Explorer.exe Application Error Crash Loop After Every Login

Question

My computer has been unable to log on without a 5 - 10 minute explorer.exe crash loop. I am able to open the task manager during this loop and see that either one of my two storage drives will be at 100% usage for the entire time. If one or both of the drives is disconnected, the error does not occur. However, the problem can not be isolated to one drive specifically. It is only when they both are plugged in and powered that the crash loop occurs. Additionally, the internet usage monitor spikes during this time, but when startup and login is run with the computer disconnected from the internet, the problem persists. The CPU and RAM do not read much above idle during this time.

I've tried everything and am out of ideas. I've run every check disk, scan disk, system file checker, and all the other normal scans for viruses, malware, and disk errors. All of my drivers are up to date, and I've even done a refresh install of Widows 10, but it still happens every single boot. The only consistent fix is unplugging one or both of my storage drives before booting, but that is not a feasible long term solution.

The event viewer points the application error to ucrtbase.dll. I've tried removing/replacing this .dll and am locked out from doing it because it's always "in use" - even in safe mode.

Here's one of the several thousand identical error reports:

Log Name:      Application

Source:        Application Error

Date:          12/7/2020 11:34:44

Event ID:      1000

Task Category: (100)

Level:         Error

Keywords:      Classic

User:          N/A

Computer:      

Description:

Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 10.0.19041.662, time stamp: 0x996782f8

Faulting module name: ucrtbase.dll, version: 10.0.19041.546, time stamp: 0x43cbc11d

Exception code: 0xc0000409

Fault offset: 0x000000000007287e

Faulting process id: 0x2d0

Faulting application start time: 0x01d6ccbf403e882a

Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe

Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll

Report Id: 5de25f80-77b9-4d87-9e04-91c2a58da87b

Faulting package full name:

Faulting package-relative application ID:

Event Xml:

<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">

  <System>

    <Provider Name="Application Error" />

    <EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>

    <Version>0</Version>

    <Level>2</Level>

    <Task>100</Task>

    <Opcode>0</Opcode>

    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>

    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2020-12-07T17:34:44.5119178Z" />

    <EventRecordID>53138</EventRecordID>

    <Correlation />

    <Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />

    <Channel>Application</Channel>

    <Computer></Computer>

    <Security />

  </System>

  <EventData>

    <Data>explorer.exe</Data>

    <Data>10.0.19041.662</Data>

    <Data>996782f8</Data>

    <Data>ucrtbase.dll</Data>

    <Data>10.0.19041.546</Data>

    <Data>43cbc11d</Data>

    <Data>c0000409</Data>

    <Data>000000000007287e</Data>

    <Data>2d0</Data>

    <Data>01d6ccbf403e882a</Data>

    <Data>C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe</Data>

    <Data>C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll</Data>

    <Data>5de25f80-77b9-4d87-9e04-91c2a58da87b</Data>

    <Data>

    </Data>

    <Data>

    </Data>

  </EventData>

</Event>

Here's my system:

Processor   Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz   4.00 GHz

Installed RAM   16.0 GB

GPU GTX 970

Device ID   2DE455C8-C672-43A8-85CA-38C27DBC3149

Product ID  00326-10000-00000-AA071

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pen and touch   No pen or touch input is available for this display

Answer 1

The issue seems to be resolved for now. However, I will update if that situation changes.

What appears to have worked was to disconnect both of my storage drives, perform a repair install of Windows 10, then reconnect the drives. This, of course, now leaves me with the laborious task of re-installing and re-directing all of my old programs and file paths, but I suppose the time I'll spend doing that will be less than the time I spent waiting for explorer.exe to stop its crash loop every morning.

Answer 2

Consider capturing a user-mode dump of the explorer.exe crash to get more information on the crash.

You can configure Windows to create user-mode dumps. Create a System Restore Point first.

If you copy and paste the following in Notepad and save as a .reg file, then right-click the .reg file and select "Merge" to add to the registry, a .dmp file at the time explorer.exe crashes should be created in the C:\CrashDumps folder:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\explorer.exe]

*"DumpFolder"=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,43,00,72,00,61,00,73,00,68,00,44,00,75,*

00,6d,00,70,00,73,00,00,00

After Explorer (explorer.exe) crashes, can you then make the .dmp file available (provide link) via a public folder on Onedrive or similar site.

More info on collecting user-mode dumps:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/...

To stop the creation of the user mode dump files run the following registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\explorer.exe]

You can delete the C:\CrashDumps folder anytime.

Answer 3

No third party module appeared to be involved in the crash - here is a "summary" of the crash:

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  FAIL_FAST_FATAL_APP_EXIT_c0000409_ucrtbase.dll!abort

Same error reported in the following topic:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/explorer-crash-loop-every-second-reboot/67f47e34-fd8c-4e1b-af16-c41834cfa1a5

This may be a bug in a recent version of the ucrtbase.dll.

Answer 4

Hi again. Sadly, the issue has resumed with no apparent cause. Nothing had changed about the system between boots. No updates or new installs whatsoever.

Please find a link to the .dmp files below.

DMP Files

Answer 5

Thanks for the follow-up. Hopefully that will keep working for you.