821557, SharedDocs and Explorer fails, and more

[activinet]

I last asked for help in September, and there was no fix for this
particular behavior. I searched the groups today, and I didn't find
anything about this behavior, so I am asking again. Please respond if
you know of any change/fix; this is not about shortcuts to floppy or
cd-rom. Thanks.

821557 hurt 2 PC's, one XP Home and one XP Pro. Main symptom on both
PCs: when selecting a sub-folder of my SharedDocs on PCxx folder
(either PC), Windows
Explorer will fail, the screen will flash/initialize(?) and I'll lose
some icons from system tray (but those programs are still running, as
observed in Task Manager). Sometimes the failure asks to send a report
to Microsoft.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling 821577 and rebooting multiple
times. Removing 821557 did not correct this behavior. At this point,
both machines have 821577 because of the later "rollup" patch.

It's a productivity drain to have to click open Windows Explorer,
clicking 4 times to traverse the tree down to a Shared Documents
sub-folder, because I can't reach it with a shortcut. I've been doing
this since August. What's worse, I have to traverse the tree even
when, for example, I want to add an attachment to an email from one of
these SharedDocuments sub-folders, or, when I want to Save As... a
file from a web page.

Thanks for reading about my problem.

 

[CWatters]

I think I have the same problem on WinXP Pro..

I have a shared folder (THE All Users shared documents folder) full of
photographs that usually crashes explorer. If I stay away from this shared
folder my machine is 100% reliable.

After a crash the "Application Event Log" (see Event Viewer) has the entry
below. The version of Shell32.dll I have is 6.0.2800.1233. I tried
replacing shell32.dll with another copy of the same version but it made no
difference. Guess what - I did this by installing the update 821557. This
probably means you have the same version of shell32.dll

Anyone know how to get a more recent version of shell32.dll ???? According
to Windows Update my system is upto date (except for DirectX and WMP).

Perhaps we have something else in common that explains this....

*I'm using OSASYNC to share my Contacts via a subfolder in this problem
folder.
*I'm also sharing this folder with other machines on my LAN.
*The problem folder contains about 1.88GByte of data (mixed file sizes, some
very big)
*Sub folders are set up all different ways (some view as Icons, some as
filmstrip etc)

Any of this common to you?

Regards

Colin

The event is:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 13/11/2003
Time: 13:52:51
User: N/A
Computer: <name of my computer deleted>
Description:
Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2800.1221, faulting module
shell32.dll, version 6.0.2800.1233, fault address 0x000c745f.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 6c707041 74616369 206e6f69 6c696146
0010: 20657275 70786520 65726f6c 78652e72
0020: 2e362065 38322e30 312e3030 20313232
0030: 73206e69 6c6c6568 642e3233 36206c6c
0040: 322e302e 2e303038 33333231 20746120
0050: 7366666f 30207465 37633030 0d663534
0060: 0a

 

[davetest]

I last asked for help in September, and there was no fix for this
particular behavior. I searched the groups today, and I didn't find
anything about this behavior, so I am asking again. Please respond if
you know of any change/fix; this is not about shortcuts to floppy or
cd-rom. Thanks.

821557 hurt 2 PC's, one XP Home and one XP Pro. Main symptom on both
PCs: when selecting a sub-folder of my SharedDocs on PCxx folder
(either PC), Windows
Explorer will fail, the screen will flash/initialize(?) and I'll lose
some icons from system tray (but those programs are still running, as
observed in Task Manager). Sometimes the failure asks to send a report
to Microsoft.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling 821577 and rebooting multiple
times. Removing 821557 did not correct this behavior. At this point,
both machines have 821577 because of the later "rollup" patch.

It's a productivity drain to have to click open Windows Explorer,
clicking 4 times to traverse the tree down to a Shared Documents
sub-folder, because I can't reach it with a shortcut. I've been doing
this since August. What's worse, I have to traverse the tree even
when, for example, I want to add an attachment to an email from one of
these SharedDocuments sub-folders, or, when I want to Save As... a
file from a web page.

Thanks for reading about my problem.

Are you talking about viewing the shared folder on the local
pc or a networked pc?
Have you run qfecheck to check for incomplete maintenance?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=282784

Secondly, if that doesn't help, try SFC /scannow

Dave

 

[CWatters]

Are you talking about viewing the shared folder on the local
pc or a networked pc?

The local PC.

Have you run qfecheck to check for incomplete maintenance?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=282784

I have now and this is what it says...

Windows XP Hotfix Validation Report for <computer>
Report Date: 11/13/2003 8:16pm

Current Service Pack Level: Service Pack 1

Hotfixes Identified:
Q282784: Current on system.
Q324720: Current on system.
KB817778: Current on system.
KB820291: Current on system.
KB821253: Current on system.

Secondly, if that doesn't help, try SFC /scannow

SFC briefly flashes up a message window then closes it so I assume it's not
found any problems.

