Windows Explorer stops working. Why does the Explorer window pop up?

If File Explorer closes when you open a folder or open the context menu, the problem is usually caused by some third-party application. Most often the culprits are third parties:

context menu items when explorer crashes when calling it
codecs when Explorer closes when opening a video folder
Control Panel items when File Explorer error occurs when opening it

Method 0 - Only for ASUS laptop owners

If disabling the context menu extensions marked with an asterisk does not solve the problem, continue disabling the remaining menu extensions, and then all other third-party (i.e., non-Microsoft) extensions.

Method 2 - Checking File Explorer in Safe Mode

If you have disabled all third-party extensions, but still cannot overcome the problem, all is not lost. You need to check if the problem is in safe mode by following these instructions. They will most likely help you identify the third-party program that has disrupted the Explorer.

Method 3 - Checking the integrity of system files

If the problem occurs in Safe Mode, the cause may be corruption of system files. Open a command prompt as an administrator and run:

Sfc /scannow

If at the end a message appears that some files could not be recovered, prepare a report (file \Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log in the archive) and proceed to the next step.

Method 4 - Check for viruses

A virus is also a third-party program, only in disguise. Malware often disrupt the normal operation of the explorer, so I recommend checking for viruses. You can do this yourself or under the guidance of forum specialists.

Method 5 - Help on the forum

If none of the previous methods helped, we will solve your problem in the forum. This requires a memory dump, which is easy to create:

Download the ProcDump utility and unpack it into a separate folder, for example, C:\ProcDump
Run a command prompt (cmd.exe) as administrator and run: C:\ProcDump\procdump.exe -accepteula -e explorer.exe C:\ProcDump\
Cause a failure or just wait for it by working with the explorer.
Post the saved dump from the folder C:\ProcDump in an archive on a file hosting service, for example:

Explorer is an application that allows you to navigate from one section using a visual interface hard drive in another to search for elements. The Explorer has stopped working error occurs in rare cases and causes the application to crash.

Why did the Explorer program stop working?

Windows Explorer stops working for several reasons, mostly a separate program provokes this reaction. At the moment the guide contacts her, she is not available and acts as the root of the problem. The malfunction can be expressed in one-time failures, since the conductor is knocked out infrequently, then it is quite difficult to determine the source. In other cases, every time the application is opened, an error occurs.

Windows Explorer stops working in Windows 7 and other versions due to the following problems:

Integrated context menu elements;
Faulty codecs, mainly video codec;
Elements included in the control panel;
Rarely, but the reason lies in the video adapter;
Sometimes the file explorer process becomes corrupted due to viruses.

Read also: What are codecs and how to install them?

Any reason is relevant and can significantly harm the conductor. Diagnose the breakdown and fix it one by one.

Explorer stopped working: context menu fix

Windows 7 Explorer stopped working, how can I fix it if the error is in the context menu? – You should return it to its basic state, that is, remove all non-essential applications, most often this will be the answer.

The easiest way to complete the task is to use the ShellExView utility. The application shows programs that have contextual display.

In the main menu of the program, sort the parameters by “Type”;

Find everything that is of the “Context Menu” nature;
Disable all elements in the path that have an asterisk using RMB or F7, except Microsoft;
Reboot and check the result.

How to open the registry in windows 10? Working with the registry

If the expected result does not occur, disable other items, but be sure to leave the processes produced by Microsoft; all others can be disabled. We will have to use a selection method to identify and eliminate the problem.

You can also check if there is a problem with minor utilities using Safe Mode. You can go to it by pressing F8 at startup. In theory, the Windows 7 Explorer program has stopped working error should not appear, otherwise you will have to run the sfc agent.

Windows Explorer stopped working, faulty codecs

An urgent question: the Explorer program has stopped working, how can I fix it, because codecs are an invisible part of applications? Let us immediately note that most often the problem is in video codecs, thanks to them a thumbnail of the video file is formed and their absence causes a failure. In some cases, other applications also trigger the error.

To diagnose whether the problem is in the codecs or not, you should disable the display of thumbnails. You can do it like this:

Go to the Control Panel, if this problem occurs, it should open;
Select the Folder Options tile;

In the “View” tab, uncheck the “Display file icons in thumbnails” option.

The type of problem will immediately become obvious; if the codecs are still faulty, then you should simply reinstall them, since there are a lot of them on the Internet.

The integrity of the conductor is broken

If the OS has been subjected to a virus attack or other damage, it may experience changes in the operation of system files. The problem is not necessarily in the conductor, although there is not much difference. You just need to run a special sfc scan.

