I got this error a while ago, i was using a program called HijackThis to remove an annoying browser hijack. All seemed well, but i started noticing after a while that right clicking crashed Explorer.exe in some cases.

These are the situations i have found which causes the crash:
Right clicking an .exe file
Right clicking a shortcut to an .exe file
Selecting a .exe file and hitting delete, ctrl+c or ctrl+x or alt+enter
Selecting an .exe file and hitting the File menu in the window.
Attemting to use the Edit menu to copy or cut an .exe file.


I have tried many things to fix this, but unfortunately system restore was off when this problem occured, so i was left to try and fix it myself. I have used context menu editors to see if there are any errors there, i have also used regedit for this. I have reinstalled windows, i have installed SP2, i have done virus searches and spyware searches.

Does anyone have another solutiong except reformatting? I REALLY don't want to do that of several reasons.

If it is explorer that has some (possible) corruption, it may be resolved with by going to "Start" -> "Run" -> SFC /SCANNOW

SFC /SCANNOW
Did not find any errors

APK gave a good answer quite sometime ago.

http://www.ntcompatible.com/thread27031-1.html

Originally posted by ds3circuit:

Yeah, i've searched the forums and i tried those solutions, but none of them work. I seem to have a slightly different problem unfortunately

i have the same problem and the notice reads:
AppName:explorer.exe AppVer:6.0.2900.2180 ModName:xvid.dll ModVer:0.0.0.0 offset:00047d0f .i tried drivers from xvid&downloaded the sp2 please any ideas?

Have you tried uninstalling xvid? At what point does explorer crash?

I tried uninstalling XviD but that didn't fix it. The crash happens exactly when i right click a file. I get no error message though.

Have you recently installed any shell extentions? An example would be WinRAR, that adds a context menu when you right-click on a file.

Don't know if the this is exactly the same problem, but there is an article from Microsoft in relation to something similar: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329692&Product=winxp

I have similar symptoms.

Using Windows 2000, Windows Explorer with folders on the left and the files on the right. I have right-click ability on the left folders but any file or folder on the right will crash instantly with no error message if I right-click on it. Using the top menu Edit function also crashes. The taskbar usually restarts thereafter but sometimes I use the task manager to re-launch it. I can still rename files and drag and drop, but not cut or move.

I recently installed new XdiV codecs AllIn1_v6.0.2.0.exe from http://www.codec-download.com/. I suspect there's the culprit from what someone posted here.

Unfortunately I have no back ups and am at a loss as to what to do now. My skills are limitted and I'm afraid to make things worse by messing with my registry too much.

Good luck and best regards,
~ Sunshine

I should also add that it only crashes if a foler or file is selected to menu 'Edit' or right-click. Windows Explorer does not crash if I right-click on empty space with nothing selected, say to create a new folder.

Peace,
~ Sunshine

Hi there...

Now, I had exactly the same problem as yourself... Right clicking on a file or folder would produce an memory expection in explorer. (however it worked fine, clicking in a blank area, plus using the WINDOWS context menu button).

After running the expection throught the VS debugger, I noticed it had errored in a DLL related to Dr DivX bundled encoding DLL. I uninstalled this section of the DivX package, and ...

IT ALL NOW WORKS!!

Please try this, I'm sure this should also sort you out, so you can relax!

- thanks - Neil

Best way to fix this problem is to download ShellExView from nirsoft(free). After you start it up click on Type (in header) this will sort items into categories. Disable(right click) everything in Type/Context Menu only. Right click problem should be solved, now go down list in ShellExView and enable each extension one by one checking for right click problems after each enabling. Just fixed this problem myself(Eraser 5.7 shell extension disabled). Everything back to normal!

Thanks Sagace for your info on the ShellEX program. I was having the same problem on two different PC's and have been pulling my hair out trying to solve the problem. In less than 15 minutes I found the culprit using the ShellEx program and your instructions.

Yes, as you said:
"Right clicking on a file or folder would produce an memory expection in explorer. (however it worked fine, clicking in a blank area, plus using the WINDOWS context menu button)."

Oddly enough after living with my problem and occasionally checking back to this bookmarked webpage I got a little used to the problem. A week or two ago and after some reboots the problem has since resolved itself. Go figure.

So now I'm clearing out some old bookmarks and discover all of your remarks. Good to know for future reference. I'm keeping this bookmark and will certainly keep this site handy.

Thank you all, regardless.

Groove on,
~ Sunshine *

Eeeeexcelent !!!!!

Originally posted by SAGACE:

Definitely.
Was searching the web for a long time to fix this god damn problem and here s the only forum where i found the exact solution.Spysweeper was the issue in my system.I disabled it from shell extension as written above and bingo
I m fine with W2K & WinXP-Home .This solution goes for both Os z.
Regards...

SAGACE is the MAN! Thanks I was just getting ready to reformat!! Then I found this page and SHAZAM its fixed!
You saved my marriage! 8) 8)

hey sagace , I've registered to this excellent forum just to say thank you .You saved me from explorer error without any damage.

Thank you all of you .

Well this must be the longest running topic in history. Since it started, MS have invented VISTA and I've been experiencing the same issue on my VISTA installation. In fact, the problem is all over forums with no solution ... except for now - thanks to SAGACE. I downloaded SHELLEX and found a number of greyed/highlighted entries.

I highlighted all greyed entries and chose the disable option. I then tried right clicking on an exe in explorer and found no problem! So I then went through each item one by one that I'd disabled, re-enabling each one followed by a right click on an exe until explorer crashed indicating the offending file. The solution took about 5 minutes.

So thanks SAGACE if you're still around, you should be given the "solution of the millenium" award for excellence in tech support or if that doesn't exist then, just a big thanks from us :-)