

Try to re-create the problem and if Explorer crashes (not responding) restart explorer and check for dump files here:

C:\LocalDumps

If you see a dump file - zip it and attach it to your next post.

Thanks for your reply. I started the error logging (and changed it from manual to automatic), ran the downloaded program and rebooted the machine and attempted to open a photo file in Explorer. Unfortunately, thes ame problem, and I don't find any logged errors in a file in the directory location that you provided (C:\LocalDumps).

Well done for enabling Windows Error Reporting!

Perhaps you could check to see if the file you downloaded and ran manged to change the required registry settings?

Your registry should look like this:



To check: Start> Run then type

regedit

Press Enter.

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting

Look for a subkey named LocalDumps

If it's not present try this:

Right click the file you downloaded to your desktop (WER_Explorer.reg) and choose Merge

Then reboot and check again to see if it worked. If you see those registry entries try to crash explorer and check for a dump file.

The location for Explorer Crash Dumps after running through those steps is:

C:\LocalDumps

The folder looks like this:



If you're not seeing dumps I have a couple of questions. What do you do when you get the Explorer Not Responding message? Do you attempt to restart Explorer - or something else?

Would you also check the following?

Start> right-click "My Computer" (or "Computer")

Choose "Properties"

Choose "Advanced system settings"

Find the "Advanced" tab and then click the "Startup and recovery" tab Settings.

Tick "Write an event to the system log" under "System failure"

Under "Write debugging information" choose "Kernel Memory dump" and click "Okay"

If choosing "Kernel Memory Dump" gives you an error message choose "Small Memory Dump" instead.

Another reboot is needed after that I'm afraid!

Try crashing Explorer again and look for dumps. If they're still not present i have other suggestions.

When I get the (Not Responding) message, I wait about two minutes, become impatient and click on the Explorer window to close it.

So, in summary, the reason why I'm not getting dumps is because I've been too impatient to wait for Explorer to generate an error.

I tried to open a photo about 4 minutes ago, and the "Windows Explorer has stopped working" window popped up after about 4 1/2 minutes of waiting. NOW, I get an entry into the LocalDumps directory.

I've tried to attach the dump for you to review, but I don't think it's uploading because the .dmp extension isn't in the acceptable file extensions in this forum. How can I get the dump to you to review?

Thanks again for your help!!!

Hi again. Well it seems to be working now!

Use the tutorial here to zip your dump file and upload it:

Dump Files - Upload to SevenForums

In Step 1 of the tutorial replace:

1. Copy any dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump onto the desktop.

with - Copy any dmp files from C:\LocalDumps onto the desktop.

EDIT I've got your dump file and will look at it then post back here.

Okay well the dump file doesn't provide the information that I'd oped for but maybe another member will take a look at it to see if i missed something.

In the meantime could I ask you to try disabling your Dropbox shell extension?

If you download this to your desktop: ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows

The download link is near the bottom of the page and you want this link: Download ShellExView for x64

If you download to your desktop and extract the files to another folder on your desktop - open the folder - it should be named shexview-x64

Find the file named shexview.exe and right-click it then choose "Run as administrator"

In the window that opens find the filename column and check for DropboxExt64.24.dll in the file path or anything Dropbox related.

Highlight the row then click the little red button near the top left of the window to disable it. Then exit the program and reboot.

Any improvement?

Don't panic if the problem remains. There's still other possibilities.