Press Win + R and enter cmd;
Paste sfc /scannow into the console;

Only the administrator has rights to perform the procedure.

After checking and eliminating the error using this method, you still need to destroy the viruses; they can be easily processed using antiviruses.

Diagnostics of service health

Many applications have their own services that sometimes crash. It is necessary to disable all third-party elements one by one and then, inevitably, a problematic application will be found. To do this you need:

Win + R and enter msconfig;
Go to the “Services” tab;
At the bottom, select “Do not display system services”;

Review SSD programs Mini Tweaker for windows

You should not disable, at least first of all, driver services; everything else can be deactivated.

When the root of the problem is determined, you should update the drivers for the application or stop using it completely.

Driver for video adapter

The cause of multiple problems, especially those related to the video component, is the video driver. It consists of complex mechanisms, is frequently updated, there are a huge number of adapters and types of drivers - all this causes the risk of failures in the application.

You just need to update the driver, to do this:

Start and RMB on “Computer”;
Next, select “Properties”;
Now open "Device Manager";

In the “Video adapters” section, select the item with a discrete card;
Double click and go to the “Driver” tab;
Now select "Update".

Alternative option is to use the graphical interface from the driver manufacturer, but it does not always work correctly.

Using one of the proposed approaches, with a high degree of probability, it will be possible to eliminate the error and return correct processing conductor. Quite often the problem is in minor programs, and much less often the cause is system failures. If you still have questions on the topic “Fixing the error “Explorer has stopped working”,” you can ask them in the comments

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If Explorer restarts in Windows 7

Many computer users are aware of this problem when the error “Explorer has stopped working” occurs or the Explorer restarts. There are several reasons for this error to appear. The first is the incompatibility of a running program with your operating system. windows system 7. Other possible reason, which, however, can only be applied when starting a video - this is a problem with codecs.

Methods for solving the problem

If the Explorer program restarts in Windows 7, this can be fixed using several methods. There are undoubtedly more, but I will give three as an example. The first is to remove all programs on your computer system, or you can simply reinstall the system using the Windows 7 reinstallation program. The next option is to edit the Windows registry, but this can be fraught with consequences, so it is better for less experienced users to refrain from this method . And finally, the third possible plot is to download a simple ShellExView program, but it also has a minus - an English-language interface.

ShellExView program

As you already understand, we will talk about the ShellExView program, which I consider the most in an effective way solving an emerging problem with Explorer. So, this utility is absolutely free, which, you see, is important. It will not take up much space on your computer, but it has the ability to organize the permissions of various programs that are built into your Windows 7 OS. Please note that there are two versions of this application available for download: for 32 and 64-bit operating systems.

After downloading ShellExView, unpack it, run it as administrator, after which the following window should appear.

Then click on the line “Company”, disable all explorer extensions configured earlier using the F7 key. After disabling all unnecessary extensions, restart Windows 7.

If after this the Explorer termination error no longer occurs, then you are lucky, the problem has been resolved. You can now go back to ShellExView and enable any of the disabled components. Work like this for several days, if the problem does not return, go to the utility again and add a few more removed extensions. This way, by adding them little by little, you will see which of the disabled add-ons was causing File Explorer to crash.

As you can see, working with the ShellExView program is easier than reinstalling the entire system. I hope that with the help of this utility, the Explorer error will be eliminated forever.

userologia.ru

How to deal with the “Explorer has stopped working” error or restarting Explorer

If File Explorer closes when you open a folder or open the context menu, the problem is usually caused by some third-party application. Most often the culprits are third parties:

context menu items when explorer crashes when calling it
codecs when Explorer closes when opening a video folder
Control Panel items when File Explorer error occurs when opening it

Method 0 - Only for ASUS laptop owners

Update your Asus WebStorage software. If it doesn't help, delete it (Win+R - appwiz.cpl). If after this the problem is not solved, read on.

Method 1 - Disabling problematic context menu items

In most cases, the easiest way to fix the problem is to use the ShellExView utility.

Method 2 - Checking File Explorer in Safe Mode

If you have disabled all third-party extensions, but still cannot overcome the problem, all is not lost. You need to check if the problem occurs in Safe Mode by following these instructions. They will most likely help you identify the third-party program that has disrupted the Explorer.

Method 3 - Checking the integrity of system files

If the problem occurs in Safe Mode, the cause may be corruption of system files. Open a command prompt as an administrator and run:

Sfc /scannow

If at the end a message appears that some files could not be recovered, prepare a report (file \windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log in the archive) and proceed to the next step.

