Right Click on desktop causing Explorer.exe crash!!!

[TomasWin7]

What a maddening experience

Running Win 7 64Bit Professional (retail)

even happens after a nice fresh clean install. I have seen so many threads/issues around the net about this, you'd think Microsoft would have responded.

I don't have any "additional" junk installed, and it still happens.

It's totally random, could happen 2-3 days after a reboot, or it could happen out of the blue 30 mins into a reboot.

Has anybody seen Microsoft respond about this in ANY way?

 

[scubasteve]

There are many reports of this issue by a subset of users here.

I installed 64bit Win 7 Pro on my desktop and used it extensively for three days without seeing such an error. I then rebuilt the system (long story) and it has been happening non-stop since. BTW, both builds were clean installs.

The only thing that I think that I did differently on the second build is install 7zip. Given that 7zip adds a contextual menu item, I decided to uninstall it last night. The crash still happened. I then rebooted and have not seen a similar crash, but I have only used the system for a couple of hours since this uninstall/reboot.

The entire thing may be a false correlation. Only time (and input from others) will tell. That said, if it crops up again, I am going to rebuild the system...again....assuming, perhaps, it's a corrupt install.

BTW, the specific error relates to a very vague heap corruption that folks here have not been able to debug (yet).

 

[TomasWin7]

There are many reports of this issue by a subset of users here.

The entire thing may be a false correlation. Only time (and input from others) will tell. That said, if it crops up again, I am going to rebuild the system...again.

there are WAY too many reports ALL over the net about this single issue to not be an epidemic.

I literally had a fresh install, and after 2-3 hours without installing ANY third party software had the crash.

In my mind it is definitely a "Windows" issue in some regard. It happens totally at random and mine ALWAYS reports the ntdll.dll file as the culprit.

I installed Win XP 64 on my same system just to make sure it wasn't some crazy hardware issue, and I do not get the problem at all

 

[Dazeon]

I actually reported this to Microsoft via official Microsoft Connect feedback and they didn't want to know.

It was closed as either 'Not Reproducible' or 'Won't Fix' after a day or two, I can't actually remember which one so don't quote me on that.

I have been plagued by this issue (although better minds than mine say they're not all the same issue) for months now.
It really is the biggest pain going, and oddly it only started with the official RTM build.

I have blamed everything from MSE to Firefox, from Codecs to CCleaner.
Always either ntdll.dll or msvcrt.dll.

On the plus side my Reliability Index looks like the best rollercoaster on the planet!

I do agree though, whether this issue is the same issue all round, or a very similar issue we're all seeing, with all the coverage on the net, I wish someone at MS would at least take a look, as in a proper look.

 

[Mbbest]

Hmm..weird problem, luckily i don't have that one

IF you have retail W7, and IF you don't install ANYTHING after w7 installation and that still happening....hmmm..i am not expert but i can presume its some conflict between W7 and hardware..

 

[TomasWin7]

Hmm..weird problem, luckily i don't have that one

IF you have retail W7, and IF you don't install ANYTHING after w7 installation and that still happening....hmmm..i am not expert but i can presume its some conflict between W7 and hardware..

I agree but it has to be something more widespread because it's happening to tons of people with TOTALLY different hardware.

I can't believe Microsoft doesn't care about it when it's this widespread. I bet they are hiding their head in the sand (whoever is responsible at Micro)

lol

 

[Mbbest]

Hmm..weird problem, luckily i don't have that one

IF you have retail W7, and IF you don't install ANYTHING after w7 installation and that still happening....hmmm..i am not expert but i can presume its some conflict between W7 and hardware..

I agree but it has to be something more widespread because it's happening to tons of people with TOTALLY different hardware.

I can't believe Microsoft doesn't care about it when it's this widespread. I bet they are hiding their head in the sand (whoever is responsible at Micro)

lol

It must have something common, or it would happen to ALL people, including me.

