Error: Windows Explorer has stopped working

When working in Windows, you may receive the following error message:

Windows Explorer has stopped working.  Windows is restarting

Cause

This issue can be caused due to any of the following issues:

• You may be using an outdated or corrupted video driver
• System files on your PC may be corrupt or mismatched with other files
• You may have a Virus or Malware infection on your PC 
• Some applications or services running on your PC may be causing Windows Explorer to stop working

Resolution

To resolve this issue you need to determine what is causing Windows Explorer to stop working, try the troubleshooting steps below to help determine the issue.

Update your current video driver

Outdated or corrupt video drivers can cause Windows Explorer to stop working. Downloading and installing the latest video driver can solve many of these issues. You can do this from using Windows Update or by visiting your system manufacturer’s website or by contacting them directly.
For more information on updating your drivers, see the following content on the Microsoft website:

Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly

Update drivers: recommended links

Run System File Checker (SFC) to check your files

Use System File Checker to scan your PC for missing or corrupt files. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Search box.
2. In the results area, right-click cmd.exe, and then click Run as administrator. You may be prompted to type the password for an administrator account.
3. Click Continue if you are the administrator or type the administrator password and then, click Continue.
4. At the command prompt, type Sfc /scannow and then press ENTER.

The scan may take some time, so be patient. Windows will repair any corrupted or missing files that are found. If information from the installation CD is needed to repair the problem, you may be prompted to insert your Windows CD.

For more information about System File Checker (SFC) see the following KB article on the Microsoft website:

How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

Scan your PC for Virus or Malware infections

Virus and Malware infections can cause problems with application performance. Use your favorite antivirus software to scan for any infections that might be hiding on your PC. If you don’t have an antivirus you can download and install Microsoft Security Essentials for free by following the link below.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Start your PC in Safe Mode to check for startup issues

Start your PC in Safe Mode and see if you can reproduce the error. After starting your PC in Safe Mode, work as you normally do and perform the same actions that you perform when getting the error. If you still receive the error in Safe Mode, go to the next section and follow the steps to do Clean Boot troubleshooting.

To learn how to start your PC in Safe Mode, see the following article on the Microsoft website:

Start your computer in safe mode

Start your PC in a Clean Boot environment and troubleshoot the issue

If you do not experience the same crashes in Safe Mode, it’s very likely a startup item is causing the issue. Follow the steps found on the following article to perform a clean boot and pinpoint the item causing the issue.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

Additional Troubleshooting Steps:

The additional troubleshooting steps below are less common but can still cause Windows Explorer to stop working.

Test your system's RAM memory

Sometimes faulty RAM (Random-Access Memory) can cause intermittent problems within Windows. Use the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool by clicking Start, type Memory Diagnostics and select the result in the list. When the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool window appears, choose Restart now and check for problems (recommended).

Test for picture files that may contain corruption

Corrupt images can sometimes issues with Windows Explorer. If Windows Explorer stops working while working with pictures or browsing folders that contain pictures, there may be corruption is one or more picture files. To test for this issue, follow the steps below:

1. Click Start and click Computer
2. Click Organize and select Folder and search options from the dropdown
3. On the Folder Options window, click the View tab
4. Place a check in the option to Always show Icons, never thumbnail
5. Remove the check for the option to Display file icon on thumbnails
6. Click OK to close the Folder Options window

Now, go to any folders that contain Pictures or Videos and see if you can reproduce the issue. If Windows Explorer does stop working, the folder that you were viewing possibly contains one or more pictures files that are corrupt or contain corrupted thumbnail data.

Note: After adjusting the options to Display file icon on thumbnails, and Always show Icons, never thumbnail, files no longer display thumbnails so pictures and other files will display as the default icon for their file types.  If you can reproduce the error with these options set, the issue is not with pictures or videos and you should return the Folder options to their original settings.

Check the details of the error to see which application caused Windows Explorer to stop working. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start and type Action Center in the Search area and click Action Center from the returned list
2. In the Action Center window, click Maintenance, click View reliability history and then click View all problem reports from the bottom of the Reliability Monitor window
3. Scroll down to the list of Windows Explorer items
4. Double-click on Stopped working to view technical details and then make a note of the technical details.

Perform a System Restore

If the solutions above do not resolve the issue you can perform a System Restore to restore the PC back to a time before the issue started. If the issue has been occurring for a month or more, it may be better to follow the steps in the next section and perform an In-Place Upgrade to repair the issue. To perform a System Restore, follow the steps in the article listed below:

System Restore

Perform an In-Place Upgrade

If the issue has been occurring for a month or more, it may be better to perform an In-Place Upgrade and restore Windows to the original installation. Performing an In-Place Upgrade will not damage files and applications that are currently installed on your computer. To perform an In-Place Upgrade, follow the steps in the article listed below:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 & Windows Server 2008 R2

PC HANGS SUDDENLY

 OPTION ONE 

To Run Chkdsk from Drive's Properties Page

1. Open the Start Menu and click on the Computer button on the right dark side.

2. Right click the hard disk drive that you want to check, and click on Properties. (see screenshot below)

3. Click on the Tools tab, and click on the Check now button under Error-checking. (see screenshot below)

4. You will now see this window. Do the steps below for what you would like to do. (see screenshot below)

If the selected hard disk is not in use, then you will see check disk start checking the disk now. (see screenshot below)

A) When the scan is complete, you will then see
results similar to this. Click on Close. (see screenshots below)

B) Click on OK. (see screenshot below step 3)

C) Stop, you're done.