Method 4 - Check for viruses

A virus is also a third-party program, only in disguise. Malicious programs often disrupt the normal operation of Explorer, so I recommend checking for viruses. You can do this yourself or under the guidance of forum specialists.

Method 5 - Help on the forum

If none of the previous methods helped, we will solve your problem in the forum. This requires a memory dump, which is easy to create:

Download the ProcDump utility and unpack it into a separate folder, for example, C:\ProcDump
Run a command prompt (cmd.exe) as administrator and run: C:\ProcDump\procdump.exe -accepteula -e explorer.exe C:\ProcDump\
Cause a failure or just wait for it by working with the explorer.
Upload the saved dump from the C:\ProcDump folder in an archive to a file hosting service, for example:
- Yandex.Disk
- RGhost
- DropMeFiles

Now contact this thread, post a link to the memory dump and answers to four questions:

What result did disabling context menu items bring?
Does the problem occur in Safe Mode?
How did the system file check end? Attach an archive with the CBS.log file to your message if not all files have been restored.
When and how was the last virus scan performed?

You can mark fragments of text that interest you, which will be available via a unique link in the address bar of your browser.

Explorer is a program present by default in all versions of Windows that allows the user to work with all files located on the hard drive: move, copy, group, delete, sort and rename them. Explorer can be configured, replaced, restarted, and its interface and operating parameters can be changed. But over time, problems may begin with it: the explorer will stop starting, begin to slow down, or reboot on its own. Read on to learn how to open it and troubleshoot problems.

How to open File Explorer in Windows 7

In Windows 7, there are several ways to get started with File Explorer.

From desktop

By default, the “Computer” shortcut is located on the desktop; double-clicking on it with the left mouse button will take you to Explorer. This shortcut may be missing if you manually removed it.

Open the “Computer” shortcut through the “Start” menu or from the desktop

Using a keyboard shortcut

Most quick way- simultaneously press the Win + E keys on the keyboard. When pressed together, these hotkeys will bring up Explorer.

Press Win + E to open File Explorer

Via the Start menu

Via quick launch program

Through command execution

Restoring the application

After some time, the explorer may begin to freeze, slow down, restart on its own, or stop starting altogether. The program itself may stop working, that is, you will not be able to view folders and files, but there are more strong consequences: Windows will no longer start, the startup process will freeze and an empty desktop will appear with only a background image. This is due to the fact that the operating system constantly accesses system files that are stored in Explorer, and if it does not work, then the system has nowhere to access and it freezes.

Explorer stopped working due to an error

But you can fix most File Explorer errors yourself using the instructions below. First, we will look at the most common errors, the reasons for their occurrence and ways to eliminate these problems, and then we will dwell in detail on more serious and rare errors.

Virus check

Your computer may be infected with viruses that are jamming Explorer functions. Scan your system for viruses and, if found, remove them. If there were no viruses, proceed to the next point.

Checking your computer for viruses

Checking drivers

A video card is required for Explorer to work, since it is responsible for displaying everything that happens on the computer. Perhaps the video card drivers installed on your computer are outdated or broken, so you should update them manually.

Open the computer properties by right-clicking on the icon that opens Explorer and selecting “Properties” in the context menu that opens.
Open computer properties
Go to the "Device Manager" section.
Go to Device Manager
Find the “Video adapters” block in the general list of connected devices and expand it. Expand the “Video adapters” block
Open the properties of your video card.
Open the properties of the video card
In the window that opens, go to the “Details” tab.
Go to the “Details” tab
Select Hardware ID details. Select the type of information “Equipment ID”
A list of ID numbers belonging to the video card will open. Go to the official website of the company that created your video card and, using the ID numbers you received, download the necessary drivers. Please note that it is recommended to download drivers only from the official website. If the site offers you to install a program that updates drivers automatically, then agree to this offer. But such a program is not offered by all companies, so let’s return to our universal method. Looking for drivers by video card ID
While in the video card properties, go to the “Driver” tab. Go to the “Driver” tab
Click on the “Update” button. Click the “Update” button
In the update method, select "Search this computer." Specify the path to the previously downloaded driver and wait until it is installed, and after the process is completed, restart the computer and check if the explorer is working. If not, then move on to the next point.
Select the method “Search this computer”

Automatic recovery

Windows has a built-in function that allows you to automatically scan all system files and restore them if necessary. You can launch this function using the following steps:

Checking computer load

It may be that the processor, video card or hard drive your computer is overloaded, because of this the explorer may slow down and not start, since there are not enough computer resources for it.

