Very strange issue involving explorer.exe process. Windows experts: explain this.

[KillrBuckeye]

Very strange issue involving explorer.exe process. Windows experts: explain this.

My wife's computer is the second one in my sig: "Gray". It is running WinXP Pro and has developed a very strange problem sometime during the past few months. Here are the symptoms:

Certain simple operations, such as right-clicking on Windows desktop or copying/pasting a file using Windows Explorer, cause the mouse cursor to turn into an hourglass and remain in that state indefinitely. The system does not "freeze" or encounter a stop error. In fact, I am able to enter Task Manager via Ctrl-Alt-Del and kill the explorer.exe process. I can then restart the explorer.exe process and functionality is restored! Of course, the same thing will happen again if I repeat one of these simple operations.

The strange thing is that the computer functions perfectly fine when doing anything else. Productivity applications, IE, and games run without a hitch! My wife didn't even notice that anything was wrong with the comptuer because she never messes with any system settings or modify files outside of applications.

I have done many things, and even received assitance via a remote connection from a friend who is an IT professional. Here are some of the things that have been done:

- Ran HDD diagnostics: okay
- Checked disk for errors: none
- Cleaned unused/hidden devices from Device Manager
- Cleared the Windows temp folder
- Rebuilt icons using TweakUI
- Scanned for rootkits using F-Secure BlackLight: none

At this point I'm just thinking about restoring an older image of the OS partition. Do any of you have some ideas?

One thing I want to mention is that I *believe* these problems started after my wife tried to install some old game that only had support for Windows 98. After she did this, some very strange things happened, such as her Outlook data disappearing. I was able to restore it, but it was just a very odd situation. I suspect that this issue may be related to that failed installation.

 

[KillrBuckeye]

KB, I think that the only possible fix at this point would be to buy your wife a new computer

Haha. I don't think she'd go for that right now seeing as how it works for everything she needs it to do. Also, we just remodeled portions of our house, including putting down new carpet, so the funds are a bit low! But yes, I like your idea! The optimal solution would be an Opty 165 for me, then I could give her my old Asus A8V Deluxe along with my Venice!

 

[redduc900]

What programs / processes are running in the background?

 

[KillrBuckeye]

What programs / processes are running in the background?

I don't have access to the comp right now since I'm at work, but I'm pretty sure it's just basic stuff. My IT friend checked for unusual processes and didn't see anything. I use Avast antivirus and Acronis True Image, but disabling these didn't help. There really isn't a whole lot installed on the computer.

 

[TIS]

i have seen this before, my solution was a driver update, get the current chipset drivers and current graphics drivers. the system i have seen it on was a nforce 2 board. after the updates the right click worked fine...

 

[KillrBuckeye]

i have seen this before, my solution was a driver update, get the current chipset drivers and current graphics drivers. the system i have seen it on was a nforce 2 board. after the updates the right click worked fine...

Hmmm, I'll try this. The VIA drivers may be the old ones from the CD. It's still odd that this system worked fine with those drivers for years, but now develops this problem.

 

[TIS]

the same thing happened to the system i was working on, it was fine for the longest time and just started freezing up for 2 min or so when you right clicked on the desktop. it didnt lock up, i could still control alt delete, but it was 'thinking' and wouldnt do anything else.

 

[twoeyes]

I'd say reformat, sometimes this stuff goes to deep to even have hope of finding an answer. Chances are some DLL file deep in the file system got corrupted or something.

I guess you can try to use msconfig and disable EVERY startup process, then see if it perhaps solves the error.

 

[Sjaak]

I've had it a couple times, has to do with windows .avi file support iirc..not sure what fixed it for me, but search in that direction.

*edit* theres a solution here:

http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=ntbugtraq&m=105067751710791&w=2

e have had this problem since the install of XPSP1. Our video editing suite had 90% \
of the XP pc's use 100% CPU - explorer.exe. The way XP handles movie files and music \
files seems to be the main issue.

There is a workaround.

1. Change Explorer to "use windows classic folders"

2. Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to the key below and delete the default data \
(right pane).

For AVI's

HKEY CLASSES ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler

For MP3's

HKEY CLASSES ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.mp3\shellex\PropertyHandler

Note: Make a backup (export) the key before editing just for precautionary measures.

That should fix it until MS release a Fix to the public. A fix is available but you \
have to call them.

 

[twoeyes]

^ the sad part is, it probably IS something that obscure. I'm still of the opinion that a reformat is going to cost you less pain in the end.

 

[Sjaak]

^ the sad part is, it probably IS something that obscure. I'm still of the opinion that a reformat is going to cost you less pain in the end.

Ive seen too many windows installations suffer from it to warrant a reinstall, just edit the registry as described above and it wont happen enymore.

 

[KillrBuckeye]

I've had it a couple times, has to do with windows .avi file support iirc..not sure what fixed it for me, but search in that direction.

*edit* theres a solution here:

http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=ntbugtraq&m=105067751710791&w=2

OMG, that link provided the simple solution that worked!!! It was NOT the multimedia-related problem involving the registry fix. All I had to do was disable "Transition effects" under Display -> Appearance tab, and all is good! Thank you so much Sjaak!

There is a better workaround for this :

Go to : Control Panel/Display/Appearance Tab/Effects Button

And *disable* (uncheck) the transition effects....

 

[KillrBuckeye]

Okay, the problem is not completely solved, but at least I'm half-way there! When I restart the computer, the problem comes back. However, if I go back to Control Panel -> Display -> Appearance, and then just exit without making any changes, the problem is gone! It has NOTHING to do with the "Transition Effects" being on or off, because I can re-enable them and the problem is still gone. This is very, very strange. Any ideas?

 

[redduc900]

I'm still waiting for you to post a pic of your running processes, even though your IT friend checked for unusual processes and didn't see anything.

 

[Bios24]

Check your windows updates.... are you running KB908531? Try removing it.
http://claydawg.helpdesk.olemiss.edu/?p=90

 

[KillrBuckeye]

I'm still waiting for you to post a pic of your running processes, even though your IT friend checked for unusual processes and didn't see anything.

I've attached a screenshot of the processes.

Bios24: I will look into that. Thanks.

 

[redduc900]

This may be a long shot, but seeing as Asus Probe is installed on your wife's PC, I think I'd try uninstalling it if you haven't already. I've read of compatibility issues w/ not only the A7V-333 and AP, but also w/ other Asus boards like the A8N-SLI (as Know Nuttin pointed out in a thread the other day).

 

[KillrBuckeye]

i have seen this before, my solution was a driver update, get the current chipset drivers and current graphics drivers. the system i have seen it on was a nforce 2 board. after the updates the right click worked fine...

TIS, I should have followed your suggestion in the beginning. Somehow, I forgot about the driver updates when trying to resolve this mess and pursued other leads. Anyhow, after updating the nVidia driver, the problem is gone. However, I know that the old drivers were working fine for a period of time before this problem started, so I think they got corrupted. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.