 

[BashirSabeel]

Hi, I am having the same anoying problem, Explorer crashes, sometimes the odd time and sometimes all the time e.g. when I right click. I ran Event View and got this information:

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7600.16404, time stamp: 0x4a765771
Faulting module name: msvcrt.dll, version: 7.0.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bdfbe
Exception code: 0xc000041d
Fault offset: 0x0000000000001221
Faulting process id: 0xe0c
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca57cc2dd25380
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
Report Id: 89ddf440-c3bf-11de-8ab6-001e900aaf4a


Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7600.16404, time stamp: 0x4a765771
Faulting module name: comctl32.dll, version: 6.10.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bde67
Exception code: 0xc000041d
Fault offset: 0x0000000000130ab5
Faulting process id: 0x320
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca57cc24f19f00
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.7600.16385_none_fa645303170382f6\comctl32.dll
Report Id: 67a7c680-c3bf-11de-8ab6-001e900aaf4a



Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7600.16404, time stamp: 0x4a765771
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5be02b
Exception code: 0xc0000374
Fault offset: 0x00000000000c6cd2
Faulting process id: 0xe04
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca57ca28852850
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 5f7737c0-c3bf-11de-8ab6-001e900aaf4a

Does anyone know what this means and why these dll files are faulting???

 

[Dazeon]

I can't say for definite whether the issue occurs on a completely vanilla install, i.e. just the files on the DVD.

However, the issue does occur on a vanilla install with nothing but the Windows Updates.

Basically there is nothing that I haven't tried, I'm kind of sick of writing this stuff down but continue to do so in the hope of finding a fix.

I have done the following things:

Disabled every non-Microsoft entry using ShellExView.
Uninstalled anything that I thought might cause Explorer issues, for example, CCleaner, Java, Firefox, Win7Codecs, Microsoft Security Essentials, 7-Zip, WinRAR, Spybot - Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster, Malwarebytes', the list goes on.
Cleaned my registry.
Tried various Firefox beta builds.
Uninstalled my Creative X-Fi.
Updated my BIOS.
Installed the latest drivers for ALL my hardware.
Used the default drivers for ALL my hardware.
Re-downloaded my Windows 7 ISO from Technet.
Burnt ISO to DVD (twice with different ISO).
Copied ISO to USB (again, twice with different ISO.
As above, four clean installs.
Reported the issue to Microsoft.
Posted the issue here and on NeoWin.
Submitted various dumps here. All point to Heap Corruption.
Tried various debugging methods, nothing solid.

...and a whole lot more I can't think of just now.

My hardware is all pretty standard stuff (see specs.), now the Creative card is gone there is nothing Windows 7 cannot find a driver for on installation, and with the exception of my ATi card, EVERYTHING is onboard, and either Intel or Realtek.

Those error reports look mighty familiar BashirSabeel!

 

[TomasWin7]

Microsoft will fix it in some random Windows Update and we'll never know the true cause

 

[scubasteve]

Well, uninstalling 7zip did not help...nor did using ShellExView to disable every non-Microsoft context menu...so I reinstalled the OS...from scratch...and we will see.

 

[scubasteve]

Well, that was fast. Boom.

I rebuilt, allowed it to install updates, and only added two items - Avast & Firefox...and hit my first explorer crash within ten minutes.

This absolutely sucks. If MS does not address this issue fast, I am going back to XP.

 

[cvor]

I have a sporadic issue with Explorer crashing as well (not always with right clicking - can be when I close windows) and called MS support twice today. I explained to them it was sporadic and comes and goes. I emailed both people the error message details (some of the error details were different actually). The first person had me do a disk cleanup and clean prefetch. The second person had me disable startup programs and non-MS services and reboot. She asked me if I still had the issue and I said it was sporadic and the issue wasn't that it was currently happening and I pointed out we did nothing to address the problem. She told me to call back when it happened again! I said-- well -- this is why I am on the phone with you now.

WTF is wrong with these people?

I guess if Windows works 50% of the day they can't help me if I am talking to them when it happens to be during the time it is working? They essentially told me they can't do anything and to call back when it happens again - which means I will tell them it just crashed but it is now working and they will then tell me to call them back when it happens again.


Great

 

[TomasWin7]

Well, that was fast. Boom.

I rebuilt, allowed it to install updates, and only added two items - Avast & Firefox...and hit my first explorer crash within ten minutes.

