WTF is up with all these Windows Explorer crashes?

[gene0915]

I have the RTM ver of Win 7 x64 Ultimate. (Verified the hash values so I know it's a solid ISO. Burned the disc at 2x and clicked the 'verify' button in Nero.) Me and some friends, and lots of people around the internet appearently, are having random problems where Windows Explorer will just crash. Once it starts crashing, right clicking will trigger it every time. Last night I was logged in to another PC via term. service from my Win 7 box and listening to MP3s with Winamp and Windows Explorer crashed and restarted. After it did it's little data gathering a few seconds later, crashed again. Did this 5 or 6 times in a row and to get it to finally stop, I disconnected my term. service session and it was fine the rest of the night. Other times, I'll just be surfing with IE 8 or FireFox, listening to MP3s and maybe copying some files from my USB attached drive and Windows Explorer will crash and I need to reboot to make it stop. All this happens at totally random times. It faults ntl.dll (I think). When I get home tonight, I'll post up the details from Event Viewer. Has MS acknowledged this bug or does anyone know a fix? I know my hardware is good. Did some memory tests, scanned my drive (RAID array, mirror) and no errors detected. Did the System File Checker thing and no problems detected. I don't run security software (no AV or firewall) so that can't be causing it. I never had this problem with XP Pro x64. When I installed Win7, it was a clean install.

I can go 2 or 3 days and it's fine. Another day Windows Explorer will crash, a lot. I've only been running the RTM ver. for a week or so. I installed Office 2007, Winamp and Nero. I copied all my data back over (MP3s, pics, videos) and haven't installed anything else. (No codecs, no games, no applications, nothing.)

I have an MSDN account will once it's avail. on there, I'll grab it and do a binary compare of the ISO I used and the one from MSDN. If they're the same, I'd like to avoid reinstalling. If there's any difference, I'll reinstall with the MSDN copy.

Any advice to fix this? As I said, I'm not alone. I've read that others are having the same problem. Somebody I know still using the RC has this issue as well. Two of my friends are using the same ver of Win 7 I have and are also getting random Windows Explorer crashes. Driving me up the wall. I so bad want to love/use Windows 7 but if this isn't fixed soon, I might go back to XP.

 

[mickey megabyte]

i've noticed this tendency too - just a right-click at the wrong time and instant crash.

it seems to recover soon enough and then it'll be alright for a few minutes, hours, or days - and then it'll crash again at a random right-click.

i'm a big context menu fan, so it can be aggravating when it happens.

i've wondered why it does it and first of all i thought it was because i tampered with my services, then it started happening on my as-yet-untampered-with laptop. then on pc number 3 i thought it was linked with turning windows media player off in the control panel because i was getting sick of the context menu entries. but it doesn't seem to be that either.

it's got me stumped and thanks for raising the issue.

anyone get this problem?

 

[Mark]

No random crashes here, not using the last build though, I'm using the first 7600 build that leaked and it's been rock solid and everything has been working better then ever.

I have heard that Nero doesn't play nice for some people and I know it has allot of background services running at startup so may be worth removing Nero and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Lee]

What version of 7 are you two running, and what is your system configuration. Might be able to help if that information is available.

 

[Sammy]

I've only had a couple crashes which is normal for me with Kaspersky other than that it's rock solid and I'll never look back at Vista ever again.

 

[mickey megabyte]

two desktops are on chinese frankenbuild 16385-64, laptop is stock 7100RC/32. no nero at all.

it doesn't happen that much with me - plus it's one of those annoying intermittent unreproducable problems - i can rightclick on a certain file and explorer will crash - next time it won't.

the op seems to report that once it starts, it keeps on. this is fortunately not the case with me - just every now and then, but often enough to be noticable.

 

[oneextraid]

Do you have Zonealarm Anti-virus installed or did you uninstall it? I have had this problem in the past when using ZA and Zonealarm support said it was someone elses problem. I have since stopped using ZA for this reason and problems have disappeared.

 

[grouchpunk08]

When you say frankenbuild (lol, love that term), you mean that it has different files in order to make it able to install and whatnot, correct? perhaps there is a file incompatibility, or maybe something in the explorer.exe was misplaced or something along those lines when it was installed, or even perhaps when it was constructed. Have you tried reinstalling? its a longshot, but maybe try partitioning off some space and install there, just to see if the same problem keeps happening.

