Windows explorer error

[Pada V4.5]

When i try to open the folder of local disk c: the window appears which says that "windows explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close." I can freely browse all the other folders on that drive, just not the base one -.-
More information about error it says
AppName: explorer.exe AppVer: 6.0.2900.5512 ModName: shlwapi.dll
ModVer: 6.0.2900.5912 Offset: 000084d9
And the c: folder never opens.

After that i close the error window and a new error appears. "DrWatson Postmortem Debugger has encountered a problem and needs to close."
More information says.
EventType : BEX P1 : drwtsn32.exe P2 : 5.1.2600.0 P3 : 3b7d84a2
P4 : dbghelp.dll P5 : 5.1.2600.5512 P6 : 4802a0b2 P7 : 0001295d
P8 : c0000409 P9 : 00000000

After i close this error window the windows explorer freezes, there are 2 drwatson processes in task manager and nothing happens. The only thing i can do is manually close explorer or watson process and the other process terminates too and i can start windows explorer from new.

OS is windows xp sp3. Help meh!!

 

[Skitzer]

The file shlwapi.dll is either corrupted or missing.
Lots of info on this problem ......... Google is your friend.

 

[Pada V4.5]

I looked in event viewer and found 2 kinds of application errors

Faulting application drwtsn32.exe, version 5.1.2600.0, faulting module dbghelp.dll, version 5.1.2600.5512, fault address 0x0001295d.

Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2900.5512, faulting module shlwapi.dll, version 6.0.2900.5912, fault address 0x000084d9.

And i tried to play a opengl game which did run before, but doesn't run now. Something weird is going on...

 

[Pada V4.5]

The file shlwapi.dll is either corrupted or missing.
Lots of info on this problem ......... Google is your friend.

I found that file on my xp setup disk. Now the problem is how can i switch it with the one who is already on my system. Because the system is using it and doesn't let me change it..

 

[Pada V4.5]

It seems the OS wont let me replace that file, that shrinks my possibilities to
1) system restore
its turned off for me

2)windows file protection
i did run it but that didn't help

3)chkdisk to check if there are some errors on disk
did run it, some errors turned up, but didnt help my problem

4) do a windows repair
will try to do it now. I hope it helps -.-

 

[Pada V4.5]

Apparently the windows repair is a no go, because it needs windows xp sp3 disk, but installed from a windows xp sp2 disk, which i later patched with sp3 from the internet. Fail.. WHAT TO DO NOW! Im kinda out of options here...

 

[MrChad]

Have you tried running System File Checker?

 

[Steltek]

Apparently the windows repair is a no go, because it needs windows xp sp3 disk, but installed from a windows xp sp2 disk, which i later patched with sp3 from the internet. Fail.. WHAT TO DO NOW! Im kinda out of options here...

You might try to use nlite ( http://www.nliteos.com) to create a Windows install CD with SP3 slipstreamed in.

Another option is, if you just want to replace the file, create a live boot CD of some sort ( http://www.ubcd4win.com/ is a decent one if you want to stick with Windows - the v3.60 beta version can be downloaded at http://majorgeeks.com/UBCD4Win_d5710.html - I've used it, and it seems pretty good). Download and burn the ISO to DVD (I'd use a DVD with version 3.60 as it seems to be just a tad too big to burn to a CD), copy the file you want to replace onto a the DVD (or a flash drive, as the UBCD4Win support USP drives), boot the live DVD, and replace the file on the hard drive. Then try to restart the system to see if it works.

Since system restore is disabled, I'd be suspicions of a virus/malware infection (especially as it is only faulting when you try to access the system directory). You ought to do a antivirus/malware scan (UBC4Win has SuperAntiSpyware installed as a component and you can enable internet access while running UBC4Win to download updates if needed).

 

[Pada V4.5]

Yes i did try the system file checker, it didnt help.

I did disable the system restore not some virus.

Apparently the repair option doesn't care what service pack you are running contrary to some other source. -.- So i did a repair install, it went through all the install process, but hanged at the very end, where it shows the windows startup screen and says to wait. Yes i did wait a hour nothing happened. Was forced to restart. Windows says the version is now xp service pack 2. But the problem still exists.

 

[Pada V4.5]

I managed to get another version of shlwapi.dll and replace it with the help of windows recovery console. BUT it didn't help!! So the problem isnt with the file "shlwapi.dll"!!! And as i write earlier drwtsn32.exe crashes too imidietly after that with a different error. So the fault must be in smth else. If nobody here has any ideas anymore. Could some of you recommend me some other forums, with more tech savy people who could help me analyze this problem -.-

 

[Pada V4.5]

I found the source of the problem!!! HOLY ****! Its a program called "folder size", which adds another column to the detail view of browser called folder size. That column shows the size of a folder with all of its contents pretty useful actually. So before a few days i decided that i dont need it anymore so i UNINSTALLED it, and went on with my usual business. And only after a day or so i noticed my problem in the first post. 2 days of troubleshooting later, i finally remembered that i uninstalled this program recently, so i thought im gonna try if thats the cause. I just installed it from new, and voila! No problem whatsoever!!! /facepalm

The problem now is im stuck with this program now, because apparently when i uninstall it i get this problem, which no repair can fix... Not that its harmful in any way, but still weird...

 

[brio1337]

Hey all, I'm the author of the Folder Size program. Sorry it sounds like this program is causing these problems!
I haven't seen this problem myself, so it's hard for me to fix. If you can still reproduce this error, send me a message at brio1337@users.sourceforge.net and maybe we can figure out the root cause.
Thanks!