Finding damaged files

Files on your hard drive may be damaged. When Explorer comes across a damaged file, it tries to read it, but cannot do so. Because of this, the conductor stalls and cannot continue working. This may be the cause of your problems, so it's worth making Explorer skip these files:

Open File Explorer.
We launch the explorer in one of the ways
Expand the Arrange menu.
Expand the “Arrange” section
Go to Folder and Search Options.
Go to “Folder and Search Options”
In the window that opens, select the “View” tab. Expand the “View” tab
Disable the "Show file icons in thumbnails" feature. Disable the “Show file icons in thumbnails” feature
Activate the "Always show icons, not thumbnails" feature. Enable the “Always show icons, not thumbnails” feature
Click successively on the “Apply” and “OK” buttons.
Click the “Apply” and “OK” buttons

Resolving Conflicts

Explorer may conflict with third-party programs installed on your computer. To see if this is the problem, boot your computer into Safe Mode: Start rebooting and when the power-on moment begins, press F8 on your keyboard and select Safe Mode from Boot Options. In safe mode it turns on minimum quantity programs necessary for the system to operate. If the explorer works normally under these conditions, then the problem is third-party applications or processes. The only way to find out which element is the problem is to disable everything one by one and use the selection method to check which application is interfering with the explorer.

Selecting safe mode

Disable conflicting add-ons

Some third-party programs embed their add-ons into File Explorer. If an error or conflict appears in these add-ons, the explorer may begin to freeze or stop turning on. Most easy way view and disable all these add-ons - use the ShellExView program.

Click the “Download” button

After launching the program, sort all extensions in it by the “Type” column. Scroll down the list until the Type column shows Context Menu. Disable all non-Microsoft add-ons by highlighting them and pressing the F7 key, restart your computer and check whether the explorer works or not.

Disable all parameters with the value “Context menu”

Troubleshooting: Explorer restarts on its own

First follow all the above instructions, if none of them help, then follow these steps:

Why does the conductor slow down?

Explorer may slow down due to heavy load on the hard drive, processor and video card, or due to memory load on the hard drive. If the first reason is relevant in your case, then disable as many unnecessary processes and programs as possible; if the second, then free up space on your hard drive, especially carefully monitor the memory on the main partition of the disk on which the operating system itself is installed.

CPU is overloaded

What to do if Windows stops working due to Windows Explorer

If Windows does not work due to the fact that Explorer turns off at startup, then try booting into safe mode (while turning on the computer, press F8 on the keyboard and select safe boot mode), and then go to the folder C:\Windows\ProgramData\ srtserv and replace it with the exact same folder taken from another computer with the same version of the operating system and its bit depth. After that, boot your computer in normal mode.

If the desktop disappears during boot

All information about the desktop is also stored in Explorer, so if it stops working, then the desktop will not open. Sometimes, it is enough to manually run the process corresponding to the explorer to get rid of this problem; this can be done in several ways.

Running a process through the task manager

Running a command to launch Explorer

Changing registry settings

One of the reasons for problems with Explorer may be changes in registry values made by mistake by the system itself, user actions or third-party programs. To correct the settings, follow these steps:

Video tutorial: how to restore Explorer

What to do if nothing helps

If you followed all the above instructions, and none of them helped you fix the problem, then there are two options left: reinstall the system or roll back it. By rolling back the system we mean restoring it to the moment when it was still fully functioning. Recovery is carried out using checkpoints created by you or the system automatically.

Recovering or reinstalling the system

Restart

Restarting Explorer should be done in two cases: if the program is frozen, or if you have installed some add-on that will only start working after a reboot.

How to reinstall

You can reinstall Explorer by replacing it with another file. You should only reinstall if you are sure that the explorer.exe file on your computer is damaged, and at the same time you have a high-quality explorer.exe for your version and bitness of Windows, taken from another computer.

Copy the file that you will use to replace the old explorer with the new one to the folder with the explorer file. By default, this file is located in the C:\Windows\ProgramData\srtserv folder. Rename the copied file in advance, for example, to explorer2.exe.
Copy the second explorer to the folder
Open Task Manager. Launch the task manager using one of the available methods
Disable the task responsible for File Explorer.
Removing the task of the conductor
Confirm the action.
We confirm that we want to cancel the task
Expand the File menu. Open the menu called “File”
Select the “Run new task” function. Click on the item “Run a new task”
Enter the value explorer2.exe and run the task. Ready, old version It is not recommended to delete Explorer, since it is not a fact that no conflicts will arise with the new file.
We launch the task with the new file explorer2.exe

Detailed setting

Explorer settings allow you to change it appearance, functions and style of grouping the files contained in it. Some Explorer parameters can be changed using its standard settings located in the Explorer itself, while others can be changed through third-party programs that allow you to configure the Explorer in much more detail and greatly change its appearance.

