Windows Explorer crashes when I right-click anything

Hello,
I have a Dell XPS 9000 running Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit with the Intel i7-920 processor and 6 GB ram. This install of Windows has been stable until the last month. Now about 75 % of the time when I right-click something either on the desktop or in Windows Explorer this will cause Windows Explorer to crash and reload the desktop. Rebooting does not help. Has anyone encountered this problem before? The only fix I can think of is to remove some of the entries that show up in the menu when I right-click on an icon. There's about twice as many items listed there now than when I installed Windows. The only problem with this is that I don't know how to edit that list. Any suggestions? I doesn't seem to matter what the icon I right-click on is (drive letter, picture, folder, etc...).

Thanks...Chris

A few things to try:

1. SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker to fix system file corruption problems. May have to run up to three times to fix all issues. Check if the issue is resolved before proceeding to the next step.
2. Disk Check with both boxes checked. Check if the issue is resolved before proceeding to the next step.
3. Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup to see if it is due to an application conflict. Check if the issue is resolved before proceeding to the next step.
4. If the previous step fixed the issue, and even if it did not, check for malware. Use the free version of (do not start the trial) Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download then run VIPRE Rescue - VIPRE Computer Recovery Solution from Sunbelt Software and finally run Fakerean removal tool then check if the issue is resolved before proceeding to the next step.
5. If the above do not work Repair Install as you may have registry issues (we do not recommend using a registry cleaning tool to fix registry issues as they cause more problems than they solve, so if you have used one, this may be why you are having problems. Do not use a registry cleaner to try to fix your problem as it may make it worse).

Thanks for all the information. Here's what eventually fixed the problem. I uninstalled SpyBot 2 beta. It was the last thing I installed that added items to the menu when I right-clicked. I don't know why it would cause the problem but at least it's fixed now. Just another PC mystery.
Thank you again for you time. That's all good stuff to know that you posted.

Regards,
Chris

Thanks for posting back with the solution as it may help someone else out down the line. :)

I had the same issue for the longest time and couldn't figure out what the issue was.
Just wanted to confirm that uninstalling SpyBot 2 Beta has also fixed this issue for me.

Good news! Thanks J3ffyD. :)

This thread (as old as it is) was a lifesaver for me. It too two runs of sfc to eliminate all the corrupted files - and I still had the crash problem. Then I noticed the reference to Spybot and I uninstalled that and my laptop works like a charm... Thanks everyone!

J3ffyD said:

I had the same issue for the longest time and couldn't figure out what the issue was.
Just wanted to confirm that uninstalling SpyBot 2 Beta has also fixed this issue for me.