Vista issues - explorer crashing, problems installing software

[Numenorean]

I recently began having these issues. Not sure what the problem is.

When browsing files, sometimes explorer.exe will just hang and lock up. Also this happens using the windows Save As dialog - I ran into this issue saving images. It would crash trying to save using the Windows Save As dialog, but if I used the programs own Save As dialog that was different, it works fine.

Tried to install a Visual C++ Redist pack and that locked up and would not go farther.

If I try to run a command prompt as and administrator, nothing happens.

Any program that I try to run as admin doesn't work. I get another consent.exe process in the task manager, but nothing happens.

Also windows updates say there are updates, and when I click download, it just sits there and eventually explorer.exe crashes.

Any ideas? I tried running SFC, but can't run the command console as an admin as required.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Could be currupted files or updates got stuck and caused the issue. You may end up needing to reinstall everything. Find your system restore disks of have the manufacture send you a set. Then try a repair install.

 

[Numenorean]

How informative. Well you could have just said you didn't know.

 

[Blazer]

do a repair install.

 

[Intexity]

um... when someone (especially MPMILCH) comes and give you suggestions, I wouldn't recommend tellling them off. No we don't know whats wrong with your computer its not in front of us. he gave you very good starting points, why do you go through those steps then report back the results. when asking for free tech support it helps to be polite...

 

[Numenorean]

um... when someone (especially MPMILCH) comes and give you suggestions, I wouldn't recommend tellling them off. No we don't know whats wrong with your computer its not in front of us. he gave you very good starting points, why do you go through those steps then report back the results. when asking for free tech support it helps to be polite...

Who is MPMILCH?

If someone doesn't know the answer, that's not an issue. I don't know the answer, which is why I was asking here.

But saying "hey reinstall!" is not a valid method when it comes to troubleshooting. Of COURSE it's going to fix the problem by reinstalling the software. Just because someone happens to have a name of "MPMILCH" on a forum doesn't really make it okay somehow to just ignore the actual issues and post "reinstall". That's a response by a Geek Squad bench tech who is a gamer so "knows computers".

If you don't know or have any suggestions, then why feel the need to comment?

 

[WoodButcher]

Any ideas? I tried running SFC, but can't run the command console as an admin as required.

Ah, here's an idea,

Could be currupted files or updates got stuck and caused the issue. You may end up needing to reinstall everything. Find your system restore disks of have the manufacture send you a set. Then try a repair install.

nope, don't bother, just another dumb answer like the one you got at geek squad last week.....
what did they charge you for that tidbit?

If you don't know or have any suggestions, then why feel the need to comment?

Because your so rude.

Just for the record, a "repair" install or system restore would be the best first answer. Those dumb geeks are not always wrong.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

consent.exe is used for UAC, have you tried turning it off under user accounts?

Futhermore, have you tried SFC from a recovery console (boot to install CD)

 

[dfnkt]

I recently began having these issues. Not sure what the problem is.

When browsing files, sometimes explorer.exe will just hang and lock up. Also this happens using the windows Save As dialog - I ran into this issue saving images. It would crash trying to save using the Windows Save As dialog, but if I used the programs own Save As dialog that was different, it works fine.

Tried to install a Visual C++ Redist pack and that locked up and would not go farther.

If I try to run a command prompt as and administrator, nothing happens.

Any program that I try to run as admin doesn't work. I get another consent.exe process in the task manager, but nothing happens.

Also windows updates say there are updates, and when I click download, it just sits there and eventually explorer.exe crashes.

Any ideas? I tried running SFC, but can't run the command console as an admin as required.

Have you tried running any of the sysinternals software such as Procmon, Regmon, Logger or anything of that sort to try and capture and debug the problem?

I would *try* and see if you could get the windows debugging tools installed and run ADPlus and obtain a dump on explorer.exe when you try to run cmd.exe as an administrator. ADPlus should obtain a dump with everything that would be needed to analyze (so you don't have to mess with setting up symbols).

