Why does explorer.exe hang and crash nearly every day?

Why does explorer.exe hang and crash nearly every day? I'm using Windows 10 21H1 and it also happened on version 20H2 and 1909. Looking at Event Viewer doesn't give any significant information or signature about the errors.

Also this started happening on the first day I used my laptop after it was wiped out and reinstalled, and there was no bloatware so it doesn't seem to be due to third party software.

Hi,

1. Try disabling all non-MS shell extensions. First do that using Shellexview (free).

If no effect, you may find more by using
Autoruns - free from MS.
Again avoid disabling MS items.

Both use check boxes- no need to log off or restart.

2. Try booting to Safe Mode.
Does file explorer crash then?

3. By way of a basic check, run
chkdsk c: /scan
from an admin command prompt. Report only the final (summary) result not the whole thing.

Disabling all the non-microsooft COM Shell Extensions with Shellexview didn't work. Also disabling items with Autoruns didn't work. Using chkdsk or even sfc and dism didn't work either. I didn't try your suggestion of using safe mode as I had other ideas.

However I have finally solved the problem. The problem is fixed now. It required multiple solutions.


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Run as adminstrator

The following software which I use should be running as administrator.

• Discord (this also includes Discord PTB or Canary (public test build) if you have that installed)
• NCH Software Debut
• Faststone Capture
• Faststone Image Viewer

You will have to decide which software you use has to be run that way, based on the errors, crashes and freezes you often receive on your computer regarding such software. Do NOT do this for your web browser as that is a security hazard for getting viruses.

If you don't know how to find the relevant .exe file in program files follow these instructions.

1. Search for the software name on the start menu
2. Click open containing folder on the right hand side or right click menu
3. Right click the program name shortcut or click once to select it, then click properties
4. On the shortcut tab, click open file location
5. Right click the program name that launches the program, the .exe executable file, then click properties. Or find properties on the ribbon toolbar.
6. On the compatibility tab, tick the run this program as administrator checkbox.
7. Once ticked, click OK to save your changes

Note that for Debut 4 files will have to undergo this process.

• debut.exe
• debutsetup_vx.exe (where x is the version number)
• debutfilterinstallerx64
• debutfilterinstallerx86

Now that I think of it, because Debut installs a driver to the computer and Windows 10 has a new version every 6 months, I should upgrade Debut as was using a version of Debut dated 31/05/2019 when the latest version was released in 05/07/2021.

Change the startup type of the Teamviewer service to manual
This is for if you have Teamviewer installed on your computer. If so, then you're going to want to open the Services window.
To open up services, open Run by using Windows Key + R then typing in services.msc or use the Windows + X key then click on Computer Management.


Uninstall buggy software

Uninstall all software made by Wondershare as it slows down the computer as it comes with 2 services that are always running even after you uninstall it. You will have to use Autoruns (see below) to delete the services after uninstalling it.

I also uninstalled VLC, Irfanview and TortoiseSVN as it was causing windows and third party software to crash, not just itself. I also uninstalled Do PDF version 9 as I already had version 11 installed.

I found that Foxit PDF Reader version 9 is buggy so I uninstalled it and got instant improvements so the error happened less. See if you have any buggy software that needs uninstalling. However they did release version 11 which has much less bugs and crashes.
Download Mini Toolbox. After running it, tick the list installed programs checkbox then click OK.



After enough waiting a newly created text file will appear in notepad with a list of all the programs you have installed. This file will be saved in the same folder that Mini Toolbox is running from.



What you want to do with this information, is to look for any software that is mentioned twice under the same name but with different version numbers. That would show that software didn't uninstall properly and has left traces on your computer. So uninstall the version that doesn't appear on the start menu, then delete traces left behind from the following folders.

• %APPDATA%
• %LOCALAPPDATA%
• Program Files
• Program Files (x86)

If you're having trouble finding out the version number of a software because it won't open or it has no about window or page, you can use the properties window of the .exe file to get it. It'll appear under the details tab. This does not work for shortcuts that point to an .exe file.