  OPTION TWO
___________________________

 Is your hardware getting enough air supply? Also, check the power supply. Is it providing proper power to the motherboard or not.  

  OPTION  THREE
____________________________

RAM issues are among those potentially causing random lockups.

Click the Windows 'start' button (used to be a start button anyhow) and type "memory" in the run/search box and run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. Choose 'Restart now...' or 'Check for problems...' as appropriate and let it run the check against your memory. It will display the results when windows next load. 

  OPTION  FOUR
_____________________________

How to back up Outlook Express items

Step 1: Copy message files to a backup folder

Step A: Locate the Store folder

1. Start Outlook Express.
2. Click Tools, and then click Options.
3. On the Maintenance tab, click Store Folder.
4. In the Store Location dialog box, copy the store location. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Put the mouse pointer at one end of the box under the Your personal message store is located in the following folder box.
   2. Press and hold the left mouse button, and then drag the mouse pointer across the Your personal message store is located in the following folder box.
   3. Press CTRL+C to copy the location.
5. Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box.

Step B: Copy the contents of the Store folder

1. Click Start, click Run, press CTRL+V, and then click OK.
2. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
3. On the Edit menu, click Copy, and then close the window.

Step C: Create a backup folder

1. Right-click any empty area on your desktop, click New, and then click Folder.
2. Type Mail Backup for the folder name, and then press ENTER.

Step D: Paste the contents of the Store folder into the backup folder

1. Double-click the Mail Backup folder to open it.
2. Right-click inside the Mail Backup folder window, and then click Paste.

Step 2: Export the Address Book to a .csv file

Important Make sure that you follow this step if you use multiple identities in Outlook Express.

Microsoft Outlook Express 5.x and Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 use a Windows Address Book (.wab) file to store Address Book data. The individual data for each identity is stored in a folder by user name within the .wab file that is used.

The only way to separate the Address Book data for different identities is to export the data to a .csv file while you are logged in as a specific identity. If the .wab file becomes dissociated from the user identities, the data can be exported only as one total. In this case, the data cannot be exported folder by folder.

There is another reason to export the .wab file to a .csv file. If the .wab file not exported to a .csv file, but the .wab file is shared with Microsoft Outlook, the addresses are stored in the personal folders (.pst) file in Outlook. When you export the file to a .csv file by using the File menu in Outlook Express, the correct contacts are exported. However, if the Address Book is shared with Outlook, you cannot use the File menu option to export from the Address Book. This option is unavailable.

To export the Address Book to a .csv file, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Export, and then click Address Book.
2. Click Text File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Export.
3. Click Browse.
4. Select the Mail Backup folder that you created.
5. In the File Name box, type address book backup, and then click Save.
6. Click Next.
7. Click to select the check boxes for the fields that you want to export, and then click Finish.
8. Click OK, and then click Close.

Step 3: Export the mail account to a file

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On the Mail tab, click the mail account that you want to export, and then click Export.
3. In the Save In box, select the Mail Backup folder, and then click Save.
4. Repeat these steps for each mail account that you want to export.
5. Click Close.

Step 4: Export the newsgroup account to a file

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On the News tab, click the news account that you want to export, and then click Export.
3. In the Save In box, select the Mail Backup folder, and then click Save.
4. Repeat these steps for each news account that you want to export.
5. Click Close.

How to restore Outlook Express items

Note To restore items when you use multiple identities in Outlook Express, you may have to re-create the identities before you follow these steps. Repeat each step as needed for each identity.

Step 1: Import messages from the backup folder

1. On the File menu, point to Import, and then click Messages.
2. In the Select an e-mail program to import from box, click Microsoft Outlook Express 5 or Microsoft Outlook Express 6, and then click Next.
3. Click Import mail from an OE5 store directory or Import mail from an OE6 store directory, and then click OK.
4. Click Browse, and then click the Mail Backup folder.
5. Click OK, and then click Next.
6. Click All folders, click Next, and then click Finish.

Step 2: Import the Address Book file

1. On the File menu, click Import, and then click Other Address Book.
2. Click Text File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Import.
3. Click Browse.
4. Select the Mail Backup folder, click the address book backup.csv file, and then click Open.
5. Click Next, and then click Finish.
6. Click OK, and then click Close.

Step 3: Import the mail account file

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On the Mail tab, click Import.
3. In the Look In box, select the Mail Backup folder.
4. Click the mail account that you want to import, and then click Open.
5. Repeat these steps for each mail account that you want to import.
6. Click Close.

Step 4: Import the newsgroup account file

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On the News tab, click Import.
3. In the Look In box, select the Mail Backup folder.
4. Click the news account that you want to import, and then click Open.
5. Repeat these steps for each news account that you want to import.
6. Click Close.

