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"Windows explorer has stopped working." frequently

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Dave3000

Golden Member
Frequently I've been getting a message saying "Windows explorer has stopped working." I then click OK and the get a message saying "Windows explorer is restarting." It happens only when accessing the Control Panel and also after clicking the View the amount of RAM and Processor speed link inside the Control Panel. It happened ever since connecting my Logitech 3D Extreme Pro joystick but now it also happens when it's not connected, so I don't think it's the joystick that causing the issue. Does is sound like the RAM in my PC is on it's way out? Here are some specs of my PC:


CPU: i7-3820
RAM: 16GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 1.65v
Video: EVGA GTX 680 4GB
Storage: Kingston Hyperx 240GB SSD and a WD Caviar Black 1TB
 
If you suspect the RAM, use Microsoft's Memory Diagnostics:

Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Windows Memory Diagnostic

If you need more thorough testing use memtest86+ and let it run overnight.
 
Last edited:
AnonymouseUser said:
If you suspect the RAM, use Microsoft's Memory Diagnostics:

Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Windows Memory Diagnostic

If you need more thorough testing use memtest86+ and let it run overnight.
Click to expand...

I recently tested my RAM with Windows Diagnostics Memory Test at default settings and Memtest 86+ for almost 8 hours and no errors showed up. Also Sleeping Dogs keeps crashing on me with a blank screen and the mouse pointer showing in the Payback mission in the same spot. Also I was running the Livery Manager for the CLS 747 addon for FSX and it make a small screw up in the aircraft.cfg file, no wonder that livery I was installing didn't show up in FSX. Instead of [fltsim.10], as it should be, the livery manager inserted [fltsim.110, and that's the first time that happened to me. I don't know if my CPU is on it's way out and maybe is losing it's ability to process data correctly, I only bought it about 7 months ago. I'm not running anything overclocked.
 
I also mentioned that I'm running 1.65v RAM. I understand that Sandybridge only supports 1.5V RAM according to what I read at Intel's website but some people say 1.65V RAM won't do any harm to Sandybridge and some say they were running 1.65V RAM without problems based on what I read in the internet. So I don't know if the memory controller in my i7 3820 is on it's way out, but then again memory tests don't show problems so I don't know for sure if it's the memory controller in my CPU. My motherboard, Asus P9X79 Pro supports 1.65V RAM, but then again my CPU does not officially support 1.65V RAM. Just didn't feel like buying new DDR3-1600 memory when I already had DDR3-1600 memory.
 
As long as you've run memtest overnight, your RAM and RAM subsystem (motherboard) are fine.

Matt1970 said:
That would more than likely be a Windows corruption. Can you open your event viewer and look for errors?
Click to expand...

As Matt1970 said, check your event viewer for errors.

Also, it's very likely your hard drive is failing, so run a disk check and see if you have any bad clusters:

WinKey + E > Right Click C: drive > Properties > Tools > Check Now > Reboot to run disk check
Click to expand...
 
A lot of things could cause that problem, I had bad context menu items that was causing that on my computer. Download shellexview and uncheck all the extra context menu item see if that helps.
 
AnonymouseUser said:
As long as you've run memtest overnight, your RAM and RAM subsystem (motherboard) are fine.



As Matt1970 said, check your event viewer for errors.

Also, it's very likely your hard drive is failing, so run a disk check and see if you have any bad clusters:
Click to expand...

Today I bought a new Samsung 830 256GB SSD to replace my 240GB Kingston Hyperx, thinking that my SSD might be the cause of the problem. Well it's not. The "Windows Explorer stopped has stopped working" messages still appear and Windows Explorer restarts. It happened twice today, each time shortly after booting in Windows 7. It can't be the memory because I tested it for 7 hours though memtest error-free, it passed the Windows 7's memory diagnostics test program, it ran Prime95 error-free for 9 hours, no otherwords, I didn't encounter any errors running these programs. So it most likely is not the RAM, SSD, or CPU. It's happens when I click on Control Panel or View amount of RAM and processor speed. Also one time I got a memory reference error that could not be read from memory while Windows 7 was shutting down. I'm stumped. I already wasted money on a new SSD because the SSD was not the problem.
 
