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Windows Explorer in Windows 7 keeps crashing and restarting

Anonymous
2009-11-26T02:42:50+00:00

It happens at random times...but conveniently after a Windows update. I'll be looking up a file...or trying to delete a file, then all of a sudden, i see the little progress bar thing and it's closing Explorer, then that goes away and another one shows up saying "Restarting Windows Explorer"...I've ran a few virus scans in case it's a virus...but I don't think that's the case.

Oh and I noticed that a lot of the problems reported were from people that upgraded to Windows 7...my laptop is a new computer that came pre-loaded with Windows 7.

Anyone else in my shoes? Does anyone know if Microsoft is working on this issue?

*original title - Windows Explorer in Windows 7 keeps crashing...then trying to restart...anyone else have that problem? Anyone know if Microsoft is working on an update or something to fix it?*

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-01-15T17:15:30+00:00

    Just in case you haven't fixed this issue yet. I had the exact same problem and found a pretty fast and painless solution. I can't tell you why it was happening, but the fix worked. And it didn't involve disabling my video card drivers (make NO sense, doing this would pretty much make your video card useless...not an option for me when I bought a $600 video card).

    Navigate to this folder (assuming your Windows is installed on your C:\ drive):

    C:\Windows <- Inside this folder you should find the file "explorer.exe". Select that and press "CTRL+C" (this will copy the file, do NOT cut, just copy).

    Then paste the copied file into:

    C:\Windows\System32

    And like magic, no more explorer crashing :). Hope that helps!

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-11-27T01:08:13+00:00

    Hi SonyBoy_Fusion,Welcome to Microsoft Windows 7 Answers Forum! 

    Method 1

    Please check whether you face the same issue while working in the safe mode.

    Step 1 Safe Mode

    1. Restart your computer.
    2. When the computer starts you will see your computer's hardware being listed. When you see this information start to gently tap the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you are presented with the Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options screen.
    3. Using the arrow keys, select the Safe Mode option you want.
    4. Then press the enter key on your keyboard to boot into Windows 7 Safe Mode.
    5. When Windows starts you will be at a typical logon screen. Logon to your computer and Windows 7 will enter Safe mode.
    6. Do whatever tasks you require, and when you are done, reboot to go back into normal mode.

    Steps 2. Clean Boot

    If the issue existed in Safe Mode perform Clean Boot troubleshooting to find the root cause of  the issue:

    Clean Boot Troubleshooting:

    1. Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

       User Account Control permission.

       If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the

       password, Or click Continue.

    1. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
    2. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup items check box.
    3. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
    4. Click OK.
    5. When you are prompted, click Restart.
    6. After the computer starts, check whether the problem is resolved.

    If the issue is resolved check which third party is causing the problem, referring the link given below:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

    1. Also you need to uninstall and reinstall the problem software on your computer.

    Reset the computer to start as usual  

    1. After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:

    Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER. 

    1. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue. On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.  
    2. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

    **Method 2.**I would also recommend you to run online Virus Scan to remove any infections, if present.

    Follow the link below to run the free online scan:

    http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

    The following thread discusses about removing viruses and malware online:

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistasecurity/thread/ba80504b-61f1-4d71-960f-b561798b7b42

    Hope it helps. 

    Thanks and Regards:

    **Shekhar S - Microsoft Support.**Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-05-16T15:46:13+00:00

    MICROSOFT:  THIS OCCURED ON 5/14/2010.   IMMEDIATELY AFTER A 2007 UPDATE.

    i TRIED ALL OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS!!!!

    SEND OUT AN UPDATE FIXING THE PROBLEM NOW!

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  2. Anonymous
    2009-12-04T05:08:57+00:00

    Ironically, I haven't had the problem since my initial post.

    However, you were all very helpful.

    To Shekhar: I went into Safe Mode and followed your advice...but I didn't find any issues with explorer afterward.

    To Alex: Yea, I have a VAIO. How do I disable the NVIDIA driver? And if I actually do that, what will manage my graphics card (my computer came with NVIDIA...I haven't upgraded my graphics card or anything like that).

    To everyone: You all told me about how 3rd party applications may interfere with the way Windows7 works...interesting enough, I'm a Firefox user and now that I haven't had the Explorer issue, Firefox crashes instead. I checked online and found that a lot of people have that same problem coming from Firefox. I guess I'll uninstall Firefox and stick with IE. I don't think Firefox is a 64-bit application anyways, so maybe that's why it's been giving me issues.

    Thank you all so much, you've all been very helpful!

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-12-01T16:14:51+00:00

    Thank for your visiting the Microsoft Answers Community.

    Please follow the steps outlined by Shekhar and let us know if this worked. Also, as Alex suggested above, try disabling 3 party applications. Some people have also had success with removing other add-ons: click here

    Lisa

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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