File Explorer keeps crashing when I open it

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

As the title says.

Look: 2023-10-26_13-14-23.zip

What should I do? For some reason, this issue exists on a laptop that I use, but not on a desktop PC that I use. Both have the same exact Windows version, and no updates available for the OS.

I also tried to use the pre-release version update, and it didn't help...

[pyrates999]

Please post windows version and build. You can find this by running winver. Please post explorer patcher version.

Please include what settings you changed in explorer patcher properties application.

[Amrsatrio]

Which other customization software did you install on the affected PC? Note that we do not fully support scenarios where you have any other customization software installed. I've tested that OldNewExplorer and TranslucentTB works fine with EP but not others like 7+TT, OpenShell, or ClassicShell.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@pyrates999 Sadly winver doesn't let me copy paste as text, and also explorer-patcher doesn't let me. Windows version: 22H2 build 22621.2428 patcher version: 22621.2428.59.1

I also tried to choose "restore default settings". If it's safe and has no privacy issues, I can choose "export current settings" and put here.

@Amrsatrio I use 7+TT, OpenShell. Both work fine on the PC, and worked fine so far on the laptop but now for some reason the file-explorer keeps crashing on it. I have no idea what started causing it. I also use "Mica for everyone" because for some reason the explorer ribbon became very white even though I use dark theme, making it almost impossible to see what's written there. I also use QTTabBar, but this is for a toolbar.

[Amrsatrio]

Can you attempt on uninstalling those to pin down the problematic customization software?

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Amrsatrio I tried this already about a week ago, and it didn't help. Last week I also talked with Microsoft support and they've caused a reset of Windows, which sadly also reset many settings of various apps and of Windows itself, and I also lost many installations of apps.

Now I've tried this tip: https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/issues/1723#issuecomment-1780908734

Now it just doesn't do anything at all. Doesn't crash, but also doesn't do anything.

[Amrsatrio]

Can you follow these steps, but find for explorer.exe instead?

https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/issues/2332#issuecomment-1773750978

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Amrsatrio OK I think I've found the crash. These seem like private logs, no? Can I please send it in private?

[Amrsatrio]

DM me on Discord. I should be at the top of the member list of the EP server.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Amrsatrio I don't use it. Can I message you on X ? I see that you have an account there, but I'm not sure you can get messages... Maybe reddit?

[Amrsatrio]

You can go ahead via X.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Amrsatrio You need to change some setting there. It says "@amrsatrio can’t be messaged"

[Amrsatrio]

Try again now.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Amrsatrio OK I sent you there

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

For now what seems to be a workaround to handle this, is to change the setting of the "File Explorer"->"Control interface" to be different than of Windows 11.

@Amrsatrio Thank you for this, and please update here in case you know how to fix it.

[derrapf]

Hello everybody. I also have the issue that the tool "AgentRansack" crashes when I start it. I let the guys of Mythicsoft investigate the issue and they replied:

Dear Ralf, Thanks for the error report. The crash is occurring due to a 3rd party module you have installed called ExplorerPatcher. From the >dump analysis: IMAGE_NAME: ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll

STACK_COMMAND: ~20s ; .ecxr ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: NULL_POINTER_READ_STACK_OVERFLOW_c00000fd_ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll!Unknown

OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x64

Kind Regards, Dave.

I additionlly got from them the following info:

Dear Ralf, We can't say the exact reason because we don't have the debug symbols for ExplorerPatcher. It looks like ExplorerPatcher is loaded into a few background threads of the AgentRansack process. All we see is this: EXCEPTION_RECORD: (.exr -1) ExceptionAddress: 00007ff9ac0bc00f (ExplorerPatcher_amd64+0x000000000001c00f) ExceptionCode: c00000fd (Stack overflow) ExceptionFlags: 00000000 NumberParameters: 2 Parameter[0]: 0000000000000001 Parameter[1]: 000000c57fe53ff8

PROCESS_NAME: AgentRansack.exe

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc00000fd - A new guard page for the stack cannot be created.

EXCEPTION_CODE_STR: c00000fd

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER1: 0000000000000001

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER2: 000000c57fe53ff8

STACK_TEXT: 000000c57fe54000 0000000000000000 : 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000816dc3 : ExplorerPatcher_amd64+0x1c00f

SYMBOL_NAME: ExplorerPatcher_amd64+1c00f

MODULE_NAME: ExplorerPatcher_amd64

IMAGE_NAME: ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll

STACK_COMMAND: ~20s ; .ecxr ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: NULL_POINTER_READ_STACK_OVERFLOW_c00000fd_ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll!Unknown

OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x64

OSNAME: Windows 8

BR Ralf

[Amrsatrio]

Bruh. Of course uninstall EP before letting Mythicsoft touch your PC. (Or that's not MS that you're referring to 😂 but still)

Nevermind, sorry about that. I thought you were the OP. So that is related to EP being registered as shell extension. Please try unregistering it and see if it solves the issue. Valinet stated in a full-of-text wiki page that the average user shouldn't have that enabled.