Here's what it said in the error message I got after clicking on System:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Explorer.EXE
Application Version: 6.1.7601.17567
Application Timestamp: 4d672ee4
Fault Module Name: StackHash_d93f
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.17725
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ec4aa8e
Exception Code: c0000374
Exception Offset: 00000000000c40f2
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: d93f
Additional Information 2: d93fbd70440de5fadfdb359093768dd0
Additional Information 3: 1ce4
Additional Information 4: 1ce4d53427321a924179c85d0b2b5e95
 
I'm now setting the cmd rate of my RAM to 2T in the BIOS. It was at Auto which was 1T. I don't know what cmd rate my memory is suppose to run at since the XMP profile does not have the cmd rate preprogrammed. Also I did have that same problem with my RAM set to 1333 at 1.5V JEDEC specs. However 1T was working fine for the first 5 months I had this system, so if now 1T is not stable anymore, then it could mean that I degraded the IMC in my CPU by using 1.65V RAM? Still I have to test if 2T fixes the problem or not, so I can't draw any conclusions yet.
 
Well setting the cmd rate to 2T did not solve the problem. I went to the Control Panel a few seconds after Windows 7 loaded the desktop then when a clicked on System and Security, then clicked on System, then the that error message appeared but with a different dll file mentioned in the description. Weird thing is that after Windows explorer restarts, I click on the same thing and it does not give me an error again. I hope I don't get charged a restocking fee if I return the SSD I recently bought and tell them I'm troubleshooting a problem and found out that my old SSD was not the problem.
 
did you recently upgrade or change anything in your pc.and like matt and anonymouse told you do disk check. CHKDSK
 
I'm presuming that you've already done full malware and virus scans on your system. If you haven't, make sure to do it. Just because you know you don't have an infection doesn't mean that you don't actually have one mucking up the works...

By any chance, do you notice any type of screen flicker (however slight) just before or just after the error occurs? If so, you could have a corrupt video driver. This would jive with the fact that you are seeing other video-related errors as well. It would be worth removing the driver, restarting the machine, and re-installing your video drivers to be sure.

If you restart in safe mode, do you still get the error? If not, the problem may be related to a damaged or corrupt startup item. In that case, perform a clean boot (use msconfig to turn off all items that load at boot). Then, turn them back on one at a time until you determine which one is causing the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

paul878 said:
A lot of things could cause that problem, I had bad context menu items that was causing that on my computer. Download shellexview and uncheck all the extra context menu item see if that helps.
Click to expand...

I also agree that this would be a likely possibility and is definitely worth trying.
 
Okay I returned the SSD since it was not the problem and was lucky enough not to be charged a restocking fee. Chkdsk didn't find errors on my SSD. Those errors I was talking about happened even after a clean install of Windows with all the updates.

Today I bought new RAM to replace the RAM in my system because since FSX gave me an message saying the "Flight Simulator has stopped working" when I close FSX and I also something also a message about a memory reference error a few days ago when I shut down my PC. It seems to be stable so far, but I only used the new RAM for about 3 hours. The new RAM I bought is CML16GX3M4A1600C9B and it's 1.5V. I also mentioned earlier that I tested my old RAM at DDR3-1333 at 1.5V but still had the same problem.

I also did a clean reinstall of Windows 7 with the new RAM.
 
My new RAM didn't solve the problem. Still got the "Windows Explorer stopped working" message. This happened shorty after bootup and I noticed that the local network was still being detected after it happened. This problem started happening ever since I connected a new USB joystick I bought for my PC a few months ago. Also before this error happened, I installed Crystal Disk Mark.
 
denis280 said:
So this all started after the usb joystick and crystal disk mark.????
Click to expand...

It started a few months ago after I connected my new joystick through the USB port in the front of my case. Today after I installed my new RAM, I did a clean install of Windows 7 + SP1, installed the drivers for my hardware, downloaded and installed the Windows 7 updates, installed 3Dmark 11, installed Crystal Disk Info, and then installed Crystal Disk Mark. A few minutes later I rebooted my PC to see if I could reproduce the error message and that's when the problems started happening again today with the new RAM installed. Also I noticed that I still get the memory reference error when shutting down if I get that Windows Explorer as stopped working message in the same session. I'm ruling out the RAM and SSD.