Fixing Cortana’s Package Folder

This folder does not exist in Windows 10 21H2

1. Press Winkey + X and select ‘Command prompt (Admin)’ or ‘Windows Powershell (Admin)’.
2. Once that loads up, enter the following command (replace {USERNAME} with your system’s username).
   
   Code:

   RD /S /Q “C:\Users\{USERNAME}\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\RoamingState”

   
3. Now, open up Windows Powershell (Admin) if you used the command prompt to enter the above-mentioned command.
4. Once Windows Powershell loads up, enter the following command:
   
   Code:

   Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

   

If any packages are currently in use then just ignore it.

Here's the source.

Autoruns

Download Autoruns then once it's open, click the file menu then the run as administrator option and wait for it to finish loading the full list. Make sure that you opened the file that matches your computer architecture like if your computer is 32 bit, 64 bit or using arm processor.









There's 3 things you're going to want to do here.

1. Uncheck all the entries with a missing file or registry key (this will be coloured red or yellow)
2. Go to the office tab then uncheck every entry that appears blank (this will be coloured red or yellow)
3. Do the same thing for the image hijack tab
4. Do the same thing for the logon tab
5. Uncheck all the startup entries which are related to any software you recently uninstalled
6. Look inside the startup and scheduled tasks and uncheck anything there that shouldn't be running at startup.

For me I unchecked the following to run at startup. Adobe sofware, Nova PDF Updater, Foxit PDF Updater, Brave Updater and Microsoft Edge Updater.



Slow down the speed or throttle your backup software

My disk usage would occasionally go to 99% or 100% and cause third party software to crash. I use Backblaze to backup my computer and for my situation I had to move the performance slider to throttle it in the position below.




Windows Troubleshooters

You need to run the following troubleshooters.

• Search troubleshooter
• Power troubleshooter
• Windows Store Apps troubleshooter

To find the troubleshooters, search for troubleshoot on the start menu and click the troubleshoot settings option. This can also be found in the system category of windows settings.



At the bottom of the new window that appears, scroll down to the bottom and click additional troubleshooters. There you'll find the relevant troubleshooters to run.





Speed up .NET Framework

Run .NET Framework Optimisation Service or mscorsvw.exe. Here's information from microsoft about it. You will have to download the file from github called DrainNGenQueue.wsf. When you open it, a black window will open that it is supposed to spontaneously close without you being able to read the text that was printed on the screen. That means that the operation completed successfully.

Windows Explorer Optimisations

Three things have to be done to optimise windows explorer to delete databases which have gone corrupt. Don't worry, what's being reset is nothing major.
Below are the databases which are (or seem) corrupt

• File Explorer History
• Icon Cache
• Thumbnail Cache

You need to open File Explorer Options. You can find this by searching for it on the start menu, or using the file explorer (or the file manager), clicking the view tab in the ribbon then clicking the options icon on the right hand side.

Once clicked, a new window should appear with you viewing the general tab. Click the clear button then click OK to save your changes.



Now to clear the icon cache and thumbnail cache. There is an simpler way or a hard way to do this. I'll start with the easy way. The Windows Club has a free software for clearing both the icon cache and thumbnail cache. When you use it make sure that both checkboxes are ticked. You can download it here. Or if you prefer you could just use the command line.



Now for the hard way, it is typically done with command prompt that should be running as administrator, to then run commands that are typed in using the keyboard on the command line. But it's common for files to be locked so they fail to delete as they're already being used, and closing windows explorer on task manager just makes it open up again. In that case Hijack This can be used to make sure that files are deleted upon restarting the computer.











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Once all these solutions have been done, restart your computer then the problem should be fixed.


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I found a virus on my computer









I found the relevant registry key using Autoruns and then deleted it with Registry Editor, the folder on the left hand side, not the key on the right. Remember to create a system restore point before editing the registry.







You can download Reg Organiser here in order to open registry keys to see their structure and contents, WITHOUT adding it to your windows registry. Just don't use any cleaners or optimsers as they might be bad and make your computer worse.

Thank you for your reply.