Problem with Windows Explorer crashing repeatedly

[Edward Ripley-Duggan]

I have been dogged by several variations on the following problem in the past
two days, an annoyance that seems somewhat intermittent. As a preamble, let
me mention that whatever is going on does not occur in Safe Mode, and also
that I have checked the system with with both NOD32 and with F-Secure's
online scanner, neither of which show any virus problems.

The problems began when I booted my machine, and found it cycling as
Windows boot moved into the main Windows screen. The screen icons would show,
and several icons would show in the tray (NB I run very little during boot,
and nothing new has been added). Then the icons would disappear and the
screen would suddenly blink back to the wallpaper. Next, the screen icons
would show again, the tra would refill, but then I'd drop back to wallpaper
again... This "cycling" behavior happened a couple of times initially, but on
rebooting, the system appeared stable, so I wasn't that concerned.

This morning, I got a message stating that Windows Explorer was closing
because of a Data Execution Prevention Error (one reason I ran the extensive
AV). On several boots I received the message that W E had crashed (always
during the final state of boot, just as the tray filled).

I decided to roll the system back with System Restore. Initially, this
seemed to work, but shortly the boot errors started to appear with greater
frequency, until I could no longer use the system at all except in Safe Mode.
I deleted a number of tray items (all but NOD 32, volume, and some
specialized scanner software that would be a pain to reinstall). I also
turned off Data Execution Protection for W E. Still, I was unable to achieve
a clean boot, with the screen clearing each time I acknowledged the W E crash
warning. In effect, the same cycling behavior I had initially seen. Sometimes
I would get a message that the Dr. Watson debugger had also crashed (though I
hadn't started it, I'm guessing that the WE crash triggered it). Very
frustrating.

I've just rolled back to a still earlier date. Right now, for the moment the
system is booting normally, and I though that I'd post this. Maybe the
problem won't re-occur, but I'm not sanguine, Has anyone experienced this
problem? Does anyone have a solution? I'm wondering if W E has become
corrupted, in which case I can replace it from my last full system backup, or
from the CD.

Does anyone have a clue what might be going on here?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

You probably have a conflict between a recent Windows Update, and some
hardware device driver. Unless your hardware Mfg. comes up with a better
driver, the alternative is to remove and refuse the update. The "Custom'
option in non-automatic update includes a checkbox to 'don't ask again'
(add/remove app has a checkbox to 'show updates')
--
Was this helpful? Then click the "Yes" button below. Voting helps the web
interface. http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm#RateAPost

Mark L. Ferguson


"Edward Ripley-Duggan" wrote:

> I have been dogged by several variations on the following problem in the past
> two days, an annoyance that seems somewhat intermittent. As a preamble, let
> me mention that whatever is going on does not occur in Safe Mode, and also
> that I have checked the system with with both NOD32 and with F-Secure's
> online scanner, neither of which show any virus problems.
>
> The problems began when I booted my machine, and found it cycling as
> Windows boot moved into the main Windows screen. The screen icons would show,
> and several icons would show in the tray (NB I run very little during boot,
> and nothing new has been added). Then the icons would disappear and the
> screen would suddenly blink back to the wallpaper. Next, the screen icons
> would show again, the tra would refill, but then I'd drop back to wallpaper
> again... This "cycling" behavior happened a couple of times initially, but on
> rebooting, the system appeared stable, so I wasn't that concerned.
>
> This morning, I got a message stating that Windows Explorer was closing
> because of a Data Execution Prevention Error (one reason I ran the extensive
> AV). On several boots I received the message that W E had crashed (always
> during the final state of boot, just as the tray filled).
>
> I decided to roll the system back with System Restore. Initially, this
> seemed to work, but shortly the boot errors started to appear with greater
> frequency, until I could no longer use the system at all except in Safe Mode.
> I deleted a number of tray items (all but NOD 32, volume, and some
> specialized scanner software that would be a pain to reinstall). I also
> turned off Data Execution Protection for W E. Still, I was unable to achieve
> a clean boot, with the screen clearing each time I acknowledged the W E crash
> warning. In effect, the same cycling behavior I had initially seen. Sometimes
> I would get a message that the Dr. Watson debugger had also crashed (though I
> hadn't started it, I'm guessing that the WE crash triggered it). Very
> frustrating.
>
> I've just rolled back to a still earlier date. Right now, for the moment the
> system is booting normally, and I though that I'd post this. Maybe the
> problem won't re-occur, but I'm not sanguine, Has anyone experienced this
> problem? Does anyone have a solution? I'm wondering if W E has become
> corrupted, in which case I can replace it from my last full system backup, or
> from the CD.
>
> Does anyone have a clue what might be going on here?

