"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close" error

G

Guest

I encountered this problem of Explorer.exe shutting down with the error msg
when I right-clicked on any file or folder. I tried a solution by Ronnie
Vernon, MVP, which was "RUN regsvr32 shdocvw.dll" which, initially, appeared
to work. Invoking the process that got me this error in the first place,
right-clicking
on my A-drive to format a floppy, still causes Explorer.exe to Fail. My only
recovery is to cancel the "Explorer (devicename) not responding" process
through the Task Manager which I can only invoke with Ctrl+Alt+Del as the
GUI, but not the mouse or keyboard, is locked. The GUI then refreshes and I
can continue operations as long as I don't attempt to right-click on anything
in Explorer or My Computer.
I'm running XP Pro with current updates and have not installed anything
prior to the sudden appearance of this problem. I've Run AdAware and
Anti-virus software and have checked BIOS updates and settings.
I DO NOT have "Windows 2000 Resource Kit" installed on my system, which I
understand causes a similar problem.

I'm about ready to plant a little "C4" under this thing!!!!

Anyone who can help would earn my deepest appreciation!
 
G

Guest

Thanks Ramesh. The other items didn't apply or work but;
I tried running ShellExView and selected the 1st Fifty items to disable.
I rebooted and the problem of right-click appeared to be solved.
After using it for a while, I re-enabled everything and, out of that fifty,
I selected those indicating type "Context Menu", figuring that seemed
logical. On reboot, the problem re-appeared and I also had problems with
Explorer in general.
I re-enabled those items and rebooted with nothing disabled as I couldn't
spend
the time plus, I couldn't decide which of the fifty items to disable.
I'm including a partial listing of those fifty items, hoping that someone
would be
able to give me a more informed guidance on what items to disable.

Question: When that item is found (I hope), what do I do next?

First Fifty Shown by “ShellExView.exe†(condensed listing)
2005-11-05


Extension Name Type Description
Column Handler Win Shell Common Dll
Column Handler Win Shell Common Dll
Column Handler Win Shell Common Dll
Column Handler Win Shell Common Dll
Shell Folder Win Shell Common Dll
Shell Folder Win Shell Common Dll
Shell Folder Shell Doc Object and Control Library
Icon Handler XEV
Browser Helper Object Bad download blocker
Icon Handler Icons for Adobe Photoshop
&Address System Shell Browser UI Library
&Address IE Toolbar Shell Browser UI Library
&ATI TV IE Extensions ATI TV Bar
&Google IE Toolbar Google IE Client Toolbar
&Tip of the Day Explorer Bar Shell Doc Object and Control Library
..exe drop target Drop Handler Win Shell Common Dll
Accessible System Shell Browser UI Library
AcroIEHlprObj Class Browser Helper Object Adobe Acrobat IE Helper Version
7.0 for ActiveX
ActiveX Cache Folder Shell Folder Object Control Viewer
Activities Property Page System
Address Bar Parser System Shell Browser UI Library
Address EditBox System Shell Browser UI Library
Administrative Tools Shell Folder Shell Doc Object and Control Library
AgentRan_ShellExt Class Context Menu AgentRansackShellExt Module
AgentRan_ShellExt Class Search Handler AgentRansackShellExt Module
Audio Media Properties Handler System Media File Property Extractor Shell
Extension
Augmented Shell Folder System Shell Browser UI Library
Augmented Shell Folder 2 System Shell Browser UI Library
Auto Update Property Sheet Extension System Automatic Updates Control Panel

AVG7 Find Extension Class Search Handler AVG Shell Extension
AVG7 Shell Extension Class Context Menu AVG Shell Extension
Avi Properties Handler System Media File Property Extractor Shell Extension

