Random explorer.exe crashes.

Hey all.. I've lately been getting completely random from my point of view crashes of explorer.exe. I get the message that it stopped working, that windows is looking for a solution and then restarting it. Crashes can happen any time, when I am watching a movie or when Im browsing the net. This evening I even had non stop chained crashes till I rebooted my PC.

In Event Viewer I get the following report on the crash:

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7600.16450, time stamp: 0x4aebab8d
Faulting module name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7600.16450, time stamp: 0x4aebab8d
Exception code: 0xc000041d
Fault offset: 0x000000000002cc2b
Faulting process id: 0xd78
Faulting application start time: 0x01cb43c46ada1938
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Report Id: 3320c078-afe6-11df-ae32-90e6bab95bf2

Any ideas on what may be causing this, or how to fix it? I have no clue what program I installed that started this problem. Running windows 7 64bit.

Hi,

Please follow these instructions: https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tructions.html

Attach the .zip file to your next post in this thread.

Regards,
Reventon

reventon said:

Hi,

Please follow these instructions: https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tructions.html

Attach the .zip file to your next post in this thread.

Regards,
Reventon

Greetings, attached the results below.

Hi,

You have actually had at least one BSOD - so we will deal with that first as we get more information when a BSOD happens than with any other type of error.

The minidump blames KernExplorer64.sys - part of AdAware. Remove AdAware immediately.

Also, it would be a good idea to run a memtest sooner rather than later just incase faulty RAM is the cause.

Memtest - Instructions:

Download the ISO (or the .exe for USB drives) from here Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Then (if you have chosen the ISO) burn the ISO using IsoRecorder: ISO Recorder v3 Download (How to use IsoRecorder)

Boot from the CD/USB and run the test (at least 7 passes per test) with only one stick of RAM in place at a time.

It is a time consuming process but it is the only way to be sure it isn't a RAM fault.

For your final test, run the test with all the RAM in place.

Regards,
Reventon

BUGCHECK SUMMARY

Code:

Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Mon Aug 23 14:45:20.312 2010 (GMT+12)
System Uptime: 2 days 7:53:23.279
BugCheck 50, {fffffa800c12bc88, 0, fffff88007c98794, 0}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for KernExplorer64.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for KernExplorer64.sys
Probably caused by : KernExplorer64.sys ( KernExplorer64+1794 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x50
PROCESS_NAME:  AAWService.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨`

Thank you for telling me what the cause of that BSOD was AdAware, I removed it. However I would like to skip the memtest due to me being on laptop, it would indeed be a very time consuming process to test one stick at a time and I never opened up a laptop before.

However the explorer crashes are really getting annoying, sometimes it's few in row.. It could not be because of faulty ram, could it?

I've been having the same problem over the past week. I just cannot find any sort of test. It seems like the others who are having this same exact problem has been having the problem start sometime in mid-August. Maybe a bad Microsoft update or something? I don't think it's our hardware.

It's not any of our running processes. I can run with all third-party processes off and it'll still happen. I've narrowed it down to a service, but I don't exactly know which one it is. I can turn all of my services off, and this problem won't happen. I don't feel like going through every single service to figure out which one it is.

UPDATE: The person here http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...1-b67a49dad57a says that they solved the problem by running SFC /scannow (with admin privileges, or course). I'm doing that now.

It looks like running sfc /scannow fixed the problem, and things seem to be running slightly faster. Just glad this stupid problem was fixed. It DID disable my MacBook Pro's trackpad, so I have to try and figure out how to fix that.

besweeet said:

It looks like running sfc /scannow fixed the problem, and things seem to be running slightly faster. Just glad this stupid problem was fixed. It DID disable my MacBook Pro's trackpad, so I have to try and figure out how to fix that.

Thanks, I will give that a try! And yes, it just started recently in august after some update now when you say it.

Yes, sfc /scannow is a good idea.

The memtest can be run with all sticks in place, it is just preferrable to run it with one in place at a time.