Solve explorer crashes

Question

Problem:

• the desktop disappears, a light blue background, with in the middle a white box with a windows waiting icong (circle going round). It looks like it tries to install something or so. it shows this for a few seconds.

This problem is visible the first few minutes after logging in with the administrator account (the other account seem not affected at all).

What does not work:

• open volume mixer
• right click, go to taskbar settings

Trying to start the above shows the problem for few seconds and ends in not showing what is requested on the administrator account (the other non admin accounts it works fine).

check the video: https://streamable.com/elc7wh

System:

System Model ASUS TUF Gaming A17 FA707RR_FA707RR
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon Graphics, 3201 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16,0 GB

Windows:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.22631 Build 22631

In the windows event viewer there are application errors:

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 10.0.22621.4317, time stamp: 0xa8caac5f
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.22621.4317, time stamp: 0xf9f266e7
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000000a6c4f
Faulting process id: 0x0xF0C
Faulting application start time: 0x0x1DB27A059394491
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: eb50e984-3162-4d5c-a07c-7205e41a46fb
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Followed by an information: The shell stopped unexpectedly and C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe was restarted.
Followed by 2 times Windows error reporting:
Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:  
P1: Explorer.EXE  
P2: 10.0.22621.4317  
P3: a8caac5f  
P4: ntdll.dll  
P5: 10.0.22621.4317  
P6: f9f266e7  
P7: c0000005  
P8: 00000000000a6c4f  
P9:   
P10:   

Attached files:  

These files may be available here:  
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash\_Explorer.EXE\_53e8596e5392616435678ec716827ccf86466ae\_cc394954\_46c3d8fd-f980-4948-8a7a-6578e2a4cbc1  

Analysis symbol:   
Rechecking for solution: 0  
Report Id: 27d3a1ef-1484-4edd-b20c-701463cb81ba  
Report Status: 4  
Hashed bucket:   
Cab Guid: 0  

AND the second:
Fault bucket 1901915022589706995, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:  
P1: Explorer.EXE  
P2: 10.0.22621.4317  
P3: a8caac5f  
P4: ntdll.dll  
P5: 10.0.22621.4317  
P6: f9f266e7  
P7: c0000005  
P8: 00000000000a6c4f  
P9:   
P10:   

Attached files:  
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.57f255d3-7af8-421a-b235-e1db6ce2ee87.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml  

These files may be available here:  
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash\_Explorer.EXE\_53e8596e5392616435678ec716827ccf86466ae\_cc394954\_46c3d8fd-f980-4948-8a7a-6578e2a4cbc1  

Analysis symbol:   
Rechecking for solution: 0  
Report Id: 27d3a1ef-1484-4edd-b20c-701463cb81ba  
Report Status: 268435456  
Hashed bucket: 1685e64dbb85ad7afa64f5a2e27042f3  
Cab Guid: 0  

Things done to check if it it would fix the problem:

Removed the pc from being controlled by my company

C:\Windows\System32>sfc /scannow
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

Windows Modules Installer service is running.

Run: Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.22621.2792

Image Version: 10.0.22631.4317

[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\Windows\System32>sfc /scannow
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

Disabled all non microsoft explorer plugins (using ShellExView)
Did a full power down and reset

Answer 1

I’m sorry to see that you’ve marked my reply as not helpful. Please note we’re not Microsoft but fellow Windows users like yourself.

Have you tried the suggestion yet?

Answer 2

As can be read in my first post:
Windows:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.22631 Build 22631

no luck yet

Answer 3

Hello, I’m Virginia, a fellow user like yourself.

Sorry to hear you’re experiencing problems. May I ask which Windows 10/11 build are you running - 22H2 (Win 10/Win 11) or 23H2 (Win 11)?

I understand you’re having problems with Explorer, Don’t worry as I’ll do my best to assist you today.

If you can eventually reach Windows:

Try an in-place repair:

In a nutshell you just download the Windows 11 .iso, right click & choose Mount, then double click on setup & follow instructions to continue with the install.

Ensure keep apps & files is automatically selected.

Please note a repair install is not a reset, this is a last attempt at repairing a PC without a clean install. If this fails to repair the problem then usually a clean install is required.

Download here:

https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/win...

Answer 4

Thank you for the fast reply.

I runed (not installed) ShellExView as an attempt to fix the problem; so that application is not the problem. I still have all non microsoft extentions in explorer turned off; that did not help though.

A new admin profile does not show the same problem, so indeed the problem only exists in the "original" admin account.

I think you are correct in the sense that it has to do with some install/deploy, I had that idea also. Is there a way to figure out what is still pending on installing (that keeps failing)?

I would really like to fix the problem in this user account. The last option would be to move to another admin account, but I'm not ready to take that route yet.

Any other things I can try?

Answer 5

Hi JorisvE_me,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Based on the original description, we understand that your device is experiencing frequent File Explorer crash issues.

The window you are observing is similar to the page in the OOBE process, which may be related to the installation/deployment process of certain components, and possibly to the initialization process of user profiles.

Component conflicts, corruption of user profiles may be associated with such issues.

The “the other non admin accounts it works fine” is a very critical piece of information, which means that there may be a problem with the data of the “admin” account.

If the “ShellExView” you mentioned is only installed on admin accounts, it could be one of the reasons for the conflict that caused the problem in the first place.

ntdll.dll is part of the system components and usually appears as a “result” rather than a “cause”.

If possible, you may want to observe this in a relatively clean environment, such as safe mode, a new user profile with administrator privileges.

• Windows startup settings - Microsoft Support
• Unable to create new local user account - Microsoft Community

If the problem is limited to the original administrator account, the corruption under that user profile may be causing the problem, and you may want to consider a gradual transfer of data to the new administrator account.

Troubleshoot problems signing in to Windows - Microsoft Support

If I misunderstand your situation, feel free to correct me and share the information.

Best Regards,

Kyo.Y - MSFT | Microsoft Community Technical Support