 

[mickey megabyte]

no nero, no zonealarm. i'm a KIS 2010 man.

frankenbuild from 3 chinese rar's and a boot iso file thingy.

 

[SquonkSC]

Hi Gene,

Could you check you logs in computer manager?

Look for the red stopsign icons. It's tedious work but can help understanding what goes wrong.

What version of Nero are you running? I had a lot of explorer problems with Nero 8 and 9, and now I am using a simple non bloated freeware burner.

I have the 7600.16385 on three computers without any problems since install.

My studio PC is running the 7600.16385 x64 with 32gb ram, 2x 1tb disks, no problems.
Laptop with 7600.16385 with x86 1,5gb ram, no problems.
And HTPC with dualboot 7600.16385 x86 and x64, 8gb ram, 4x1tb disks, 2 tv-cards, again no problem.

I can assure you win7 explorer is not the culprit. It must be a driver or sw or hw conflict.

what are your system specs?
Motherboard? Bios version? etc.


Good luck

 

[pc84]

No crash for me on 7 x64 Pro. I've only one crash of explorer when i did a seach for a file but that was after an upgrade from Vista (bad idea ).Since i've reinstall the OS no crash or bug for me . Maybe you need to check if you have a common point with other persons that have the problem. Maybe it's specific to a software, drivers...

 

[gene0915]

No random crashes here, not using the last build though, I'm using the first 7600 build that leaked and it's been rock solid and everything has been working better then ever.

I have heard that Nero doesn't play nice for some people and I know it has allot of background services running at startup so may be worth removing Nero and see if it makes a difference.

I do have Nero installed. v9.4.13.2 to be exact.

 

[gene0915]

What version of 7 are you two running, and what is your system configuration. Might be able to help if that information is available.

Windows 7 RTM Ultimate, build 16385 (hash verified)
8 gigs of DDR2 memory (no errors)
160 gig SATA II drives (RAID 1, w/Intel Matrix Storage software from Asus)
Asus P5Q board
Intel Quad Core CPU (9450, 2.6Ghz)
EVGA 8800 GTS video card (512 megs of memory)
Samsung SATA DVD writer
VX-5000 web cam (using beta MS drivers for Win 7)

 

[gene0915]

Do you have Zonealarm Anti-virus installed or did you uninstall it? I have had this problem in the past when using ZA and Zonealarm support said it was someone elses problem. I have since stopped using ZA for this reason and problems have disappeared.

I have no security software of any kind installed. No anti-virus, no firewall.

 

[gene0915]

When you say frankenbuild (lol, love that term), you mean that it has different files in order to make it able to install and whatnot, correct? perhaps there is a file incompatibility, or maybe something in the explorer.exe was misplaced or something along those lines when it was installed, or even perhaps when it was constructed. Have you tried reinstalling? its a longshot, but maybe try partitioning off some space and install there, just to see if the same problem keeps happening.

Haven't done a reinstall. Would REALLY like to avoid this as I don't think it will make a difference. I'm going to be getting a MSDN copy on the 6th (plus key) and I plan on doing a binary compare of the 2 ISOs when I get it. If they are different, I'll reinstall. If not, I probably won't.

 

[fseal]

Believe it or not it is entirely possible for buggy video drivers to cause this kind of problem

IE has had the problem in the past where merely scrolling the window would cause a crash because the scrolling action is hardware accellerated and the driver was buggy.

So people havinghte problems, if we could get a concensus on the video card/driver type, or try updating to the manufacturers latest video driver, or if that's where you are, downgrade to the generic driver that comes with windows and see if that fixes the problem temporarily.

I am in the camp of never having IE crash ever. Though it does stall on ad sites that are slow (till I remove them via "IePro"). But I did have the IE crash bug with an ati card years ago and replacing the card eventually fixed the problem for good...

 

[gene0915]

Hi Gene,

Could you check you logs in computer manager?

Look for the red stopsign icons. It's tedious work but can help understanding what goes wrong.

What version of Nero are you running? I had a lot of explorer problems with Nero 8 and 9, and now I am using a simple non bloated freeware burner.

I have the 7600.16385 on three computers without any problems since install.

My studio PC is running the 7600.16385 x64 with 32gb ram, 2x 1tb disks, no problems.
Laptop with 7600.16385 with x86 1,5gb ram, no problems.
And HTPC with dualboot 7600.16385 x86 and x64, 8gb ram, 4x1tb disks, 2 tv-cards, again no problem.

