Crash opening large folder in thumbnaill view

[Terry Pinnell]

Explorer in XP Pro consistently crashes when I try to switch to
Thumbnail View in a 10 GB folder of about 1300 files.

Also, whatever the view, the status line incorrectly shows its size as
5.16 GB.

Anyone able to suggest an explanation please?

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Explorer in XP Pro consistently crashes when I try to switch to
Thumbnail View in a 10 GB folder of about 1300 files.

Also, whatever the view, the status line incorrectly shows its size as
5.16 GB.

Anyone able to suggest an explanation please?

No one?

 

[Olórin]

No one?

You need to be prepared to wait longer than just overnight for an answer!

In Windows Explorer's Status Bar the size count I believe you're looking at
doesn't include files in sub-folders. Are these 1300 files all in the root
of the one folder you're looking at, or are they structured in subfolders?

re the crashing, what exactly happens when it "crashes"? What I'd try is:-

(1) checking Event Logs (Start > Run > eventvwr.msc) for any clues from
events logged at the time of the crash;

(2) in details view, deleting the Thumbs.db file and letting it get
recreated by the next switch to Thumbnail View, see if that fixes it;

(3) if you're not using subfolders (which you might want to consider anyway
just for organisational purposes), create a subfolder and put half the files
in it, see if the Thumbnail View of that crashes, ditto the remainder in the
original folder with Thumbs.db deleted. If one works okay but the other
crashes, you might have a corrupt file - hunt it down by whittling away at
the bad batch in similar fashion. Alternatively, in a non-Thumbnails view,
Right-click > Preview the first one and right-arrow your way through them
all in the Picture and Fax Viewer, see if any of the files throws up an
error.

Is any of the files an .avi file?

 

[Terry Pinnell]

You need to be prepared to wait longer than just overnight for an answer!

Many thanks, appreciate your help. (And apologies for my impatience!)

In Windows Explorer's Status Bar the size count I believe you're looking at
doesn't include files in sub-folders. Are these 1300 files all in the root
of the one folder you're looking at, or are they structured in subfolders?

OK, you're right. (That seems flawed design IMO. The Status Bar shows
the number of objects *including* folders, yet the storage size
excludes them.) I had a mixture of folders and files.

re the crashing, what exactly happens when it "crashes"? What I'd try is:-

Since my post I've re-organised a little (along the lines of your
'repeated division' suggestion below) so the status now differs,
although the problem remains. Pending further splitting, I currently
now have 3 folders and have been examining them individually.

#1 has a mixture of folders and files, and is 4.90 GB. At the top
level it opens in Thumbnail view OK. The largest individual folder is
780 MB and that too opens OK. There are no AVI files in #1.

#2 contains only individual files,635 and 2.55 GB (correctly shown in
the status bar as well as via Properties). It does contain AVIs. On
opening it in Thumbnail View it gave the crash described, i.e.
'Explorer has to close...etc' and also 'DrWatson Postmortem Debugger
has encountered a problem and needs to close...'

So it looks like you're homing in on the likely cause, one or more AVI
files? Thank you!

#3 is similar to #2 so I won't cover it here.

Oddly, when I did a prior search for *.avi, the results were displayed
automatically in Thumbnail view, and there was no crash.

BTW, while testing and composing this post I recovered Explorer.
Trial/error revealed that I can do so by using Task Mgr > End Process
on drwtsn32.exe.

(1) checking Event Logs (Start > Run > eventvwr.msc) for any clues from
events logged at the time of the crash;

Coincident with this last crash, I see the following 2 entries in
Event Viewer:
"Faulting application drwtsn32.exe, version 5.1.2600.0, faulting
module dbghelp.dll, version 5.1.2600.2180, fault address 0x0001295d.

Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2900.3156, faulting
module mcmpgdmx.ax, version 1.0.47.60321, fault address 0x0006b888.

(2) in details view, deleting the Thumbs.db file and letting it get
recreated by the next switch to Thumbnail View, see if that fixes it;

I have checked the box 'Hide protected operating system files
(Recommended)' so I don't tend to see those. I've now removed that
restriction (do you think it's necessary?) so #2 folder now shows 636
files. I deleted Thumbs.db and re-opened. But after many thumbnails
had appeared the crash still occurred ("Windows Explorer has
encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the
inconvenience.)

(3) if you're not using subfolders (which you might want to consider anyway
just for organisational purposes), create a subfolder and put half the files
in it, see if the Thumbnail View of that crashes, ditto the remainder in the
original folder with Thumbs.db deleted. If one works okay but the other
crashes, you might have a corrupt file - hunt it down by whittling away at
the bad batch in similar fashion. Alternatively, in a non-Thumbnails view,
Right-click > Preview the first one and right-arrow your way through them
all in the Picture and Fax Viewer, see if any of the files throws up an
error.