On another note: http://social.technet.microsoft.com...y/thread/6df73cc3-482c-4ed9-964a-4947fd8143b2 -- You might give the 2nd post a try, this should do a clean boot and see if the "run as administrator" issue persists after disabling all non-ms services.

I'm trying to get you a leg to stand on here, rather than just saying "reinstall". While reinstalling would be the "quickest" option in the sense that it would get you going again, you have to add in the time required to bring the system back up to your standards.

 

[Gamingphreek]

How informative. Well you could have just said you didn't know.

Perhaps when people in this forum attempt to help you out, you should thank them regardless of what you may think of the answer.

For the record, this:

Could be currupted files or updates got stuck and caused the issue. You may end up needing to reinstall everything. Find your system restore disks of have the manufacture send you a set. Then try a repair install.

Is 100% correct. It sounds like some files or libraries associated with explorer.exe are corrupt.

As MPMILCH said, you either do a complete reinstall or you attempt to do a System Repair when booting off of the Install discs.

-Kevin

Edit:

I would *try* and see if you could get the windows debugging tools installed and run ADPlus and obtain a dump on explorer.exe when you try to run cmd.exe as an administrator. ADPlus should obtain a dump with everything that would be needed to analyze (so you don't have to mess with setting up symbols).

While I personally like this solution , it is unlikely that many people will be able to debug an operating system executable. Additionally, if they successfully grab stack traces it is extremely unlikely that anyone will gain any information from it.

 

[Numenorean]

Originally Posted by Numenorean View Post
Any ideas? I tried running SFC, but can't run the command console as an admin as required.

Ah, here's an idea,

Originally Posted by mpilchfamily View Post
Could be currupted files or updates got stuck and caused the issue. You may end up needing to reinstall everything. Find your system restore disks of have the manufacture send you a set. Then try a repair install.

nope, don't bother, just another dumb answer like the one you got at geek squad last week.....
what did they charge you for that tidbit?

That "idea" was already presented. It's not really valid for troubleshooting the issue as I already stated. I was simply comparing the answer to what I would likely get if I bothered to take a system to Geek Squad. That would be a waste of my time as I am far more knowledgeable about computers than 99.9% of those working there.

If you don't know or have any suggestions, then why feel the need to comment?

Because your so rude.

Just for the record, a "repair" install or system restore would be the best first answer. Those dumb geeks are not always wrong.

My question on commenting was not directed to you, but to the person who just posted to reinstall. That is hardly helpful advice. I can obviously come to that conclusion myself. I am trying to figure out what the problem is, not simply erase it and start over.

And for the record a repair install or system restore is certainly not the best first answer. Perhaps it is for a lazy bench tech.

 

[Numenorean]

consent.exe is used for UAC, have you tried turning it off under user accounts?

Futhermore, have you tried SFC from a recovery console (boot to install CD)

UAC has been disabled since I installed Vista as it was so annoying.

I haven't yet tried SFC from a recovery console.

 

[Numenorean]

Perhaps when people in this forum attempt to help you out, you should thank them regardless of what you may think of the answer.

For the record, this:

Is 100% correct. It sounds like some files or libraries associated with explorer.exe are corrupt.

As MPMILCH said, you either do a complete reinstall or you attempt to do a System Repair when booting off of the Install discs.

-Kevin

Coming into a thread about a software issue and simply telling someone to reinstall is lazy and unproductive. It does nothing to actually solve the problem or determine what the cause of the problem was. Without knowing that, while a restore would likely fix the issue, it could come back at some point. Knowing what the problem actually is would be far more helpful.

 

[Numenorean]

Have you tried running any of the sysinternals software such as Procmon, Regmon, Logger or anything of that sort to try and capture and debug the problem?

I would *try* and see if you could get the windows debugging tools installed and run ADPlus and obtain a dump on explorer.exe when you try to run cmd.exe as an administrator. ADPlus should obtain a dump with everything that would be needed to analyze (so you don't have to mess with setting up symbols).