[Amrsatrio]

@derrapf Which EP version are you using, by the way?

[derrapf]

Hi I am using EP 22621.2428.59.1

Please try unregistering it Would you tell me how? BR Ralf

[derrapf]

By the way ""File Explorer"->"Control interface" to be different than of Windows 11." that helped BR Ralf

[Farpathan]

By the way ""File Explorer"->"Control interface" to be different than of Windows 11." that helped BR Ralf

This works, Thanks!

[Mijin1]

I'm having similar issues. Problems with File explorer not refreshing when changes are made, problems with the task bar moving around on it's own, and problems with full screen mode not going full screen after I move the taskbar back to where I want it and the window acts like it still has to leave space for the the taskbar that's no longer there. I tried installing this and 7+TT together to regain the functionality of what I was looking for in the taskbar after a reformat and upgrading to windows 11. I'm wondering if since these programs edit the registry if it's possible to uninstall them to fix these problems now, or if I need to reformat again. If so I'd rather do it now than later.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Mijin1 Which of these issues is similar to what I reported...

[Mijin1]

@AndroidDeveloperLB Should be self-explanatory, but file explorer crashing is pretty similar to file explorer not refreshing. Note the correlation between serious and damaging file explorer problems.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Mijin1 Depends what you mean by "not refreshing". Not refreshing what? Its content of some folder? I couldn't even see its window...

[Mijin1]

@AndroidDeveloperLB What I mean is say I open a File Explorer window to view a folder where files should be changing through a script using paramiko to grab files from a server, and then creates csv files using pandas. The file ARE in fact changing, if I close the file explorer window, and open it again, then there they are, but it I leave the file explorer open, it doesn't show any changes. It should be refreshing to reflect changes as they happen. It doesn't, and the problem is either related to ExplorerPatcher, 7+TT, or using both together. This combined with the other issues I've mentioned, and further illustrated by the problems you mentioned you were having with file explorer show me that this program is a terrible fit for an intermediate user like myself, and will be way more problems than it's worth. My only question is since explorerpatcher and 7+TT are just some custom ware I found on github and since they happen to edit registry files, if simply uninstalling them will be enough, or if I'll have to also cross my fingers with a registry cleaner or more likely reformat and just suffer through not having a vertical taskbar that removes labels.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Mijin1 OK I think it's a different issue, and because it's a different issue, I don't think the workaround that was offered here would help you.

[Mijin1]

Alright. I guess I'm just looking for someone who knows more than me to say "Yeah uninstalling is cool, you'll be fine", or "Na you're going to need to reformat or try a registry cleaner, good luck." Because I see some of the settings aren't reverting after I uninstall, so I'm suspecting it's the latter?

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Mijin1 Whatever you do, please have some backup and maybe a restore point, as opposed to what I initially did...

[Mijin1]

Guess I'm going to reformat. At this point I'll only lose about 48 hours of work.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Mijin1 Try other things first that Windows offers

[pyrates999]

Guess I'm going to reformat. At this point I'll only lose about 48 hours of work.

You may need to repair your windows install. Please run the following in an elevated command prompt or elevated powershell:

chkdsk C:

If it tells you there are errors, then run this:

chkdsk C: /F

Reboot to run it on boot. Keep running that command until it reports no errors. Then run this to repair windows:

sfc /scannow
dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
dism /online /cleanup-image /checkhealth
dism /online /cleanup-image /analyzecomponentstore
dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup

Then reboot your computer.

[Matthijs-Movensis]

The fix above: EP->properties->File Explorer: Control Interface*: choosing Windows 10 or Windows 7 resolved the issue for me as well.

I faced the same issue after the latest update from Windows. For some reason the issue persisted after uninstalling Explorer Patcher. This implied that the issue was not related to EP. So I uninstalled also QTTabbar and a bunch of other stuff, but that didn't help. Long story short, the setting that causes the issue remains intact after uninstalling.

[FaySmash]

The fix above: EP->properties->File Explorer: Control Interface*: choosing Windows 10 or Windows 7 resolved the issue for me as well.

I faced the same issue after the latest update from Windows. For some reason the issue persisted after uninstalling Explorer Patcher. This implied that the issue was not related to EP. So I uninstalled also QTTabbar and a bunch of other stuff, but that didn't help. Long story short, the setting that causes the issue remains intact after uninstalling.

I have to same issue and had to use the same workaround. The explorer still crashed after an 23H2 inplace upgrade, sfc / DSIM repair, uninstalled QTTabBar / EP and while booted into safe mode.

[pyrates999]

When upgrading from 22h2 to 22h3, uninstall EP and any other software that modifies the UI. Then you can upgrade.

[chuanki]

same problem, the explorer crashes and cannot open again after running the latest ver. system: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Insider Preview Build 25992 i ran the earlier version to get it back ,but still some functions missing. Uninstalled:)

[pyrates999]

same problem, the explorer crashes and cannot open again after running the latest ver. system: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Insider Preview Build 25992 i ran the earlier version to get it back ,but still some functions missing. Uninstalled:)

Your windows build number is incomplete. Please post windows version and build. You can find this by running winver.