How to Remove Write Protection from a USB Drive

The disk is write-protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk.

Obviously, the Try again button shown in above error box does nothing significant to fix the hitch. Due to this, you might feel that the disk is not usable and you should throw it to dustbin. But wait! If you’re really going to do so, why not try something to make this disk again this writable. Here are the two fixes you can try to make your USB drive working again:

The Disk Is Write-Protected

FIX 1

1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put regedit in Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

2. In the left pane, navigate here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

1. { If there is no key called StorageDevicePolicies, create it. You do this by right-clicking theHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control key, and selecting New > Keyfrom the menu.
2. Select the StorageDevicePolicies key
3. From the menu select Edit > New > DWORD Value
4. Name the new value WriteProtect
5. Right-click the WriteProtect value and choose Modify
6. In the Value Data: box enter 1
7. Exit the registry editor, and restart your computer

To reverse, just delete the new WriteProtect value (or set the value to 0) and restart the computer. }

In the left pane of this location, right click Control key and select New -> Key. Name the new sub-key so created asStorageDevicePolicies. Now come to the right pane of this sub-key i.e. StorageDevicePolicies, right click and select New-> DWORD Value. Name the newly created DWORD as WriteProtect. In some cases, you might find that this DWORDunder the sub-key already exists and the DWORD has a Value set to 1. Double click on the DWORD to modify its Value data:

4. In the above shown box, change the Value data to 0 from 1. Click OK. 

How to fix crash dump physical memory error?

The ‘Blue Screen Error’ is often referred as BSOD i.e. ‘Blue Screen of Death error’.

Why does Blue Screen Error appear in the Display? – Reasons:

Although, there is not such specific cause/reason related to Blue Screen error. There could be many things that can cause this problem. The cause can be a software problem or a hardware problem. Hence, I have listed some of the causes/problems below :-

Software Problems/Causes:

• It has been seen that many of the users complain about this problem when they switch from one Windows to another.
• If a culprit program, driver or software that has been recently installed in your system. It can also cause Blue screen error.
• It may be caused due to a corrupted or invalid registry.
• Viruses also cause Blue Screen Memory Dump error.
• Blue screen error is mostly seen in Windows 7.

Hardware Problems/Causes:

• A newly installed hardware can cause Blue screen error.
• It could be due to a defective hardware attached to your PC.
• A damaged hard drive could also cause Blue Screen Memory Dump error.
• Most often, a defective RAM causes Blue Screen Memory Dump error.
• Overheating, CMOS and memory module also causes Blue screen error.

STEPS TO RESOLVE l :

 – Run your PC in SAFE MODE:

At first, check whether the error is due to software problem or hardware problem. This can be done by running your system in SAFE MODE. If your system works fine in Safe mode without crashing then the error is software related. To fix the software related problem, follow step 1, 2, 3 and 4 ….. If it crashes during Safe mode then the problem is hardware related. To fix Hardware related problem, follow step 5, 6,7,8…. or consult a well qualified hardware technician.

1. Repair/Clean Registry:

The BSOD error often occur due to corrupt or invalid registries. If you have a brief knowledge about registry then edit it by yourself or else prefer a third party software. Don’t risk for the editing or else it could damage your whole Windows. Try a program called CCleaner to clean the registry. Download it from here.

2. Scan for Virus:

Most often, Blue screen memory dump error is also caused by Virus. So, install a good antivirus and scan your whole system.

3. Use Hotfix for Windows 7 users:

If you are a Windows 7 user and you are suffering from Blue screen error then you can follow this step. Windows 7 has provided an official update called Hotfix to fix this error. To download the update, click on the below link.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979444

4. Format your System:

If the problem is software based and above two steps did not help. The, try installing a fresh copy of Windows. Prefer Windows XP. Do not opt for Windows 7. Windows 7 is most vulnerable to Blue screen memory dump error.

5. Check the recently installed hardware and device driver:

Try updating the latest hardware drivers or re-install it. Check for the compatibility of hardware with your system. Prefer using a third party software to find the compatibility of hardware.

6. Check for a faulty RAM or ports:

Almost at 90% cases. the blue screen error arise due to RAM problem. Try to change the RAM and see if it works. Always use right pair of RAM on your motherboard. Also, sometime the RAM port also becomes faulty and causes this error.

BOOST YOUR RAM MEMORY BY USING USB PENDRIVE AS RAM.

7. Rectify a damaged Hardware:

Sometimes, Blue screen memory dump error arises due to faulty Hard disk. It happens when the system cannot read memory from Hard disk. Also try to check out the SCSI (Small computer System Interface) terminator.

8. Check CMOS and memory modules:

If the error message on the BSOD reads “UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP”, then it signifies that there is a problem in the memory of your computer. Check the CMOS (Complimentary Metal oxide Semiconductor) and SIIMS (Single Inline Memory Modules) in your CPU. It is often caused due to overheating or faulty power supply.

That’s all. Try using this tips to fix Blue Screen Memory Dump error in your Windows PC and share your experiences below via comments. 

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