Help MVPs! - Error With Explorer.exe

[Rick Friedman]

I am having a problem with Explorer.exe. Occasionally, it will stop and
restart for no *apparent* reason. It seems to happen mostly when I
access the Start menu or when I open a folder.

The system doesn't respond for a second or two and the desktop icons and
taskbar disappear. Then the desktop icons reappear along with the
taskbar. However, not all the icons that were previously in the *system
tray* reappear. While those icons remain missing, task manager indicates
that the processes those icons represent are still running.

The last time this happened, I checked the event viewer and found the
following event:

Date: 11/23/2003 Source: Winlogon
Time: 6:15:20 PM Category: None
Type: Information Event ID: 1002
User: N/A
Computer: OEMCOMPUTER

Description:

The shell stopped unexpectedly and Explorer.exe was restarted.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


I found two articles relating to this: Q254220 (which suggests removing
Novell Distributed Print Services version 4.7) and Q275599 (which
suggests removing Allaire Homesite and/or Cold Fusion). I have none of
these packages on my system.

Can anyone help???

Rick

 

[Will Denny]

Hi Rick

Try the following link - it may help you:

http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1002&source=winlogon

 

[Rick Friedman]

Hi Will!

Thanks for responding. I had already checked that very same link you
provided. I tried the comments there which seemed appropriate to my
system. So far, I haven't had the problem re-occur. Unfortunately,
sometimes I can go hours without it. Other times, it can happen several
times within several minutes.

If, and when, it happens again, I'll post here again.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Will Denny]

Hi Rick

Unfortunately MS don't provide much help with this error message:

http://tinyurl.com/wb8d
http://tinyurl.com/wb8r

 

[Malke]

Hi Will!

Thanks for responding. I had already checked that very same link you
provided. I tried the comments there which seemed appropriate to my
system. So far, I haven't had the problem re-occur. Unfortunately,
sometimes I can go hours without it. Other times, it can happen
several times within several minutes.

If, and when, it happens again, I'll post here again.

Thanks,
Rick

Rick, random crashes often indicate failing hardware. Here are some
generic hardware troubleshooting steps: 1) Open the computer and run it
open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and observing all fans (overheating
will cause system freezing); 2) test the RAM - I like Memtest86 from
www.memtest86.com - let the test run for an extended (like overnight)
period of time - unless errors are seen immediately; 3) test the hard
drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.; 4) test the
motherboard. If you can't do this testing yourself, take the machine to
a good local computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of
store).

Good luck - I know how frustrating these random errors are!

Malke

 

[Rick Friedman]

Malke, unfortunately, these don't seem to be truly random. Everytime it
occurs, I am either accessing the Start menu or doing something in an
explorer window (i.e. opening a folder, moving a file, etc.).

However, not all the time I do the above does the problem with explorer
occur.

As I said, it doesn't seem to be random as I'm doing the same thing each
time it happens. I thought perhaps there was some problem with my hard
drive. I've run every test I have on it though and it comes up fine.

Since posting my first message about this, I've seen at least one other
message posted by someone else who is having the same problem.

Rick

 

[Malke]

Malke, unfortunately, these don't seem to be truly random. Everytime
it occurs, I am either accessing the Start menu or doing something in
an explorer window (i.e. opening a folder, moving a file, etc.).

However, not all the time I do the above does the problem with
explorer occur.

As I said, it doesn't seem to be random as I'm doing the same thing
each time it happens. I thought perhaps there was some problem with my
hard drive. I've run every test I have on it though and it comes up
fine.

Since posting my first message about this, I've seen at least one
other message posted by someone else who is having the same problem.

Well, you're one step further along on your troubleshooting road. Have
you done a RAM test? I would definitely do this since Memtest86 is free
and it can't hurt. I assume you've already removed any spyware with
Spybot S&D (www.security.kolla.de) and Ad-aware (www.lavasoftusa.com)
and have run an antivirus scan. I assume you've emptied your Temporary
Internet Files folder and deleted all temporary files. I assume that
you've basically run the machine with no extra programs in the
background and have added one at a time to be sure there isn't a
conflict, say with printer drivers or sound card software or video
drivers. If any of my assumptions are incorrect, please take that
t-shooting step! Do post back with what you've tried for more help. You
*can* win - it just takes persistence. Of course, you could do what my
friend Don Olson always does - format the drive and reinstall Windows!
It is so often his answer to Windows aggravations (he's basically the
Mac King) that I call the format/install thing "to olson a drive".
Maybe you'll decide that olsoning the drive is easier.