[Amrsatrio]

same problem, the explorer crashes and cannot open again after running the latest ver. system: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Insider Preview Build 25992 i ran the earlier version to get it back ,but still some functions missing. Uninstalled:)

It's actually what you should do. EP is supported on Canary builds to the extent that it runs. Features like the old taskbar don't fully work, old start menu does not work at all, Explorer may crash, and that is not our fault.

If you want to use EP, don't use Canary.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

I got this issue again, yet on a new PC. Can you please help me? Explorer restarts every second. I can't reach the properties of "Explorer Patcher" via the taskbar (it gets restarted too). I barely succeeded to kill Explorer so it won't restart itself. What should I do? I tried to remove "Explorer Patcher" by opening "control panel" via the task-manager app, and tried to restart, and it still occurs. Somehow I also still see "Explorer Patcher" window telling me I should probably remove it:

This started after I've set some settings but forgot about the workaround. I think what caused it is the "file explorer"->"Disable the windows 11 context menu".

Any way perhaps to reset this via some command that I can just run? Or to get to the "Explorer patcher" properties window without having Explorer running at all (no taskbar)?

[pyrates999]

I got this issue again, yet on a new PC. Can you please help me? Explorer restarts every second. I can't reach the properties of "Explorer Patcher" via the taskbar (it gets restarted too). I barely succeeded to kill Explorer so it won't restart itself. What should I do? I tried to remove "Explorer Patcher" by opening "control panel" via the task-manager app, and tried to restart, and it still occurs. Somehow I also still see "Explorer Patcher" window telling me I should probably remove it:

This started after I've set some settings but forgot about the workaround. I think what caused it is the "file explorer"->"Disable the windows 11 context menu".

Any way perhaps to reset this via some command that I can just run? Or to get to the "Explorer patcher" properties window without having Explorer running at all (no taskbar)?

Please file this as a new discussion.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@pyrates999 Sorry. Here: https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/issues/2637

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

I think I know how to reproduce this issue: Try to disable tabbed explorer (I do it because I already use a tabs toolbar, called qttabbar) using the tool: https://github.com/thebookisclosed/ViVe/releases

Run as admin: vivetool /disable /id:37634385

and then restart OS

Then I used the workaround above, restarted OS, and the issue is gone.

[FaySmash]

I think I know how to reproduce this issue: Try to disable tabbed explorer (I do it because I already use a tabs toolbar, called qttabbar) using the tool: https://github.com/thebookisclosed/ViVe/releases

Run as admin: vivetool /disable /id:37634385

and then restart OS

Then I used the workaround above, restarted OS, and the issue is gone.

That's it!! I use the same setup and also tried to uninstall QTTabBar to no avail but I haven't re-enabled the Explorer Tabs because EP ran fine with them disabled before. Now the question is if EP will receive a fix for this Edge-case issue 😬

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

Now probably after an update to Windows ("2024-01 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5034204)" ) , I can't open explorer at all...

[pyrates999]

Don't install preview updates unless you don't mind being a beta tester with EP.

[pyrates999]

I also remember one of the developers here mentioning not to disable tabs using the vive tool. As doing that was causing file explorer to crash.

[Amrsatrio]

@pyrates999 22621.3085 works fine with the latest prerelease. I strive to make EP work fine on release preview versions and preview updates, so don't worry about it.

@AndroidDeveloperLB Based on your previous post in this thread you had QTTabBar installed. It might be disabling the Tabs feature flag (37634385) that since 22621.3007 will ALWAYS cause crash Explorer when you open an Explorer window. Hence I suggest you to try using ViVeTool to re-enable it or to clear the user-made changes. Another user of EP has reported success with it.

And sorry, we have no plans to make disabling tabs work again in other words no longer crash. Microsoft has removed the feature flag in the insider builds starting from the ones released in November/December or so.

[pyrates999]

Sorry :)

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@pyrates999 The OS offered it to me, and I don't think there is an option to disable offering me preview versions. Weird.

@Amrsatrio QTTabBar doesn't disable it sadly. I had to use ViVeTool to disable it. Otherwise I have 2 places of tabs on the same window, which is weird. I think QTTabBar is harmless. It works fine even without ExplorerPatcher and any other addon/patch.

I don't understand what you are saying I should do. I don't want the tabs of Windows OS. I've use system restore to before this update (accidentally maybe even earlier in time, but doesn't matter much) so now back to normal.

When I had the issue, it's not that I saw any crash. The desktop was showing fine for example. It just didn't show anything at all when trying to open Explorer. Had to use an alternative app (FreeCommander) to reach folders in a nice way.

[Amrsatrio]

I was basically saying, if you want Explorer to work again while being on 22621.3007 or newer you have to reenable the tabs feature flag (37634385), or reset it to default, using ViVeTool. Understood?

I think this issue needs to be closed as this is not an EP issue but rather a user issue.

[AndroidDeveloperLB]

@Amrsatrio You had this issue too, and noticed that this solution helped you? I used QTTabBar for many years... :(