Windows Explorer turns screen black and exits

I'm stumped! About a month ago my windows file manager (both Xplorer2 and Windows Explorer which both worked perfectly for years) started malfunctioning when I right-click my mouse on a displayed executable (.exe) program icon.

The rotating 'Busy' icon appears for a few seconds and then the screen turns black. A few seconds later all the desktop icons begin reappearing but I appear to have exited the file manager.

So far I've tried:

1. Anti-Virus scans. (AVG, Avast, Malwarebytes, MS Security Essentials, etc.)
2. Replacing IE9 with IE8. (Windows Explorer and IExplorer both use the same source program.)
3. Downloaded and ran HijackThis. (I don't know what to do with the results log.)

None of the above steps helped. Does anybody have any thought on what I should try next? Thanks!

What is HijackThis? I wouldn't trust third-party software unless it was recommended by a expert.

Are you able to upload the results log onto the forums, maybe it will contain some useful information related to the problem.

Thanks,

Harry

I'm attaching the crash results after having just encountered the same error again.

This comes from the Event Manager/Services events area.

Thanks for your reply.

Code:

Level	Date and Time	Source	Event ID	Task Category
Information	9/24/2012 3:01:01 PM	Windows Error Reporting	1001	None	"Fault bucket 2557003573, type 1
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: explorer.exe
P2: 6.1.7601.17567
P3: 4d6727a7
P4: KERNELBASE.dll
P5: 6.1.7601.17651
P6: 4e2111c0
P7: c0000005
P8: 00008614
P9: 
P10: 

Attached files:
C:\Users\Dave\AppData\Local\Temp\WER4BFA.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml

These files may be available here:
C:\Users\Dave\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_explorer.exe_64d22ed17e1d63a8e11160162924d7acd558587_11796fcf

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 28f161d8-067a-11e2-9015-0022641f724d
Report Status: 0"
Error	9/24/2012 3:00:52 PM	Application Error	1000	(100)	"Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 6.1.7601.17567, time stamp: 0x4d6727a7
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.17651, time stamp: 0x4e2111c0
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00008614
Faulting process id: 0x%9
Faulting application start time: 0x%10
Faulting application path: %11
Faulting module path: %12
Report Id: %13"

The log file appears to be pointing to KERNELBASE.dll, and from my knowledge, I do believe files with the .dll (Dynamic Link Library) are very important for the functioning of the operating system, and that some files can completely stop the operating system from working, whereas, other files which are missing or corrupted can cause less critical errors such as yours.

Since the file is part of the Windows 7 operating system package, then I would try: SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker, which in turn should recognise the missing file and then attempt to repair the file.

Hope this helps,

Harry

I ran the SFC /SCANNOW utility but it found no integrity violations.

Sorry about my slow response time to your message. We're in different time zones.

Have you tried doing a System Restore before the problem occurred?

Tried System Restore ... but I had installed/removed so many programs that the oldest restore date was only about 4 days old. Otherwise I think that may have worked.

You could try resetting the Windows Explorer process;

How To Restart Explorer.exe Process Properly In Windows 7, Vista, XP

Success! I used the 'Repair' thing on my original Win7 installation CD being VERY careful to select a repair option which would repair only system files while leaving my programs intact.

I was reluctant to do this because I had lost all programs once before. There are currently over 2.5 million files on this computer and that's just too much to lose. Fortunately, the computer appears to be working properly now.

Thank you very much for the time you've taken and suggestions you've offered. I've already done a full backup (using Acronis 2013) and will do a restore point next.