Explorer.exe Crashes - The memory could not be written - Update! Still Need Help!

[John Corson]

From my research the following problem is experienced by a vast number of
people and the only common denominator is the use of WinXP SP1 and possibly
a number of patches however, I have utilized system restore to the point of
ten days before I noticed the problem begin.

At random times when trying to open a folder (directory), I receive the
following popup: "Application Error: The instruction at "0x77f57ec4"
referenced memory at "0x00000067". The memory could not be "written". A
similar popup appears reading: "Application Error: The exception unknown
software exception (0xc015000f) occurred in the application at location
0x77f6fca7."

When going to the event properties in the Administrative Tools, I see under
application events that the following notation appears: "The shell stopped
unexpectedly and explorer.exe was restarted." It is a winlogon event with
event number 1002.

When this error occurs I have to click as many as three popup notices.
Following that, all icons on the desktop disappear for a few seconds, the
screen is refreshed, icons re-appear and most applications running in the
background (anti-virus, etc) do not appear in the toolbar until logging off
and back on.

I am suspecting one major area that I haven't tried -- Changing out memory.
Six weeks before I started having this issue I upgraded to ABIT KD-7 RAID
m/b with Athlon XP2700+ CPU; 2048 mb DDR PC2700 ECC non buffered RAM. Would
adding an extra wait from the cycle between memory and CPU help? I.e using
Registered ECC RAM? Before I go to the added EXPENSE of getting registered
RAM I would like to have confirmation.

Other things I have done to try to correct the issue:
1) Running sfc/scannow to restore original .dll's, etc.
2) Re-installed SP1 (to restore possible corrupt explorer.exe file)
3) Flashed BIOS
4) Dropped down to 1024 mb and checked each memory module;
5) Tried various RAM settings withn the BIOS; and enabled Shadowing and
Caching;
6) Gone back to several system restore points (even before the last four
critical updates from Microsoft);
7) Uninstalled the various pieces of software that I added since the time
this issue started to occur;
8) Tested RAM with both MEMtest86 and Windows Memory Diagnostic;
9) SiSoft Sandra 2003 indicates no warnings or applicable suggestions for
changes or modifications;
10) Swapped out CPU's (one Athlon XP-2700+ with another of the same specs);
and
11) Checked the system board temperature (averaging 35 to 38 degrees C) and
CPU (averaging between 36 and 39 degrees C)
_____

Only one hardware update since this issue started and that is going from a
2mb cache harddrive to an 8 -- same disc size, RPM, ATA-133, etc. Old drive
was imaged over to the new.
_____
For those techies needing a rundown of programs running when the crash
occurs let's just say it varies, but here is a list of those running at
start up:

System Idle Process
System
smss.exe \SystemRoot\System32\smss.exe
csrss.exe
winlogon.exe winlogon.exe
services.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
lsass.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost -k rpcss
svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
svchost.exe
svchost.exe
spoolsv.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
CCEVTMGR.EXE "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec
Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe"
CTSVCCDA.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\CTsvcCDA.exe
DKService.exe "C:\Program Files\Executive
Software\DiskeeperWorkstation\DKService.exe"
inetinfo.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\inetsrv\inetinfo.exe
"C:\PROGRA~1\Iomega\System32\ActivityDisk.exe"
mdm.exe "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\VS7Debug\mdm.exe"
NAVAPSVC.EXE "C:\Program Files\Norton SystemWorks\Norton
AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe"
PDSched.exe "C:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDSched.exe"
NOPDB.EXE C:\PROGRA~1\NORTON~1\SPEEDD~1\nopdb.exe
svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k imgsvc
ups.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\ups.exe
vsmon.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe -service
MsPMSPSv.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\MsPMSPSv.exe
explorer.exe C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
iTouch.exe "C:\Program Files\Logitech\iTouch\iTouch.exe"
Imgicon.exe "C:\Program Files\Iomega\DriveIcons\ImgIcon.exe"
ccApp.exe "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec
Shared\ccApp.exe"
zlclient.exe "C:\PROGRA~1\ZONELA~1\ZONEAL~1\zlclient.exe"
ctfmon.exe "C:\WINDOWS\System32\ctfmon.exe"
EM_EXEC.EXE "C:\Program Files\Logitech\MouseWare\system\em_exec.exe"
AD2KClient.exe "C:\Program Files\Iomega\AutoDisk\AD2KClient.exe"
SecCopy.exe "C:\Program Files\SecCopy\SecCopy.exe"
rundll32.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\rundll32.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ATIMUL~1\RemCtrl\x10net.dll,EntryPoint -Embedding
WCESCOMM.EXE "C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync\WCESCOMM.EXE"
Cacheman.exe "C:\PROGRA~1\Cacheman\Cacheman.exe"
msmsgs.exe "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" -Embedding
____