Standard settings

Open File Explorer. In the left block of the program there is a navigation area in which the upper levels of the main drives and the main system folders added there by default are located. Using the same block, the folder tree is displayed and navigated through it. On the left is the transition area
You can add or remove any folders or sections in this block in order to have the fastest possible access to places that are important to you in the future. While in the folder you want to add to the navigation area, right-click on the “Favorites” section, the top section in the navigation area, and select the “Add current location to favorites” option.
Use the “Add current location to favorites” button
You can extend an object from the Navigation Pane by expanding the Arrange section, going to the Presentation subsection, and selecting Navigation Pane.
Let’s move on to setting up the transition area through the “Management” menu
Explorer has a Preview feature that allows you to view an element or part of an element without opening it. It is convenient to use this function if you need to find a specific file in a large number of unsigned files without opening each of them one by one.
Preview a photo in Explorer
To configure the space allocated for quick viewing, in the “Arrange” section, select the “Presentation” subsection, and then the “Preview Area” item.
Go to preview settings
The information area is an informative block about the selected file, containing all available information about it: size, date of creation and editing, name, etc.
File information appears in the details pane
This section is configured in the “Arrange” - “View” - “Details Area” section.
Let's move on to the details pane settings
At the top of the explorer is its main menu. If you don't use it, you can press F10 on your keyboard to hide it. To return to the menu, use the same key.
Enable or disable the menu using the F10 key
Quickly changing the general appearance of folders, files and their location is done using the icons in the upper right corner of Explorer.
Using icons to sort and change appearance
Some files in the system are hidden by default, that is, they are located on the disk, but are not displayed in Explorer. Only important files are hidden, on the operation of which the well-being of the system depends. To enable the display of hidden items, expand the “Tools” menu and go to the “Folder Options” sub-item.
Select “Folder Options”
In the window that opens, go to the “View” tab. Click on the “View” tab
Here, deactivate the “Hide system-protected files” function and activate the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” function. Save your changes by clicking the "Apply" button. Disable the “Hide system-protected files” function and activate the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” function
While in the same “View” section, you can uncheck the “Hide extensions for known file types” function so that the extensions of all files are shown in their name after the dot. By default, extensions are hidden, but knowing what extension a file is in can often be useful. Enable the “Hide extensions for registered file types” feature

The rest of the Explorer settings are made in it, but are not useful to the average user; they are needed for those who work more professionally with system files. But the standard Explorer settings are not flexible enough to customize the appearance and other parameters, so we will use a third-party program to satisfy these goals.

Additional settings

We will use the QTTabBar program, you can download it for free from the official website of the developer, but it is better to download its more stable version with additional files for design and Russification - http://www.mediafire.com/file/b16sv974i5inlic/QTTabBar_Optimakomp_ru.rar.

Go through the QTTabBar installation process.

Go through the QTTabBar installation process
First, let's change the language to Russian, this can be done if you downloaded the program with additional files from the link above. To do this, right-click on an empty space in the top panel of Explorer and select Option. Go to Option
Go to the General tab. Go to the General tab
In the Language File line, specify the path to the Lng_ QTTabBar_Russia file.
Specify the path to the file with the Russian language
Click on the Apply button to make changes to the program.
Click on the Apply button
Restart the program, close and open Explorer. Done, the program has changed to Russian. Go to the Settings menu again. Go to the “Settings” item
In the settings that open, go to the “Tabs” tab. Go to the “Tabs” tab
In this section you can configure the display and functions of tabs, folders and other sections. The program has a lot of functions, so there is no point in describing each of them; they are all intuitively clear from the names in the program itself. Customizing Explorer Tabs
In the “View” tab, you can configure the font settings, background color and pop-up windows (the archive with additional files already has a set of skins), etc. Navigate through the sections of the program to personalize the explorer as much as possible for yourself.
Specify the path to the downloaded templates
If you want to reset all the changes made at once, then run the program installation file and select the Remove option, wait until the uninstallation process is completed and restart the computer.
Click the Remove button

Conductor analogs

There are many third-party analogues to the standard Windows Explorer, each of them has approximately the same set of functions, but different design. For example, you can take the most popular explorer - Total Commander.