Also I used the Windows 7 Professional ISO SP1 that I burned to DVD instead of the original retail DVD to install Windows. It's still considered a legal copy since I have the original retail DVD in my possession and I have downloaded it from Digital River. Could there be something wrong with the ISO file, like missing or corrupted files inside the ISO file? I don't remember these problems happening when I installed from the original DVD.
 
Steltek said:
I'm presuming that you've already done full malware and virus scans on your system. If you haven't, make sure to do it. Just because you know you don't have an infection doesn't mean that you don't actually have one mucking up the works...

By any chance, do you notice any type of screen flicker (however slight) just before or just after the error occurs? If so, you could have a corrupt video driver. This would jive with the fact that you are seeing other video-related errors as well. It would be worth removing the driver, restarting the machine, and re-installing your video drivers to be sure.

If you restart in safe mode, do you still get the error? If not, the problem may be related to a damaged or corrupt startup item. In that case, perform a clean boot (use msconfig to turn off all items that load at boot). Then, turn them back on one at a time until you determine which one is causing the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135



I also agree that this would be a likely possibility and is definitely worth trying.
Click to expand...
Then back to this. and yes it could be a bad iso.
 
Last edited:
Dave3000 said:
It started a few months ago after I connected my new joystick through the USB port in the front of my case. Today after I installed my new RAM, I did a clean install of Windows 7 + SP1, installed the drivers for my hardware, downloaded and installed the Windows 7 updates, installed 3Dmark 11, installed Crystal Disk Info, and then installed Crystal Disk Mark. A few minutes later I rebooted my PC to see if I could reproduce the error message and that's when the problems started happening again today with the new RAM installed. Also I noticed that I still get the memory reference error when shutting down if I get that Windows Explorer as stopped working message in the same session. I'm ruling out the RAM and SSD.

Also I used the Windows 7 Professional ISO SP1 that I burned to DVD instead of the original retail DVD to install Windows. It's still considered a legal copy since I have the original retail DVD in my possession and I have downloaded it from Digital River. Could there be something wrong with the ISO file, like missing or corrupted files inside the ISO file? I don't remember these problems happening when I installed from the original DVD.
Click to expand...

You can download a new copy from Digital River to be sure (and I'd encourage it, as a bad ISO can cause exactly this type of problem):

Win7 Pro SP1 32-bit: http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59183.iso
Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit: http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59186.iso

Out of curiosity, what motherboard do you have? If it has onboard integrated video capability, does the problem occur if you switch to the integrated video instead of the PCIe video card? Explorer uses parts of IE, which itself uses hardware video acceleration -- a video card malfunction could cause this type of failure. It wouldn't hurt to try moving the video card to another motherboard slot. And, do you have the most recent BIOS installed on your motherboard?

Finally, you indicated that you did a clean install but it isn't clear from your post if the problem occurred before or after you started adding 3rd party software and hardware (i.e. did it start before or after you installed 3Dmark11, Crystal Disk Info and Mark, and your other hardware drivers?). Does it occur with just a clean Windows install, the basic motherboard drivers, and video drivers? If you haven't done it, it would probably be worth re-downloading new copies of all of your drivers from the manufacturer websites to ensure you don't have a bad driver file.
 
Today I did a clean install of Windows 7 from the original DVD and it have the same problem. Today the problem started again after a reboot after installing MS Office 2007, even with the all the MS Office 2007 updates installed. I have to have MS Office installed for work so uninstalling Office is not an option for me. The faulted module in the description box is usually DUI70.dll. These error messages don't happen right after a clean install of Windows 7 with the drivers installed. Now I know it's not my RAM, not my SSD, not a corrupted ISO file, and not the drivers. I can only think that it could be my CPU or motherboard that has a problem, but then again Prime 95 run stable for 9 hours in the blend test so I'm hesitant to buy a new CPU and motherboard, which might not solve the problem, but at least I'll end up with some spare parts for a 2nd PC if it does not solve the problem. I'm getting tired of reinstalling Windows and all it's updates.
 
Can you set your BIOS settings for safe-mode? Might be a weird setting. Also, check the FW for the mobo. There might be a new one or one more stable.
 
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