If you notice something is this missive that may sound an alarm to you, then
please let me know. I have published this to various help groups like
Extreme Tech, Annoyances.org, WinXPNews.com, Computing.net and Hardware
Analysis.com (also the Abit and AMD support grounps too)! Others are having
this or a similair issue and I would like to get all our heads together in
nip this thing once and for all!

---John Corson---

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

It does sound like a RAM problem. Have you tried running with just 1 memory
stick? Does it work? Try the next, single and then in tandem with the 1st.
Continue on with others, if you have more.

I have made it a practice, over the past 5 years, to never add memory. I
always purchase and install what I need at the beginning. Hopefully, that
way you will get matched RAM, manufactured on the same day from the same Fab
etc. Even this has NOT been without problems though, but it has alleviated
many problems in the computers that I build (many).

 

[Roger Abell]

Given all the applications listed that are know to hook in at
a relatively low level there is certainly room for a conflict.

What you did not say is whether the information you are getting
when this happens is or is not consistently indicating the same
load module. Does the address always point into the same piece
of software ? If so, that is your culprit or it may be that it is not the
root cause (gets handed bad info from its predecessor in the then
current run sequence) but ones just before it in execution order are
to be suspected.

While you are not getting a dump, but rather only Explorer is
being killed and userinit (within Winlogon process) is catching
this and restarting Explorer for you, the info in the following
KB of pstat will be of use in finding what software is at fault,
assuming the address provided is not random.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314084

If you find that one time it indicates one and another time a
different software, then suspect hardware, such as memory.

(PS: Have you tried running with cacheman uninstalled ?)

 

[John Corson]

Roger,

Thanks for your posting. In response let me say that the memory address
cited changes. For instance, last night I received this notation from the
popup:
Faulting appilication explorer.exe, version 6.0.2800.1221, faulting module,
version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x00000000. Then, there was Explorer.Exe -
Application Error: The instruction at "0x77f83905" referenced memory at
"0x0e562e97." The memory could not be "written." And a third read:
SysFader: Explorer.EXE - Appication Error: The instruction "0x77f57ec4"
referenced memory at "0x00000067." The memory could not be "written."

There have been different instructions addresses noted in the various popups
with different memory address points. Keep in mind, I have tested each
memory module individually and together using MemTest86 - even using all 11
diagnostic tests and it showed no failures.

You help though has been duly appreciated.

 

[David Cross]

John;

I have been experiencing the problem that you describe. As I navigate
the windows file explorer in XP Pro (SP1) I find that explorer will
crash as it attempts to list the files in the folder. I have found a
handful of folders that cause the crash without fail (ie. I have not
been able to successfully list the contents in the file explorer),
they are all generally very deeply nested within a folder hierarchy,
and they all contain both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop
documents (eps, tif, gif). As windows is listing the files I notice
it is slow updating the associated application icons - it gets
part-way through the list and then crashes, consistently at the same
file in any paticular folder, I believe it's always been a Photoshop
doc, but different file extensions.

The files appear fine. I have found that I am able to view the folder
contents from the only other machine on my network - running Win2K. I
can move/copy the folder somewhere else and view the contents just
fine.

I have tried 3 different RAM configurations for the following (I
believe unrelated) reason: I was having no trouble booting at 100/33
for a clock speed of 1.10 GHz, but could not boot to the specified
166/33 supported. The problem turned out to be RAM, I had 2x512 MB
DDR400 installed, and found that DDR333 was recommended. The first
pair of (generic) DDR333 modules did not resolve my problem, but a
second pair of (name-brand) modules did.

My setup:
* ASUS A7V600 m/b
* AMD Athlon XP-2500+
* 2x512 MB PC2700 RAM
* Running Windows XP PRo with SP1, a few services (zone alarm,
avast), no apps

I've just started looking for a solution to this and have come across
your posting. Perhaps my experience with various types of RAM
indicates that this is not the problem.

- David Cross