Colin

 

[davetest]

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 19:26:54 GMT, "CWatters"

SFC briefly flashes up a message window then closes it so I assume it's not
found any problems.

Colin

Hello Colin,
SFC /SCANNOW is supposed to run for a few minutes, because it checks
every protected file.
Open a CMD box and run it from there, then you'll find out what is
going on.

Dave

 

[CWatters]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the help.

I ran SFC /SCANNOW in a CMD window and it opened a progress bar that moved
rapidly to 100% and then closed. It's all over in about 3 seconds.

So I ran SFC /SCANONCE and rebooted. This time I got prompted to insert the
WinXP CD and it took about 5 mins to complete the check with lots of CD
access - but produced no report I could find. The progress bar just closed
and that was it so I assume all was OK.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the problem folder also contains My
Favorites and I'm sure some entries have very long and possibly suspect file
names that they inherited from the web site when they were bookmarked. Is
there a file name validator utility for XP/NTFS ?

Colin

 

[davetest]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the help.

I ran SFC /SCANNOW in a CMD window and it opened a progress bar that moved
rapidly to 100% and then closed. It's all over in about 3 seconds.

So I ran SFC /SCANONCE and rebooted. This time I got prompted to insert the
WinXP CD and it took about 5 mins to complete the check with lots of CD
access - but produced no report I could find. The progress bar just closed
and that was it so I assume all was OK.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the problem folder also contains My
Favorites and I'm sure some entries have very long and possibly suspect file
names that they inherited from the web site when they were bookmarked. Is
there a file name validator utility for XP/NTFS ?

Colin

Look in the event viewer for a possible log of the sfc operations.
eventvwr.msc from the run box.
Try running chkdsk /r amd it will check the files and the
disks for problems.
I reread your first post and I want to make sure I understand it.
Are you saying this problem only occurs if you access
\documents and settings\all users\shared documents\
folders and files from a shortcut ? If you drill down
thru explorer it works OK?
If this is the problem, where is the shortcut, and how did you
create it?
If the problem is different please elaborate.
Why is your favorites under shared documents?

Dave

 

[CWatters]

Thanks. The event log says it found....

"Windows File Protection scan found that the system file
c:\windows\system32\drivers\wceusbsh.sys has a bad signature. This file was
restored to the original version to maintain system stability."

But this didn't fix Explorer.

Try running chkdsk /r amd it will check the files and the
disks for problems.

Will do that tomorrow as it will take a while to run.

I reread your first post and I want to make sure I understand it.
Are you saying this problem only occurs if you access
\documents and settings\all users\shared documents\
folders and files from a shortcut ? If you drill down
thru explorer it works OK?

To be honest I almost always access it via a shortcut I put on the desktop.
As an experiment I've just tried to get it to crash by drilling down from C:
and it didn't. I then went in via the shortcut and it crashed instantly. You
might be onto something here. I'll try and repeat this tomorrow and see if
it always reliable one way and not the other.

If this is the problem, where is the shortcut, and how did you
create it?

It's on the desktop and I can't remember. It doesn't have a shortcut arrow.
I probably went to My Computer and right clicked on the shared folder then
clicked Create Shortcut. I just tried this again and it says something like
"It can't create one here. Do you want it on the disk top instead".

Is there a best way to create this shortcut?

If the problem is different please elaborate.
Why is your favorites under shared documents?

So I can share the same set with my wife and also have them available when I
log in as admin.

 

[davetest]

It's on the desktop and I can't remember. It doesn't have a shortcut arrow.
I probably went to My Computer and right clicked on the shared folder then
clicked Create Shortcut. I just tried this again and it says something like
"It can't create one here. Do you want it on the disk top instead".

Is there a best way to create this shortcut?

Delete the offending shortcut. Open explorer, drill down to
the folder you need. Right click it and drag it to the desktop.
A box will popup asking you what you want to do, select
"create shortcut"

Dave

 

[activinet]

I appreciate the followups from CWatters, who has the same issue (I
knew I wasn't alone), and davetest, who is trying to help us.

My original post states that if I use Windows Explorer, and then
traverse the folders, starting with My Computer, I have no problem. In
other words, traversing folder by folder to:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Technology will work
just fine.

On the other hand, if I click on the desktop shortcut, "SharedDocs on
PC01", then Explorer fails, screen flashes/reinitializes, and I lose
icons in the System Tray. PC01 is the local computer. Hovering over
the shortcut icon displays \\PC01\SharedDocs . This is a system
created icon, and does not have the typical "shortcut arrow" in the
bottom left corner. In my attempts to fix, deleting this shortcut did
not resolve the problem.

Other people have suggested I do the SFC /SCANNOW and CHKDSK and
testing for all current patches and hotfixes. Nothing has helped. I
also tried replacing the Shell32.dll without success.

A couple of other things. As I originally wrote, if I want to put
something in a sub-folder under SharedDocs, for example, save a Word
document, then I need to traverse the folders,
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Technology
in the File Dialog box. If I forget, and instead do,
Desktop\SharedDocs on PC01
then it "blows up".

