explorer.exe freezes multiple times a day

[guitarfish]

I am trying to diagnose and fix an issue on a Windows 7 Pro x64 at my office. It is an Active Directory domain member. Several times a day explorer.exe freezes. The user has to go into Task Manager and End Task, then New Task to restart explorer.exe.

It’s been happening for a couple months now, we can’t point to a specific event that precipitated it. I wish I could backup the data and do a reformat/reinstall, except this PC is the most complex client PC in our organization, and it would be days of work to rebuild it.

Explorer.exe freezes 3-6 times per day, there is no pattern or specific action that seems to trigger it.

I don’t believe it’s a malware issue. There are no browser/popup issues. The PC has Kaspersky Endpoint Protection 10 installed, its scans come up clean. There are no errors in the System or Application logs.

What I’ve done so far:
- Deleted c:\windows\temp, User\Appdata\Local\Temp
- Deleted browser cache (IE and Firefox)
- Chkdsk /f (no errors)
- SFC /Scannow (no errors)
- Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth (no errors)
- Malwarebytes full scan, deleted all items found
- Kaspersky Endpoint scan

I uninstalled the Kaspersky and installed MS Security Essentials, did a full scan with that, came up clean.

I have to resolve this soon, the user has been more than patient. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer. I’m running out of ideas.

 

[gregrocker]

Work through the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

 

[guitarfish]

The problem was a piece of crapware called "Shop at Home Helper". Wasn't listed as an installed program, so it had to be removed via registry and file deletion. No Explorer.exe freezes in 2 weeks.