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Rod Potter]

Hi Rick: I have been following this thread with some interest. Because I
have been experiencing the same thing on my Fujitsu laptop with XP home. A
little frustrating but something I live with. As with you, it happens mostly
when using explorer for me as I have external 80 gig hd that I am constantly
searching for files, graphics, etc. All of a sudden, poof, crash and icons
disappear, then refresh but not all of them.

Rod

 

[Rick Friedman]

Rod,

I tried something I saw one of the MVPs suggest in another thread. In
that thread, another person was having the same problem. The MVP (named
Alex Nichol) suggested the following:

"Windows explorer (explorer.exe) is more than just what you see as that,
it is the whole desktop shell of Windows, so if it crashes you lose the
desktop, until such time as it re-loads. You may then find that some of
the 'tray' icons from programs, by the clock, do not re-appear.

Trouble is, it is very difficult to see why it should crash: but
sometimes it does, usually less drastically. I would suggest doing a
refresh of system files, in case it has been damaged. Put the CD in the
drive, exit the autorun, and then go to Start - Run and run
SFC /SCANNOW"

I tried SFC /SCANNOW. Apparently it checks the system files and, if it
finds a problem, automatically refreshes it from the original file on
the Windows XP CD. Since doing that, I haven't experienced the problem.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I can go an entire 24 hours without
explorer faulting, I'll be convinced that the problem is solved. I
haven't gone a full day without it happening several times.

I'll let you know what happens.

Rick

 

[Rod Potter]

Hi Rick: Just for info purposes, let me know what happens. I can't do the
same as I do not have XP cd, only a recovery disk which I don't think would
work. Interested to know if it helps you.

Rod

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Hi Rick: Just for info purposes, let me know what happens. I can't do
the same as I do not have XP cd, only a recovery disk which I don't
think would work. Interested to know if it helps you.

Rod

Look in the C: drive for a folder called "i386", if it is there, this is the
folder that contains all of the system files for XP from the installation
CD. Many PC manufacturers place these files there for this purpose. Try to
run SFC /SCANNOW and it should use that folder for the source of any
replacement files.
--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org

 

[Rod Potter]

Ronnie: I looked and I have that folder. Learn something new every day. Will
see if it works and let you know.
Rod

 

[Guest]

It's been a couple of months since there was any activity on this, so maybe the problem was fixed...based on what I saw in the posting history, I'd guess not.

I've been dealing with this problem for a month since getting a new machine. I finally fixed it yesterday, but still don't know the cause for certain. It happened most often when an Explorer window was open, particularly if browsing a folder with a large number of images. However, I first discovered it when trying to copy some large files from my old machine.The shell would terminate and leave the partly copied file on the new machine.

Although I have no proof, I believe the problem originated with transferring files and settings from the computer the new one replaced using the File and Settings Transfer Wizard. The compressed file was nearly 20 GB and installed normally. I worked with Microsoft Assisted Support for 3 weeks, including escalation to second tier support. Suggested solutions included remove virus from the system (none), update non-current drivers, disable all non-Microsoft services in msconfig, update required to Roxio Easy CD Creator, create a new admin user and log on there, start in Safe Mode (problem does not occur in Safe Mode, but does occur in Safe Mode with Networking), install a new copy of Windows on second drive (not possible here...second drive is larger than 131 GB, and those drives aren't supported until SP1), remove network cards and modems to remove and then rebuild a corrupted TCP/IP stack, and perform repair installation of Windows. None of that worked.

I used a command prompt to XCOPY all my user files (including application data stored in the Program Files folders) to the second drive, then reinstalled Windows on the primary drive by booting from the CD, creating a new installation, deleted all partitions on the main drive, recreated a new partition and formatted it (not quick format), and installed Windows from scratch. When the installation was complete (including SP1 and all Windows Updates), I recopied only the essential files back to the main drive. I reinstalled applications, first Office, then others, saving restore points after each successful install. So far, none of the application installations have caused the problem to reoccur. My system has been running since yesterday afternoon without having Explorer stop unexpectedly.

The only significant difference between the original installation and the current one which works properly was that this time I did not attempt to use the File and Settings Transfer Wizard. A complete installation is a genuine pain. However, it was the only option of all the ones listed that seems to have solved the problem.

You are not the only one with this problem...there are several posts on this and forums from users experiencing the same symptoms. You will find even more if you search Google Groups. If this works for you, I'd be interested in knowing if you also ran the File and Settings Transfer Wizard before you noticed the problem. Can email to m a r k r a v e r y @ h o t m a i l . c o m (without the antispam spaces, of course). Same for anyone else who experiences this after running the F&ST Wizard and a clean install of XP fixes the problem. I'll add the info to my open case with Microsoft Assisted Support and perhaps find a real solution that corrects the cause instead of just starting over.