Explorer restart loop

Hi all,

I'm trying to help a friend with a computer issue, every time he navigates to a certain folder, explorer crashes with the following error:

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 10.0.19041.423, time stamp: 0xc6e6ae29
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.19041.423, time stamp: 0x06701e03
Exception code: 0xc0000374
Fault offset: 0x00000000000fed79
Faulting process ID: 0x2524
Faulting application start time: 0x01d67ff718db2222
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report ID: a3097de1-345f-4c60-9baa-64aaef89ae6b
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

It appears that if he copies/pastes the folder to the desktop he can access it, but I'd like to try to figure out what is causing it. It is quite deep down in terms of directory structure so may be due to a pathname character limitation? I have tried running chkdsk /f /r on the drive. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

dalchina said:

Hi, does the same happen if he boots to Safe Mode, then tries to access the folder?

I just tried it in safe mode and was able to access the folder without issue. Now to work out which program is causing it.... I tried to turn off the AV (Bitdefender) but it still happened.

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blueman83 said:

I just tried it in safe mode and was able to access the folder without issue. Now to work out which program is causing it.... I tried to turn off the AV (Bitdefender) but it still happened.

Actually, spoke too soon.... Explorer still restarts in Safe Mode too. It appeared to work the first time but now crashes every time I access that folder in safe mode too

dalchina said:

Even in Safe Mode there can be a few things still configured or running... drivers, services, context menu items.. you can see everything if you use Autoruns (free from MS). Don't disable anything from MS though.

What type of files are in the folder?

Looks like PDF, XLS, DOC files and a PNG file. I wondered if possibly it has to do with rendering the thumbnail for the PNG file, if I'm able to move the file through command line or something...

dalchina said:

That's the other possibility, the handling of particular file types.

However, that doesn't seem to line up with the fact that the same folder and files can be opened in a different location.

Assuming there's no file system problem, you should be able to move them using commands. That may help to relate the problem to a file type- or even a particular file... once you reach a point when you can open that folder with file explorer.

Nontheless you could try e.g.
Clear and Reset Thumbnail Cache in Windows 10
Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews in File Explorer in Windows 10

Is there a way to get more information about which files/processes are involved during the crash aside from explorer.exe and ntdll.dll? I have tried to create a dump file, but don't really know what to do with it!

In your shoes I would try to copy the files to another folder, and if possible delete the offending folder (if necessary, in safe mode), then move on.