What I'm really looking for is a hotfix from Microsoft. I am not
alone, and back in July-September, a few other people reported this
problem in the newsgroups. I was hoping there was a Hotfix, much like
the Hotfix Microsoft acknowledged and created for those whose Floppy
and CD-ROM shortcuts were failing. It's also strange that in that
case, you have to go through Microsoft Phone Support (apparently) to
get the Hotfix.

 

[davetest]

I appreciate the followups from CWatters, who has the same issue (I
knew I wasn't alone), and davetest, who is trying to help us.

My original post states that if I use Windows Explorer, and then
traverse the folders, starting with My Computer, I have no problem. In
other words, traversing folder by folder to:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Technology will work
just fine.

On the other hand, if I click on the desktop shortcut, "SharedDocs on
PC01", then Explorer fails, screen flashes/reinitializes, and I lose
icons in the System Tray. PC01 is the local computer. Hovering over
the shortcut icon displays \\PC01\SharedDocs . This is a system
created icon, and does not have the typical "shortcut arrow" in the
bottom left corner. In my attempts to fix, deleting this shortcut did
not resolve the problem.

Other people have suggested I do the SFC /SCANNOW and CHKDSK and
testing for all current patches and hotfixes. Nothing has helped. I
also tried replacing the Shell32.dll without success.

A couple of other things. As I originally wrote, if I want to put
something in a sub-folder under SharedDocs, for example, save a Word
document, then I need to traverse the folders,
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Technology
in the File Dialog box. If I forget, and instead do,
Desktop\SharedDocs on PC01
then it "blows up".

What I'm really looking for is a hotfix from Microsoft. I am not
alone, and back in July-September, a few other people reported this
problem in the newsgroups. I was hoping there was a Hotfix, much like
the Hotfix Microsoft acknowledged and created for those whose Floppy
and CD-ROM shortcuts were failing. It's also strange that in that
case, you have to go through Microsoft Phone Support (apparently) to
get the Hotfix.

How did you create this icon without the shortcut-arrow?
If you deleted it, how did you get it back?

The method I mentioned in the prior post produces a shortcut
that contains the arrow. It works.

Dave

 

[CWatters]

Hi Dave,

It really looks like you have identified the solution. Many thanks.

I've deleted the shortcut from the desktop (the one without a shortcut
arrow) and re-created it by going to My Computer, right clicking on the
shared folder then and selecting Create Shortcut. (It offers to create the
shortcut on the Desktop instead so I clicked yes).

This time it created one WITH a shortcut arrow and it seems to work fine -
at least I haven't managed to get it to crash explorer yet. I'm not sure how
I created the "problem" shortcut WITHOUT the arrow but it must have been a
different way.

To Activinet....

Hovering over the shortcut icon displays \\PC01\SharedDocs .
This is a system created icon, and does not have the typical
"shortcut arrow" in the bottom left corner.

This is EXACTLY the same as mine was (eg \\<name_of_computer\ShareDocs> . It
should be possible for you to delete the suspect shortcut and re-create it
the way I did above. After making the change if I hover over the shortcut it
now says "Shortcut to Shared Documents Location: My Computer".

(Just to finish off - running chkdsk /r didn't find any problems)

Thanks again Dave.

Colin

 

[activinet]

Dave,

1. Thank you for your assistance. Your method of creating a shorcut is
a workaround that works.

2. The "system created shortcut" to which I refer is different. When I
look at the properties, it is of "Type: folder", not shortcut. The
target is the same as that of the new shortcut (which indeed is a
"Type: shortcut"). The "system created shortcut" (or folder as it
were) has a comment, "\\PC01\SharedDocs".

So, this then is why I feel my XP is still slightly broken. It means I
have trouble addressing shares on my local PC with the UNC name. Yet,
I can share "\\PC01\SharedDocs" from a remote machine with no trouble.

And this is why I am looking for a Microsoft hotfix, a fix to
something they broke with an update.

 

[activinet]

CWatters,
You may want to see my reply under the original thread. I agree,
davetest (Dave) gave us a workaround that works, and I thanked him for
that. Still, there is missing functionality that was broken (for us)
with 821557. The original shortcut if you will was addressing a Share
on your local machine. The new shorcut addresses a Folder on your
local machine.

 

[CWatters]

CWatters,
You may want to see my reply under the original thread. I agree,
davetest (Dave) gave us a workaround that works, and I thanked him for
that. Still, there is missing functionality that was broken (for us)
with 821557. The original shortcut if you will was addressing a Share
on your local machine. The new shorcut addresses a Folder on your
local machine.

I think I see what you are saying... In effect we've fixed the desktop
shortcut but not the underlying problem of access via the UNC path.

I've just tried opening explorer on the local computer and typing in the UNC
path (eg \\<computer>\shareddocs) and then exploring from there - that seems
to work OK for me but perhaps it always has?

Is there a way I can duplicate what you are doing to see if I still see the
same problem?

Colin