Download the program

Total Commander is distinguished by flexible interface settings, the ability to split and combine files, change the parameters of the quick access panel and bookmarks, and the presence of a history that stores your actions for some time.

A worthy replacement for the standard explorer - Total Commander

You need to select a conductor first of all by design, since the other parameters for all popular conductors are almost the same.

File Explorer for Mac OS for Windows

If you like the design of Mac OS Explorer, you can download and install Finder style for Windows to change the visual appearance of icons, folders and sections in standard Windows Explorer. To install, you will need two files: the main one, which will replace the design, and an additional one, which will replace the values in the registry so that the system does not lose the files it needs.

You can style standard Windows Explorer as Finder from Mac OS

How to open an FTP file

By default, FTP files will open in a browser, usually Internet Explorer. In order for files of this type to open in the Explorer window itself, you need to change its settings:

Clearing search history

Explorer has a search bar that displays your most recent queries. To delete them, go to the search bar, use the arrows on your keyboard to move to the query you want to delete, and press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Select the request and press Delete

Deleting a file

Deleting a file while in Explorer can be done in two ways: by right-clicking on it and selecting the “Delete” function, or by pressing the Delete key on the keyboard after selecting the file.

Press the Delete key

View folder size

Removing a library

The library is a section built into the Explorer quick access panel, consisting of the “Downloads”, “Image”, etc. folders. Since all these partitions are located on the main partition of the hard drive, where there is not much space anyway, most users do not use them, creating folders to store their library on drive D, F, etc.

Run the regedit command to go to the registry editor

Go to the ShellFolder section using the folder tree on the left side of the registry, and right-click on the destination folder, select the “Permissions” section from the menu that opens.

Go to the path HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\(031E4825–7B94–4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5)\ShellFolder and select “Permissions...”

Select account, through which you are currently logged into the system, and give it full editing rights.

Change the file value to b090010d

Done, the Windows library has disappeared from the Quick Access Toolbar.

The library has disappeared from Explorer

How to pin a folder in Explorer

Pin a folder to the Quick Access Toolbar

Both the work with files and the operation of the system itself depend on the explorer. If the conductor stops working, then the system itself may begin to become unresponsive. The conductor can be replaced with another one, but the old one should not be disconnected. If you do not want to change the explorer, you can configure it manually using standard functions and third-party programs.

Read why Windows 7 Explorer doesn't work and how to fix the problem. All the reasons and ways to fix Windows Explorer errors. Instructions.

You can often hear a complaint from users: “The Explorer program is restarting, what should I do?” Windows 7 is one of the most common operating systems, so these words can be heard most often in relation to it. There may be several reasons for a failure, and action must be taken based on them.

Windows 7 Explorer does not work - most likely problems with the video card

Without a video card, you will not be able to use your computer. It participates in the operation of all applications. Most often, program malfunctions occur due to outdated drivers being installed for the video card. Damage may also be the cause. Let's figure out how to fix Windows 7 Explorer in this case.

You can get rid of the problem by installing the necessary drivers. To do this, you can use the following instructions:

Go to the Start menu and in the right column, click on the Control Panel section.
Switch the display mode in the upper right corner to the “Category” option.
Select the "System and Security" section.
In the "System" group, click the "Device Manager" link.
Select the "Video Adapters" group. A list will open in front of you from which you need to select your video card. Double-click on its name with the left mouse button.
In the new window, select the "Driver" tab.
In the left column, find the delete button.
Now you need to find a new driver on the Internet. This can be done by the name of the video card (download from the manufacturer’s official website) or by its ID. After downloading the new driver, install it and restart your computer.

The easiest way to search for new drivers is using special utilities, for example, Driver Pack Solution. Pre-download this program and then remove the driver and run it. After scanning, the utility will detect that no drivers are installed on your video card and will offer to download and install them. This procedure is carried out automatically.

Errors in Windows system files

Operating system system files can be damaged due to careless user actions, virus activity, or even due to improper shutdown of the computer. The system provides the ability to restore them without using additional utilities. If replacing the video card drivers did not help, then do the following:

Press the Win + R buttons at the same time.
In the window that appears, write the command: cmd.
“ ” will open in front of you.
Type sfc /scannow in it and confirm your choice with the Enter button.
The system will begin scanning its own files and correcting errors in them.
After the utility completes, restart your computer.

In most cases, along with fixing the system files, the Windows 7 Explorer error will also disappear. If this method of fixing the problem does not help, use the rest of the tips in this article.

You can additionally get rid of problems in the Windows registry using the CCleaner utility. You need to download it, select the “Registry” tab and analyze it, and then correct the errors found. This will also help get rid of problems with the Explorer program caused by system failures.