I can assure you win7 explorer is not the culprit. It must be a driver or sw or hw conflict.

what are your system specs?
Motherboard? Bios version? etc.


Good luck

System is as follows:

Windows 7 RTM Ultimate, build 16385 (hash verified)
8 gigs of DDR2 memory (no errors)
160 gig SATA II drives (RAID 1, w/Intel Matrix Storage software from Asus)
Asus P5Q board
Intel Quad Core CPU (9450, 2.6Ghz)
EVGA 8800 GTS video card (512 megs of memory)
Samsung SATA DVD writer
VX-5000 web cam (using beta MS drivers for Win 7)

Here are some of the errors from event viewer:

Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bc9bb
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5be02b
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000000000000a765
Faulting process id: 0xa1c
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca107af33e2251
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 54b3363a-7c6e-11de-a279-002215043a83

Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bc9bb
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5be02b
Exception code: 0xc000041d
Fault offset: 0x0000000000051da0
Faulting process id: 0xe38
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca107aee8295a2
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 2d488f7c-7c6e-11de-a279-002215043a83

Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bc9bb
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5be02b
Exception code: 0xc000041d
Fault offset: 0x0000000000051da0
Faulting process id: 0xa68
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca107aea8eece5
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 29642900-7c6e-11de-a279-002215043a83

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bc9bb
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5be02b
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000051da0
Faulting process id: 0x6b4
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca107ad7282ebd
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 2613c532-7c6e-11de-a279-002215043a83

This is an 'information' log:

Fault bucket 6759323, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: Explorer.EXE
P2: 6.1.7600.16385
P3: 4a5bc9bb
P4: ntdll.dll
P5: 6.1.7600.16385
P6: 4a5be02b
P7: c0000005
P8: 0000000000051da0
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
C:\Users\Gene\AppData\Local\Temp\WER3538.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml

These files may be available here:
C:\Users\Gene\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_Explorer.EXE_fa3593131bd4166162fb964ed7133918e551ccda_0dda4c8f

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: a4267676-7c6d-11de-a279-002215043a83
Report Status: 0

I installed Windows 7 on July 25th. That same day (around 9pm) is when I see the first entries for the crashing. Looking at more of the logs, I installed Office 2007 around 1pm that day. Clue?

 

[gene0915]

No crash for me on 7 x64 Pro. I've only one crash of explorer when i did a seach for a file but that was after an upgrade from Vista (bad idea ).Since i've reinstall the OS no crash or bug for me . Maybe you need to check if you have a common point with other persons that have the problem. Maybe it's specific to a software, drivers...

Here's an export of my sys info:

 

[gene0915]

Believe it or not it is entirely possible for buggy video drivers to cause this kind of problem

IE has had the problem in the past where merely scrolling the window would cause a crash because the scrolling action is hardware accellerated and the driver was buggy.

So people havinghte problems, if we could get a concensus on the video card/driver type, or try updating to the manufacturers latest video driver, or if that's where you are, downgrade to the generic driver that comes with windows and see if that fixes the problem temporarily.

I am in the camp of never having IE crash ever. Though it does stall on ad sites that are slow (till I remove them via "IePro"). But I did have the IE crash bug with an ati card years ago and replacing the card eventually fixed the problem for good...

Rather than downgrade my video card to the stock option, I'll wait until Nvidia releases a new one. I have the following programs installed:

Intel Matrix Storage Manager, Microsoft Lifecam VX-5000 (using beta Win 7 drivers from MS and not the stock ones), MS Office 2007, Firefox 3.5?, Nero 9, Newleecher, Skype 4, Winamp 5 and Windows Live Messenger.

 

[Ames]

I'm getting these random crashes too. I'm running Windows 7 RTM x64 (the real verified ISO). This is the first build thats caused these problems and I'd previously run every build up to and including 7201.

No idea whats causing it. I've got no 3rd party codecs installed, pretty much killed all the run on startup applications, and am running a relatively spartan install.

They appear to happen randomly and I haven't really been able to track them down. Somewhat concerning.

Using an ATI video card with the catalyst 7.7 drivers (but not the whole suite). Its otherwise been rock solid and the system recovery is fast enough its not a huge issue.