Windows Explorer - crashes when folder tree is displayed 2

[euston]

I am running a fully patched Windows XP Professional SP3. Windows Explorer crashes only when the folder tree is displayed. I have mitigated the problem by using Windows Explorer without the folder tree. Doing this seems to prevent the crashes.

I need to know which files, e.g. dlls, are relevant and which could usefully be replaced with known good ones. Could I source those files from a machine which is free of the problem?

I attach an image of the message box that is typically displayed at the moment of a crash.

Owzat! On ya way, back to the pavilion!

 

[euston]

Oh dear. The attachment needs a URL. There is no attachment upload feature, I now realise. Sorry that my C: drive is not visible to the web!

Owzat! On ya way, back to the pavilion!

 

[euston]

I should add that there are rather a lot of applications installed so there are a large number of file types.

Owzat! On ya way, back to the pavilion!

 

[goombawaho]

Make the crash happen and start with Event Viewer. Post the crash summary here.

As just a first idea without the event information, I'd run the System File Checker.

START RUN sfc /scannow (Enter or OK)

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

 

[linney]

Do you see the same problem from Safe Mode, or from Normal Mode but as a different user?

If you don't look at these.

811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Checking for malware might be worthwhile too.

Use something like these to link to images.

http://www.uploadit.org/

http://www.photobucket.com/

http://reg.imageshack.us/register.php

 

[euston]

Thank you for those valuable contributions. The SFC utility found no system files that weren't what they should be. In fact, SFC finishes rather inconclusively. If it finds nothing wrong, I assume that it should report nothing. It simply terminates. I suppose (hope) that a nil return can be taken to be equivalent to a clean bill of health.

I am becoming accustomed to doing without the folder tree. I have a very nice program from a magazine cover disk back in 2003: GP Software's Directory Opus version 6.1.0.0 has some beautiful features and a folder tree that does not crash.

Windows Explorer simply does not crash when the folder tree is not displayed. Directory Opus is so nice that I use it almost all the time in place of Windows Explorer.

Owzat! On ya way, back to the pavilion!

 

[linney]

I never use the Folder Tree view in Explorer unless some third party program opens up that view for me to browse for some location.

Do you have some Explorer Shortcut that you use with Command Line parameters, see the link?

strange behavior on windows explorer.
thread779-1267679

SFC leaves a report in the Event Viewer (System).
Event Type: Information
Event Source: Windows File Protection

 

[goombawaho]

Yes, SFC just closes without a report. It fixes what it needs to.

 

[euston]

PostScript: The problem was possibly due to using a large (many sub-folders and files) shared folder. It is shared so other machines can access software installation files. I made the shared folder into a network drive which might have solved the problem.



Owzat! On ya way, back to the pavilion!