 

[Edward Ripley-Duggan]

Thank you, Mark. Seems possible, even likely, although the first rollback I
did predated the latest round of Windows Updates and didn't solve the issue,
for some reason. However, with the second and slightly earlier rollback my
system seems stable again. Whether the proximate cause is the Updates or
something else, I tend to agree with you that it's ultimately some form of
hardware conflict. At this point, pinning it down is more effort than it is
worth. I may reinstall the Updates one by one, or simply take the (fairly
low) risk of avoiding the December batch.



"Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:

> You probably have a conflict between a recent Windows Update, and some
> hardware device driver. Unless your hardware Mfg. comes up with a better
> driver, the alternative is to remove and refuse the update. The "Custom'
> option in non-automatic update includes a checkbox to 'don't ask again'
> (add/remove app has a checkbox to 'show updates')
> --
> Was this helpful? Then click the "Yes" button below. Voting helps the web
> interface. http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm#RateAPost
>
> Mark L. Ferguson
>
>
> "Edward Ripley-Duggan" wrote:
>
> > I have been dogged by several variations on the following problem in the past
> > two days, an annoyance that seems somewhat intermittent. As a preamble, let
> > me mention that whatever is going on does not occur in Safe Mode, and also
> > that I have checked the system with with both NOD32 and with F-Secure's
> > online scanner, neither of which show any virus problems.
> >
> > The problems began when I booted my machine, and found it cycling as
> > Windows boot moved into the main Windows screen. The screen icons would show,
> > and several icons would show in the tray (NB I run very little during boot,
> > and nothing new has been added). Then the icons would disappear and the
> > screen would suddenly blink back to the wallpaper. Next, the screen icons
> > would show again, the tra would refill, but then I'd drop back to wallpaper
> > again... This "cycling" behavior happened a couple of times initially, but on
> > rebooting, the system appeared stable, so I wasn't that concerned.
> >
> > This morning, I got a message stating that Windows Explorer was closing
> > because of a Data Execution Prevention Error (one reason I ran the extensive
> > AV). On several boots I received the message that W E had crashed (always
> > during the final state of boot, just as the tray filled).
> >
> > I decided to roll the system back with System Restore. Initially, this
> > seemed to work, but shortly the boot errors started to appear with greater
> > frequency, until I could no longer use the system at all except in Safe Mode.
> > I deleted a number of tray items (all but NOD 32, volume, and some
> > specialized scanner software that would be a pain to reinstall). I also
> > turned off Data Execution Protection for W E. Still, I was unable to achieve
> > a clean boot, with the screen clearing each time I acknowledged the W E crash
> > warning. In effect, the same cycling behavior I had initially seen. Sometimes
> > I would get a message that the Dr. Watson debugger had also crashed (though I
> > hadn't started it, I'm guessing that the WE crash triggered it). Very
> > frustrating.
> >
> > I've just rolled back to a still earlier date. Right now, for the moment the
> > system is booting normally, and I though that I'd post this. Maybe the
> > problem won't re-occur, but I'm not sanguine, Has anyone experienced this
> > problem? Does anyone have a solution? I'm wondering if W E has become
> > corrupted, in which case I can replace it from my last full system backup, or
> > from the CD.
> >
> > Does anyone have a clue what might be going on here?