Is any of the files an .avi file?

I'll try further narrowing down and report back.

 

[Olórin]

Many thanks, appreciate your help. (And apologies for my impatience!)
subfolders?

OK, you're right. (That seems flawed design IMO. The Status Bar shows
the number of objects *including* folders, yet the storage size
excludes them.) I had a mixture of folders and files.

Yup, fair point!

is:-

Since my post I've re-organised a little (along the lines of your
'repeated division' suggestion below) so the status now differs,
although the problem remains. Pending further splitting, I currently
now have 3 folders and have been examining them individually.

#1 has a mixture of folders and files, and is 4.90 GB. At the top
level it opens in Thumbnail view OK. The largest individual folder is
780 MB and that too opens OK. There are no AVI files in #1.

#2 contains only individual files,635 and 2.55 GB (correctly shown in
the status bar as well as via Properties). It does contain AVIs. On
opening it in Thumbnail View it gave the crash described, i.e.
'Explorer has to close...etc' and also 'DrWatson Postmortem Debugger
has encountered a problem and needs to close...'

So it looks like you're homing in on the likely cause, one or more AVI
files? Thank you!

See if you can whittle it down to specific .AVI (and/or possibly .MPG)
file(s); it/they could be corrupt or use an unsupported codec. Renaming the
file (through a Command Prompt box if necessary) *may* right things - if so,
renaming it back should cause no problem. Or see MS link at bottom -
although that describes symptoms of Explorer hanging with Explorer taking
100% CPU in Task Manager rather than those you describe.

If you're happy with simple registry editing, try this, which has worked for
many: run regedit and navigate your way to

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler

Back up the key for safety, then delete the "Default" value on the right,
close and try viewing again.

Failing that, in a command prompt type:

regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll

and press Enter. Then run

regsvr32 shmedia.dll

and Enter, and try once more.

#3 is similar to #2 so I won't cover it here.

Oddly, when I did a prior search for *.avi, the results were displayed
automatically in Thumbnail view, and there was no crash.

Curious, indeed!

BTW, while testing and composing this post I recovered Explorer.
Trial/error revealed that I can do so by using Task Mgr > End Process
on drwtsn32.exe.



Coincident with this last crash, I see the following 2 entries in
Event Viewer:
"Faulting application drwtsn32.exe, version 5.1.2600.0, faulting
module dbghelp.dll, version 5.1.2600.2180, fault address 0x0001295d.

Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2900.3156, faulting
module mcmpgdmx.ax, version 1.0.47.60321, fault address 0x0006b888.


I have checked the box 'Hide protected operating system files
(Recommended)' so I don't tend to see those. I've now removed that
restriction (do you think it's necessary?)

No, you can go back to hiding them now. It doesn't seem to be a thumbnail
thang, but the longstanding bug with explorer.exe. I'd be interested to know
how you get on with the registry edit or unloading/reloading the media
preview, shmedia.dll, per above.

I'll try further narrowing down and report back.

You might want to cast your eye over this page, "Windows Stops Responding
When You Click a Large AVI File in Windows Explorer":
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822430

Olórin, Kent, UK

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Yup, fair point!


See if you can whittle it down to specific .AVI (and/or possibly .MPG)
file(s); it/they could be corrupt or use an unsupported codec. Renaming the
file (through a Command Prompt box if necessary) *may* right things - if so,
renaming it back should cause no problem. Or see MS link at bottom -
although that describes symptoms of Explorer hanging with Explorer taking
100% CPU in Task Manager rather than those you describe.

If you're happy with simple registry editing, try this, which has worked for
many: run regedit and navigate your way to

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler

Back up the key for safety, then delete the "Default" value on the right,
close and try viewing again.

Failing that, in a command prompt type:

regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll

and press Enter. Then run

regsvr32 shmedia.dll

and Enter, and try once more.


Curious, indeed!


No, you can go back to hiding them now. It doesn't seem to be a thumbnail
thang, but the longstanding bug with explorer.exe. I'd be interested to know
how you get on with the registry edit or unloading/reloading the media
preview, shmedia.dll, per above.



You might want to cast your eye over this page, "Windows Stops Responding
When You Click a Large AVI File in Windows Explorer":
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822430

Olórin, Kent, UK

Great, thanks a bunch. Husband duties have intervened for a while but
I'll try those suggestions as soon as I can.

Olórin? I recall my son, a long-standing Tolkien fan, used to call
himself Gandalf in online games, so you have me wondering if that's a
nickname? Or maybe Kent is just a long way from your native home? ;-)