Problem with Explorer due to a virus attack

It is not uncommon for computer program files to become damaged. They choose the “explorer” because it is with its help that they can access your personal folders. If you don't have it antivirus program, then the risk of infecting your computer is high. As a result, “Explorer” does not respond to Windows 7. We will figure out how to fix this problem further.

In this case, do the following:

Go to the official website of Dr.Web or Kaspersky Lab. Find among the products an option suitable for creating a bootable USB flash drive. Download it.
Prepare a blank USB drive and use the downloaded utility to turn it into a bootable USB flash drive. Then install fresh signature databases on it.
Restart the computer and call up the BIOS settings using the F 9, F 11 or F 12 key. In the boot menu, set to start from a USB drive. Save your changes.
After this action, the computer will reboot, the flash drive should already be connected to it. The download will be done from there.
Following the prompts of the created bootable flash drive, conduct a full scan of your computer for viruses.
Now you need to restart the computer again, go into the BIOS and set it back to start the system from the hard drive.
After the system boots, Explorer will work normally. To prevent viruses from attacking your system again, install a utility that protects against them.

note that bootable flash drive will only be effective on the same day you do it. If you want to use checking with it constantly, then before each session you will need to update the databases.

Insufficient resources

If Explorer often stops working, then you need to look at the CPU load and RAM. You can check in which mode they are working through the “Task Manager”, it is called by the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Del. If in the “Performance” tab you find that the computer is running at maximum load, go to the “Processes” section and remove all background applications.

In 95% of cases, Explorer does not work due to the computer being overloaded. Operating system There simply aren't enough resources to provide access to files and folders. Often users themselves are to blame for this situation, since they allow programs to run in the background and update automatically. Another problem is adding a large number of programs to Startup. You need to know how to fix Windows 7 Explorer in this situation.

You can unload autorun using the CCleaner utility:

Launch it, go to the “Tools” section.
Open the Startup tab and remove all programs from it.
Save your changes and restart your computer.

Go to the “Start” menu, select the “Computer” section. It is located in the right column. In the menu, find the “Properties” item. The window will display all system parameters, but you only need to pay attention to the size of the RAM - RAM. If its volume is only 2 GB, then you need to do the following:

In the system properties section, in the left column, find the “Advanced system settings” item.
Open the "Advanced" tab in the window that appears. In the "Performance" section, click the "Options" button.
In the new window that opens, select the “Advanced” tab again. Click the Change button in the Virtual Memory section.
Remove the marker next to the phrase “Automatically select the size of the paging file.”
After this, place a dot on the phrase “Specify size”. Enter 5120 MB in the Initial Size field and 7680 in the Maximum field. Click on the “Set” button.
In all open windows, click the “Ok” button to save the adjustments you made.

If you have more than 4 GB of RAM installed, then you should not change the page file. In this case, it is worth checking the system configuration to get rid of the computer overload.

Instructions

Press the combination Win + R on your keyboard. The “Run” window will appear in front of you.
Enter the command in it: msconfig. Click the "OK" button.
You will be taken to the “System Configuration” menu. From the tabs provided, select Services. In it you will see all the background processes running on your computer.
Place a checkbox next to the phrase “Do not display Microsoft services” so that only the applications you have downloaded remain in the list.
You can safely stop all remaining programs - usually you will find software update applications in the list.

The steps described above will allow you to speed up your computer, which will lead to stable operation of the Explorer program.

Corrupted files in folders

Another common reason for Explorer freezing and restarting is incorrect display of object thumbnails. This happens when downloading files from the Internet. Thumbnails of images or videos are displayed incorrectly, which is why Windows 7 Explorer does not work. You can get rid of this problem by following the instructions:

Through the "Start" menu, go to the "Computer" section.
You will be taken to the same Explorer, but without the need to display individual files.
In the top toolbar, select the “Service” section. In the context menu that opens, find the “Folder Options” option.
A window with three tabs will appear in front of you, from which you need to select “View”. In this section, you can configure the display of folders and files in them.
Most of the window is occupied by the “Advanced Settings” block. In it you will see a list of available settings. Find the line “Display file icons in thumbnails.” Uncheck it.
Now you just need to apply the changes you have made and click OK.

If the problem with the Explorer program was the incorrect display of thumbnails, then it will be solved by this in a simple way. But it is best to try to download the files completely. Temporary files need to be deleted. To do this, you can use the utility you already know cCleaner. In its main section “Cleaning” you need to work on detecting temporary and “junk” files, and then clean them.