 

[Gerry]

Edward

Does the same thing happen if you boot to safe mode?

Please post one complete copy only of each of the Warning and Error
Reports from the System log of Event Viewer from the last boot
confirming which appear in previous boots. No Information Reports or
Duplicates please.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Edward Ripley-Duggan wrote:
> Thank you, Mark. Seems possible, even likely, although the first
> rollback I did predated the latest round of Windows Updates and
> didn't solve the issue, for some reason. However, with the second and
> slightly earlier rollback my system seems stable again. Whether the
> proximate cause is the Updates or something else, I tend to agree
> with you that it's ultimately some form of hardware conflict. At this
> point, pinning it down is more effort than it is worth. I may
> reinstall the Updates one by one, or simply take the (fairly low)
> risk of avoiding the December batch.
>
>
>
> "Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:
>
>> You probably have a conflict between a recent Windows Update, and
>> some hardware device driver. Unless your hardware Mfg. comes up with
>> a better driver, the alternative is to remove and refuse the update.
>> The "Custom' option in non-automatic update includes a checkbox to
>> 'don't ask again' (add/remove app has a checkbox to 'show updates')
>> --
>> Was this helpful? Then click the "Yes" button below. Voting helps
>> the web interface.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm#RateAPost
>>
>> Mark L. Ferguson
>>
>>
>> "Edward Ripley-Duggan" wrote:
>>
>>> I have been dogged by several variations on the following problem
>>> in the past two days, an annoyance that seems somewhat
>>> intermittent. As a preamble, let me mention that whatever is going
>>> on does not occur in Safe Mode, and also that I have checked the
>>> system with with both NOD32 and with F-Secure's online scanner,
>>> neither of which show any virus problems.
>>>
>>> The problems began when I booted my machine, and found it cycling
>>> as Windows boot moved into the main Windows screen. The screen
>>> icons would show, and several icons would show in the tray (NB I
>>> run very little during boot, and nothing new has been added). Then
>>> the icons would disappear and the screen would suddenly blink back
>>> to the wallpaper. Next, the screen icons would show again, the tra
>>> would refill, but then I'd drop back to wallpaper again... This
>>> "cycling" behavior happened a couple of times initially, but on
>>> rebooting, the system appeared stable, so I wasn't that concerned.
>>>
>>> This morning, I got a message stating that Windows Explorer was
>>> closing because of a Data Execution Prevention Error (one reason I
>>> ran the extensive AV). On several boots I received the message that
>>> W E had crashed (always during the final state of boot, just as the
>>> tray filled).
>>>
>>> I decided to roll the system back with System Restore. Initially,
>>> this seemed to work, but shortly the boot errors started to appear
>>> with greater frequency, until I could no longer use the system at
>>> all except in Safe Mode. I deleted a number of tray items (all but
>>> NOD 32, volume, and some specialized scanner software that would be
>>> a pain to reinstall). I also turned off Data Execution Protection
>>> for W E. Still, I was unable to achieve a clean boot, with the
>>> screen clearing each time I acknowledged the W E crash warning. In
>>> effect, the same cycling behavior I had initially seen. Sometimes I
>>> would get a message that the Dr. Watson debugger had also crashed
>>> (though I hadn't started it, I'm guessing that the WE crash
>>> triggered it). Very frustrating.
>>>
>>> I've just rolled back to a still earlier date. Right now, for the
>>> moment the system is booting normally, and I though that I'd post
>>> this. Maybe the problem won't re-occur, but I'm not sanguine, Has
>>> anyone experienced this problem? Does anyone have a solution? I'm
>>> wondering if W E has become corrupted, in which case I can replace
>>> it from my last full system backup, or from the CD.
>>>
>>> Does anyone have a clue what might be going on here?