This absolutely sucks. If MS does not address this issue fast, I am going back to XP.

I told you, same crap for me.

I do not install any "shell extensions" and it happens almost right away... This problem happens to A LOT of people. Something more going on than a "3rd party app causing a crash"...

It's so utterly annoying to have to try and find ways around doing normal right click activities.

We should make it into a drinking game...everytime Explorer.exe crashes for someone we take a drink...

 

[TomasWin7]

I have a sporadic issue with Explorer crashing as well (not always with right clicking - can be when I close windows) and called MS support twice today. I explained to them it was sporadic and comes and goes. I emailed both people the error message details (some of the error details were different actually). The first person had me do a disk cleanup and clean prefetch. The second person had me disable startup programs and non-MS services and reboot. She asked me if I still had the issue and I said it was sporadic and the issue wasn't that it was currently happening and I pointed out we did nothing to address the problem. She told me to call back when it happened again! I said-- well -- this is why I am on the phone with you now.

WTF is wrong with these people?

I guess if Windows works 50% of the day they can't help me if I am talking to them when it happens to be during the time it is working? They essentially told me they can't do anything and to call back when it happens again - which means I will tell them it just crashed but it is now working and they will then tell me to call them back when it happens again.


Great

You do realize she is reading from a script on a screen. She (probably) has NO IDEA what you even mean by half the stuff you tell her/him... She/he is reading something that says, TELL XXXX TO DISABLE ALL NON-MICROSOFT PRODUCTS, and walks you through it... Your chances of getting any type of tech on the line that knows the issue is 0000000000000000000.00000%

This happens on a FRESH install of Windows 7...I used WinXP for YEARS and never had ONE blue screen.. it's so utterly frustrating...and its even worse knowing that Microsoft is just sitting back and chuckling about it

The one thing I did notice tonight is that when it happens, if I click restart Explorer enough times, right clicking will eventually start working again. I used to think I had to reboot for it to clear up, but after restarting Explorer xxxx times it eventually works.

 

[cvor]

You do realize she is reading from a script on a screen. She (probably) has NO IDEA what you even mean by half the stuff you tell her/him... She/he is reading something that says, TELL XXXX TO DISABLE ALL NON-MICROSOFT PRODUCTS, and walks you through it... Your chances of getting any type of tech on the line that knows the issue is 0000000000000000000.00000%

Of course I realize it - but not all customer service is scripted to this degree especially when you point out they really did nothing and didn't even acknowledge the problem. She essentially said "it's not happening now so it's fixed" when it was not fixed and wasn't happening when I initially called. What she could have said is that she will forward my errors to analysts and get back to me.

 

[scubasteve]

It's only happened once since my last rebuild...but if past experience is an indication of the future, it will start to happen with increasing frequency until I reboot...and then be good again for a while. Even when it is happening all the time however, it is still somewhat sporadic. Perhaps 50% of the right-clicks.

Seems like this one should be fairly straightforward for MS to fix...assuming they can reproduce it. It's not like we are reporting a random BSOD with unknown conditions. It's whatever code (and plugins) get executed on a right-click. Thus, I am cautiously optimistic..

 

[cvor]

FYI - I just emailed engadget..maybe they can do a story on it. Doubt it will happen but giving it the college try. Maybe if enough people report this issue it will get some kind of priority--or even acknowledgement.

 

[cvor]

Scuba-- are you getting this when closing windows sometimes? For me it seems to happen just as frequently when closing windows/applications. I guess the best way to classify the impact of this is as a "consistently sporadic nuissance".

 

[scubasteve]

Scuba-- are you getting this when closing windows sometimes? For me it seems to happen just as frequently when closing windows/applications. I guess the best way to classify the impact of this is as a "consistently sporadic nuissance".

Yes, it has happened in that case. That said, it is far more common for me when I right-click in the shell.

In my current build, it has happened once - when I right-clicked on a new library that I created to access the properties menu (to setup folders).

Frankly, I would be satisfied if MS simply stated, "we are aware of it and are looking into it." Perhaps getting a site like Engadget or Gizmodo to post a related story might light a fire under their butts.