Issue with OpenWith.exe freezed after you cancel file requester

Callender said:

The suggested fix seems to be to restore file associations to Microsoft defaults....

Yes, I've seen that suggested too, and some suggest that it needs to be done while in safe boot. Results seem variable, it's a cure for some, but others say it made no difference. It didn't do anything for me, anyway.

The fact that it only affects one user account on my machine suggests a corrupt user profile, which basically means something is wrong in the registry for HKCU. If more proof were needed that the registry is corrupt, then I only need look at 'Default apps by file type' in Settings - some very strange entries there...



There's too much damage to the registry to fix it with any confidence (I blame a BSoD for the corruption). The most recent Macrium image I have that pre-dates the corruption was made in February, just after Patch Tuesday. I have restored that, and copied all the new and/or modified user files from the latest image. Then I checked for updates in Windows Update. Everything is updated and back to normal, and OpenWith.exe works properly now.

@hexaae, there's a twist in the tale.

When I said "Everything is updated..." I meant that the non-optional March 'Patch Tuesday' CU had been installed, taking it to build 19042.867.

Later I installed kb5000842, the optional preview CU to build 19042.906 - and OpenWith.exe hung again! What's odd it that uninstalling kb5000842 did NOT restore normal operation. Servicing stack updates are now rolled up into the CUs, and kb5000842 installs Servicing Stack 10.0.19041.903 - and servicing stacks cannot be uninstalled. This appears to be the culprit, not the CU as such.



What's even odder is that I have the same CU and servicing stack installed on another machine where OpenWith.exe works normally - it's just this one machine that has problems with it.

I've restored a system image to take it back to immediately before installing kb5000842. I await April's Patch Tuesday with some trepidation.....

ANOTHER WINDOWS BUG?

Dear friends I've just solved the enigma: it's a bug with 'Show libraries' for Explorer!
To enable/disable 'Show libraries' follow this guide: Show libraries in File Explorer (microsoft.com)

When activated Explorer will hang 9/10 times as in the video in the first message!
Hope someone in MS will do something since Libraries can be quite handy....

If you're interested please, vote in the Feedback Hub where I opened a report: https://aka.ms/AAbwqv7

hexaae said:

Dear friends I've just solved the enigma: it's a bug with 'Show libraries' for Explorer!
....When activated Explorer will hang 9/10 times...

Thanks, but there appears to be more to it than that. Neither of my machines that have tried 19042.906 have Show Libraries enabled. One of them hangs, one of them doesn't.

hexaae said:

Mmmh, that's interesting... so having Show Libraries enabled could be just a trigger for a deeper bug in Explorer/OpenWith. Actually it's not 100% reproducible and sometimes it just works so this makes sense...

Good news. Today's Patch Tuesday CU installs a new updated servicing stack, version 10.0.19041.925. All my machines work normally, including the one where OpenWith.exe hung with the .906 Preview CU and SS 10.0.903.

hexaae said:

Just upgraded, but didn't solve the hang issue if Show Libraries is enabled here, and it still happens also in Safe Mode (= only MS essential services, no autorun, no ShellExtension loaded, no extra drivers for networking/video/audio etc.)

I had never enabled Show Libraries on any of my machines, but despite that one of them had OpenWith.exe hang when upgraded to the Preview CU 19042.906. I restored its system image of 19042.867 (which didn't hang) and after the upgrade to 19042.928 OpenWith.exe still doesn't hang.

I have now tested enabling 'Show libraries' on that machine that was prone to this problem - still doesn't hang.

Bree said:

I have now tested enabling 'Show libraries' on that machine that was prone to this problem - still doesn't hang.

Try this:
- enable Show libraries
- once you are at the file requester to pick the default viewer, EXPAND the libraries tree and click on (enter in) last library listed (usually 'Videos')
- wait a few secs for it to refresh
- now Cancel the file requester
this should trigger the OpenWith.exe hanging bug much more often...

This has never been fixed, tested today on Win 10 21H1 (19043.1706) clean VBox install. The bug is in OpenWith.exe hanging waiting for something... It happens only when you have enabled Libraries in Explorer.

Started a thread also on MS Tech Community: OpenWith.exe component (to change default program association) hangs in a reproducible situation - Microsoft Tech Community