Windows Explorer Crashing

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rob - 22 Feb 2004 23:52 GMT

Hello All,

My windows explorer is crashing randomly every 10 minutes or so. This
happens even when I am in a different application or when I am not doing
anything at all. When I try to copy anything else then small files, i.e.

>5MB, over the network or even on the same computer it almost always crashes

before the coping did finish. There is no error message. What happens is
that the all windows disapear, the taskbar disapers, then the windows and
the task bar come back up again but now without windows explorer. I have
just done a complete new install (formated HD) but the problem remains. I
have searched on the internet a lot and while many others seem to experience
that problem with W2k and WinXP nobody seems to have a solution. It drives
me NUTS!!!!

I am running windows 2k with Service pack 4 with all the latest updates incl
IE6 and all security updates.

Any input is highly appreciated.

Rob

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Malke - 23 Feb 2004 01:40 GMT

> Hello All,
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> I am running windows 2k with Service pack 4 with all the latest
> updates incl IE6 and all security updates.

Hi, Rob. Since this happens with a clean install, I'd suspect faulty
hardware, with overheating being the first suspect. Open up the case
and clean it out, make sure all fans are working, including the one on
the video card if you have one. Then test the RAM, then the hard drive.
Post back if you need more help with that.

Malke

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MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

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rob - 23 Feb 2004 02:43 GMT

> > Hello All,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> the video card if you have one. Then test the RAM, then the hard drive.
> Post back if you need more help with that.

Malke,

If it is an overheating problem then why is it that I only have problems
with Windows Explorer but no other application?

Anyways, I think I can rule out faulty HW because I have already gone
through that whole procedure before the new install (but when the problem
already existed before). This includes taking pretty much everything out,
inserting it and booting up the computer and test. At the end I also routed
all the cables neatly to optimize airflow. Also just for checking I left the
computer case open. Last but not least I also checked all 9 fans in my box.
Oh, and the power supply is quite good and should be plenty powerful.

My guess is that it is some software, possibly even some windows updates,
that causes my Windows Explorer to crash. Any more input is appreciated.

Robert

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Calvin - 23 Feb 2004 05:38 GMT

A thought Rob if I may:

Have you tried reverting to standard VGA mode - ie: not the drivers relevant to
your installed video hardware. I have seen strange results when the video card
driver interacts badly with other software (including the OS).

in many cases the driver is in fact not faulty - there just is problems with
interaction with other code :-(

Calvin.

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rob - 23 Feb 2004 07:51 GMT

> Hello All,
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Rob

Since that problem appeared the first time about a month ago I must have
spent at least 20 hours, probably more, to fix it..... I got one step closer
to it. Whenever the explorer crashes and the desktop and taskbar disapears
for a few second the following event in Event Viewer/Application is added:

Type = Information
Source = Winlogon
Category = None
Event = 1002
User = N/A
Description = The shell stopped unexpectedly and Explorer.exe was restarted.

I have done an extensive search on the net and various news groups. Many
people seem to have that problem in both W2k and WinXp but nobody seems to
have a definitive answer. From all the messages I read the biggest suspect
is one of the security updates/Service Packs. Unfortunately, I wasn't able
to pin it down and therefore couldn't fix the problem yet. Anybody any idea?

Rob

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