Windows 7: Right click hangs Explorer.exe on Windows 7

I just upgraded to Windows 7 build 6801 from Vista Ultimate and pleased to says it works fine except for this nagging issue. Whenever i right click anything on my desktop, explorer.exe hangs ("stopped working") and it restarts explorer.exe again. Apparently, it is a common issue and I also had it when I upgraded from XP to Vista. I didnt manage to fix it that time but it went away by itself after awhile. Is there any solution for this? Tried a bunch of registry cleaners. Also used a program called ShellExView and disabled all non-M$ context menu items but it still happens. Any suggestions? This problem is getting on my nerves

Hello TheSacredSoul,

You might see if a System Restore using a restore point dated before this problem may be able to fix it for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

I did a clean install from (X86) builds 7000 to 7100 (i didn't worry about the inbetween builds) and am having the same issue. I have seen a number of others post similar situations. What specific information would you like me to post? To clarify, right clicking on any non-system icon (anything other than IE/Computer, etc) will result in the "busy circle" for about 10 seconds and then give you the "stopped responding...restart program or wait" message for explorer.exe. I noticed this in the first 30 mins of the first starting up, so I'm not sure if it has to do with a 3rd party app (though I do have WINRAR installed, and I've seen some issues with that...will try uninstalling it tonight). I have not disabled any services/startup itmes and have not used any "cleaners" other than CCleaner.

This also happenes to me, sometimes when it hangs there is muliple explorer.exe processes running, usually 2-3.
I hope this info helped ;)

I thought this was fixed with a MS patch to increase the kill command of Windows 7. This thread is also 4 weeks old with no new information. Did the original poster finally get it fixed?

So... I downloaded the ShellExView app from NirSoft (freeware) and I started disabling all Adobe-related and non-essential Extensions. It worked like a charm.

I find it funny: Sometimes we bash on MS for making a "bad" OS when it is 3rd-party apps and the Users themselves creating the problems.

Anywho, I hope this helps somebody else too...

I too am still experiencing this issue even in Win 7 RTM 64 Bit. I downloaded the ShellExView app (64 Bit version) and executed it. There are about 150 items that display about 4 or 5 are red. One note, you may have to Run as administrator to be able to enable or disable extensions. I didn't see any that should be potent enough to cause Explorer to hang; the only odd balls were AVG, Adobe Elements (Context Menu), Bluewire General Property Sheet, GraphicsShellExt Class and PowerISO. I can always tell when its hung when I try to double click on an icon on the desktop and it won't function. I end up going to Task Manager, doing an End Process on explorer.exe, then do a File->New Task (Run..) and type in explorer to start up again.

Additionally, explorer.exe is soaking up a lot of memory. Every time I look at the memory usage during these hangs it's typically 600k+. Even after a restart, it will start small and gradually go back up to 300-400k+ then eventually reach 600k+. It has topped at 705k+. What could cause this? Could beta drivers cause explorer.exe to do this. In all my years of being at the bleeding edge, I have never seen explorer.exe do this.

I also have Win 7E RTM 32bit installed on a different machine. It does not exhibit these issues.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

I am having the same problem on two computers. The first is running Windows 7 Eval 7100, the second is running Windows 7 Ultimate Final Release.

This isn't consistent, and it doesn't happen immediately. Usually after 5-10 minutes of using windows explorer.

I haven't seen anything that should cause a problem in ShellExView. I disabled all non-MS menus, but I'm still having the problem

I have this problem too, running windows 7 home ultimate, whenever I go to rename something, or look at anything other than the default tab on 'properties' explorer.exe crashes and needs restarting..any suggestions much appreciated.

I have the same issue with Explorer hanging during a right click on the desktop. I have a new Compaq Presario Laptop that was upgraded to Windows 7 Hoem Premium from Vista Home Premium. Interestingly I am also running AVG which I saw somebody else mention during a previous post. I will run ShellExView app and see if its AVG or some pesty Adobe process.