On another note: http://social.technet.microsoft.com...y/thread/6df73cc3-482c-4ed9-964a-4947fd8143b2 -- You might give the 2nd post a try, this should do a clean boot and see if the "run as administrator" issue persists after disabling all non-ms services.

I'm trying to get you a leg to stand on here, rather than just saying "reinstall". While reinstalling would be the "quickest" option in the sense that it would get you going again, you have to add in the time required to bring the system back up to your standards.

Thanks for posting some useful suggestions. I have already run procmon and was unable to find anything out of the ordinary other than the consent.exe issue, but nothing in there suggested that anything was out of the ordinary other than that. I have not tried to grab a dump yet. That may be too time consuming, if I could even discern the issue from that information.

However I did attempt to install the debugging tools. It says that there is a setup already in progress (after many reboots) - referencing the Visual C++ Redist Package which I tried to install. I tell it to undo those changes and it hangs. Pretty much all software installs do this (since they use MSI) and this problem started with the attempted VCRedist install. But the explorer not responding issue when browsing files or opening/save using the windows save dialog issue was happening before that. So whether that issue caused the VCRedist install to fail and then foul up, I'm not certain.

I will see if I can find a way to undo that install, or get Vista to at least believe it was undone properly.

More and more though I am thinking about grabbing Win7 and an SSD drive for my main. But I would still like to find the root cause of this issue.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Coming into a thread about a software issue and simply telling someone to reinstall is lazy and unproductive. It does nothing to actually solve the problem or determine what the cause of the problem was. Without knowing that, while a restore would likely fix the issue, it could come back at some point. Knowing what the problem actually is would be far more helpful.

Ok - you want to play that way? You said explorer was crashing - what in the world does crashing mean? Is it segfaulting? Is it access permissions? Is it buffer overflow? See what I did there?

Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge someone takes the time to help another person out on an online forum despite the original poster ridiculing him for his suggestion.

Additionally, for the record he didn't just say "reinstall". Explorer.exe is a HUGE process with many subprocess. How did you expect him to narrow the solution down? He simply said that, barring reinstalling, you should try the repair function on the Windows disks. Anyone with any knowledge about computers given the scenario you outlined at the time would recommend the exact same thing.

-Kevin

 

[Numenorean]

If you have nothing to contribute, then don't bother posting.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Guys lets try to keep this on topic and work on the issue at hand, fighting isnt going to get anyone anywhere.


OP, did you get a chance to run SFC from recovery console? If so what were the results?

 

[Gamingphreek]

If you have nothing to contribute, then don't bother posting.

That is the 3rd time in this thread you have complained about people contributing. Get the chip off your shoulder and thank the users here for taking the time to help you.

Additionally, If you would stop insulting everyone has tried to help you in this thread you would see that I recommended this:

As MPMILCH said, you either do a complete reinstall or you attempt to do a System Repair when booting off of the Install discs.

and

Additionally, for the record he didn't just say "reinstall". Explorer.exe is a HUGE process with many subprocess. How did you expect him to narrow the solution down? He simply said that, barring reinstalling, you should try the repair function on the Windows disks. Anyone with any knowledge about computers given the scenario you outlined at the time would recommend the exact same thing.

I'm not sure why there is a sudden rush of posts where everyone is simply saying "oh just debug the problem". Has everyone been watching too much '24' or something where apparently hacking is as simple as 1 command? Unless you have significant coding experience and a working knowledge of of the source code of the executable, how in the world do you expect to debug a process such as explorer.exe!?

I can't seem to find where consent.exe comes up in the thread, but that is the UAC prompt dialog service. Leave it alone. If you are concerned that it may be infected run 'netstat -a' and see what your active connections are. If consent.exe is reporting to a strange IP address, you may want to investigate further.