BandProxy System Shell Browser UI Library
Briefcase Shell Folder Win Briefcase
Buttons Property Page System
Cabinet File Shell Folder Cabinet File Viewer Shell Extension
CDF Extension Copy Hook Copy Hook Handler Shell Doc Object and Control
Library
CFLProContextMenu Object Context Menu TODO: <File description>
CFLProContextMenu Object Search Handler TODO: <File description>
Channel System Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Handler Object Icon Handler Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Handler Object Shell Link (ANSI) Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Handler Object InfoTip Handler Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Handler Object Thumbnail Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Menu Handler Object System Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Shortcut System Channel Definition File Viewer
Channel Shortcut Property Pages Property Sheet Channel Definition File
Viewer
CInfoTipShellExt Class InfoTip Handler Visio Shell Extension DLL
CmdFileIcon Icon Handler Win Shell Common Dll
CmdLineContextMenu Class Context Menu
Code Download Agent System Web Site Monitor
 
G

Guest

Thanks Ramesh, this is going to take quite a while, even with only fifty
items, considering that it seemed to work when those fifty were disabled.
I'm also going to check on TechRepublic for some guidance.
 
R

Ramesh, MS-MVP

You're on the right track, and all I can say is to proceed with this method
further. If you look at my slowrightclick.htm page, you'll see that you need
to disable the "context-menu handlers" only. There will hardly be 10-15
items, so your work is even easier.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


fadbel said:
Thanks Ramesh, this is going to take quite a while, even with only fifty
items, considering that it seemed to work when those fifty were disabled.
I'm also going to check on TechRepublic for some guidance.
Click to expand...
 
G

Guest

Thanks again for your response. However, if you check my rather long-winded
note prior to this, you'll see that that is exactly what I did, which did not
take care of the problem but seemed to cause additional ones with explorer.
As it is right now, I can't even invoke properties or Manager from the My
Computer menu. Nothing happens. I don't have problems with drop-down menus on
other desktop items.. I might just drop back a month in System Restore, and
see what happens.
 
G

Guest

Once again, RESTORE seems to have taken care of the problem.
I went back almost a month, which bypassed some updates from MSoft, and the
problem appears to have gone away. I didn't really have the time to go
through each "handle" and, even though I would have liked to find where the
problem originated, it's possible that it came in in one of the updates to
SP2. I may find out the next time I get updates if it happens again.
Thanks for the time you spent on this Ramesh.
 
G

Guest

I guess I spoke too soon.
The return to the earlier date through RESTORE only worked for a day, then
it returned to the same problem.
Now I'm having additional problems (again, Virus checks and AdAware turn up
nothing) with system hanging when opening Word 2003 or even the Task Manager
hangs. When I get tired of waiting, I invoke reboot through the task manager
but nothing happens. From that moment on, nothing works except power-down.
I'll leave this open and see if I can come up with the solution sometime
soon, I hope.
If and when I do, I'll be sure to post it here.
Lucky I'm retired. This takes a LOT of my time.
 
R

Ramesh, MS-MVP

FYI, System Restore has an "undo your last restoration" feature that'll
bring back the system state. Troubleshooting the right-click problem can be
done after that.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com
 
G

Guest

Yes, that's what I did after it failed again.
I've also gone back to ShellExView.exe and "zapped" a block of Extensions. I
got it to work again and spent about 30 minutes testing with no problem. Then
I spent the last 10 hours selectively disabling groups out of the 22 items
that worked and kept getting the errors.
I went back to the 22 and disabled them all once again and the thing failed
again.
I think this problem doesn't sit still in one place for long. It may change
to different extensions after each reboot and, it may also attach to more
than one which will make it harder to pin down.
I've been sending the report in to MS each time but haven't gotten anything
back.
I've also done a "Repair" with a Slipstreamed SP2 XP Pro CD with no results.
I'm not even sure a complete wipe of the system would take care of this as I
would still have to download various updates from MS and other apps that I
have.
I'm getting to old to keep this up much longer.
 
G

Guest

Well, Ramesh, I finally "Chickened Out"!
I got so discusted with varying results that I re-installed XP Pro SP2 over
the original after REPAIR failed three times.
I'd still like to know where the problem developed and what module
(obviously a context-menu) was responsible. I know techs that would have done
that after the first repair attempt, concerned only with getting a system
back up (rightly so, in the case of customer support) and not be concerned
for the cause.
I, however, have a NEED to KNOW! I just can't spend an unlimited amount of
time with it anymore.
Thanks for all your suggestions.

Happy Holidays.
Frank
 

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