'Windows Explorer has stopped working' - caused by bad graphics driver

[teckneeculler]

W7 Ultimate 64bit:

'Windows Explorer has stopped working' messages have been more frequent of late - once or twice a day, sometimes more often.

There's a lot of online commentary about graphics drivers causing the problem.

What's your take?

 

[mrjimphelps]

If you know that it is the graphics driver, then try reinstalling the driver. If that doesn't fix the problem, then try an earlier version of the driver.

If that doesn't fix it, then we need more information than what you have given in order to figure out what is causing the problem.

 

[teckneeculler]

I was actually just generalizing.

Like: Is it possible for graphics drivers to cause Windows explorer to stop working?

 

[RonnySharma]

Hey guys! So I've been playing COD WW2 for a while now. It has been working just fine until today I completed few pending system and driver updates. Now as I open the game it only loads a black screen on the startup and crashes itself automatically. Any idea how do I get it working again? Thanks a lot in advance for the responses

 

[teckneeculler]

Are you running System Restore? If so, and you have a Restore Point that's fairly recent, restore your system to that version.

Or, check to see exactly which updates were loaded, and uninstall them.

Personally, when I reinstall my W7 Ultimate OS, I download only the updates that I know won't cause any problems, then turn off Windows Updates. My personal computer is just about due for a Windows reinstall (due to clutter) and has been running for three years without Windows Updates.

 

[Snick]

RonnySharma,

Do you have a Restore point prior to updates, if so, you can restore to that point.

 

[mrjimphelps]

I was actually just generalizing.

Like: Is it possible for graphics drivers to cause Windows explorer to stop working?

Just about anything is possible. You need to think that it might be, and then pursue a possible solution along that line. Likely someone else found that that fixed it for them, so you should at least consider it.

Reinstalling the graphics driver won't hurt anything, so that is something that you should try, as well as trying a newer or older version of the graphics driver. If absolutely nothing changes when you do that, then you can pretty safely rule out the graphics driver as a possible cause. If there are slight changes, but no solution, then you might be on the right track when you consider the graphics driver. In that case, try the Vista driver (if available) or the Windows 8.1 driver (if available). Sometimes you get lucky when you try the previous or next Windows version driver.

Your video card could be bad. If it is overheating, then it should be replaced. If it is caked with dust, blow the dust off. Simply pulling it out and then reinserting it into its slot can fix problems, because when you pull it out and reinsert it, you are scraping/rubbing the connectors, and cleaning them in the process, thereby allowing for better contact.