As such, you should re-enable UAC. Disabling it because there is an extra click is a horrid security practice. UAC may be one of the single greatest things to ever make it into Windows. It dramatically improves the security of a given system.

Outside of that, unless you can provide more information other than a process 'crashed', I stand by my earlier suggestions. Attempting to disassemble and debug a Microsoft Windows executable that isn't statically linked is virtually impossible for anyone without significant knowledge of the executable to begin with. Reinstall or repair the Windows install and don't worry about it.

-Kevin

 

[Blazer]

a repair install would solve the issue, you seem to be making great progress here so ill go elsewhere.

 

[mpilchfamily]

If someone doesn't know the answer, that's not an issue. I don't know the answer, which is why I was asking here.

The truth is there is no one answer to this. Its not going to be a matter of some one chiming in here with some aw inspiring revelation about what is happening in the system and how to fix it. With something as complex as a PC there are always multiple possibilities for a problem. Many times there are things that can obviously be ruled out if the right information about the problem can be provided. But its still going to involve a bit of trial and error when trying to fix the problem. This whole argument here is like you came to use saying you have a flat tire. We tell you to change the tire or patch the hole and you get all upset because thats not the answer you wanted to hear.

Now there seems to be a common consensus here that a repair install is the first thing you should try. So rather then wasting your time, and ours with all this complaining. Why don't you just give it a try and see what happens? If it doesn't work then let us know and inform us of any changes there may be in the problems your having. Then we can see if we can find you a better solution.

 

[Numenorean]

I can't seem to find where consent.exe comes up in the thread, but that is the UAC prompt dialog service. Leave it alone. If you are concerned that it may be infected run 'netstat -a' and see what your active connections are. If consent.exe is reporting to a strange IP address, you may want to investigate further.

Consent.exe comes up when I try to run something as an admin. But UAC is off, so not sure why it is executing. That may be normal behaviour, which I just never noticed until the process hangs and sticks around.

As such, you should re-enable UAC. Disabling it because there is an extra click is a horrid security practice. UAC may be one of the single greatest things to ever make it into Windows. It dramatically improves the security of a given system.

I don't want UAC enabled. I don't really see the need for it. If I tell my computer to install some software, it should install it - not lock down the desktop and switch to a UAC prompt asking me "do you really want to install this?". Of course I do, that's what I told the system to do, so it had better do as I ask and not prompt me for every little stupid thing. I'm behind a Cisco PIX firewall and I don't go browsing all over the place like crazy - I stick with trusted sites and I use FireFox with script blocking and ad blocking and such so I shouldn't have any issues with security.

The truth is there is no one answer to this. Its not going to be a matter of some one chiming in here with some aw inspiring revelation about what is happening in the system and how to fix it. With something as complex as a PC there are always multiple possibilities for a problem. Many times there are things that can obviously be ruled out if the right information about the problem can be provided. But its still going to involve a bit of trial and error when trying to fix the problem. This whole argument here is like you came to use saying you have a flat tire. We tell you to change the tire or patch the hole and you get all upset because thats not the answer you wanted to hear.

Now there seems to be a common consensus here that a repair install is the first thing you should try. So rather then wasting your time, and ours with all this complaining. Why don't you just give it a try and see what happens? If it doesn't work then let us know and inform us of any changes there may be in the problems your having. Then we can see if we can find you a better solution.

I appreciate that you are trying to help me solve the problem, but I'm more interested in finding the cause rather than covering it up by simply doing a reinstall. I am sure that will fix the problem, but it won't tell me what the problem is.

Using your car analogy - it is l ike me bringing in a car with a dead engine. You say that replacing the engine will fix the problem. While true, I am more interested in why the engine is dead - what caused it to fail and was that failure preventable, something I could be aware of, etc.

I realize this is not a simple task, and I also realize that I may never find out the actual cause of this - I am okay with that, and I am okay with eventually just reinstalling. If I do so it will be with Win7. But I am interested in the cause too, not just the easy way to fix it.

I apologize if I did not explain that better.