Fighting File Explorer freezing using Task Manager

If Explorer is not responding, then you can try to restore its functionality through the Task Manager. To do this you will need:

Call it using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Del. On some systems you need to press Ctrl +Shift +Esc.
As soon as the “Task Manager” appears in front of you, go to its “Processes” tab.
A table will appear in front of you, the first column of which will list the names of the processes. You need to find explorer.exe in this list. There may be too many processes, so click on the image name column to display them in alphabetical order.
Right-click on the process name and select the “End process tree” option from the context menu.
A window will appear in front of you in which you need to confirm your actions. Click End Process. Do not close the “Task Manager”; you will still need it to restore the functionality of “Explorer”.
After this action, all panels and icons on the “Desktop” will disappear. This is a sign that you did everything right.
Click on the top “File” link and select “New task, run” in the context menu.
A small window will appear in front of you in which you need to specify the name new task. Type explorer in it.
Click on the "Ok" button. After this, the explorer will start again.

If none of the above methods helped, then you need to try doing a “System Restore”. To do this, you do not need to download additional utilities; you just need to periodically create a restore point or backup. If you did not create rollback files for your system, you will need to completely reinstall it. At the same time, copy all the necessary files to an external hard drive or flash drive. And programs and applications will need to be removed. Do a clean installation of the system with hard formatting disk.

Bottom line

If you are faced with the problem: “Explorer” restarts Windows 7, you now know what to do. Get started by clearing temporary files and setting up thumbnail display. If simple measures do not help, then you can resort to radical ones - restoring the system and completely reinstalling it. In both cases, try to save the necessary files and folders on the flash drive, otherwise you may lose them while doing this work. If you regularly experience problems with Explorer, then you need to carry out preventive maintenance on your computer - regularly check it for viruses, clean disks and correct registry errors. Modern utilities will help you do this work quickly. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments. There you can tell about your ways to get rid of the problem. Share the article with your friends.

I recently encountered a strange problem on my Windows 10 computer. When you try to open the context menu of any shortcut on the desktop using the right key, the error “ Explorer has stopped working / Windows Explorer has stopped working" After this, all shortcuts on the desktop disappear for a while, and after a few seconds they appear again. To my surprise, Google suggested that this problem is common to all versions (from Windows XP to Windows 10). In this article, I tried to collect all the methods that can help fix this problem.

The error window looks like this:
Windows Explorer has stopped working
Windows can check online for a solution to the problem and try to restart program

If Windows Explorer (or File Explorer, as it came to be called in Windows 8 / Windows 10) crashes when you try to open a folder or context menu of any element of the desktop or file system, most likely the problem is due to the incorrect operation of a third-party application. As a rule, the reasons for the fall of the Conductor are:

Incorrect third-party context menu elements (if Explorer crashes when trying to show such a menu)
Third-party codecs (if Explorer closes when opening folders with video files)
Control Panel Elements

Disable third-party shell extensions (Shell Extensions)

In most cases, the easiest way to solve this problem is to use a special utility ShellExView(http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html).

If disabling context menu extensions with * does not help, disable all third-party (non-Microsoft) extensions in the same way.

Update your video adapter driver

Try downloading and installing the latest driver version for your video card model from the manufacturer's website.

Test Windows Explorer in Safe Mode

If disabling third-party extensions does not fix the problem, check whether the problem can be reproduced in Safe Mode. To do this you need to boot your computer into Safe Mode and check if the situation with Explorer crashing repeats. If not, go to the next step.

Disable autostart of third-party services and programs

Press the key combination Win+R-> dial msconfig -> OK, in the window that opens, go to the tab Services(services). Select an option Hide All Microsoft Services(hide all Microsoft services)

Disable any remaining third party services (that are not MSFT related) and reboot. If the problem disappears, then one of the disabled services is to blame. Find it by turning on services one by one and restarting the computer.

In the same way, you should try to disable autorun programs. Open task manager ( Task Manager) and go to the Autorun tab ( Startup).

Advice. Disabling some programs may cause the drivers associated with them to not work correctly. Therefore, be careful with programs from the developers of your hardware (for example, Intel, AMD, Nvidea). It is recommended to disable them last or not at all.

This technique will most likely help you find the program causing Explorer to crash.

Checking the integrity of system files

If the problem occurs even in safe mode, the most likely cause is damage to some system files. It is advisable to check and restore their integrity using the special utility sfc.exe (System File Checker). To do this, open an elevated command prompt console and run the command:

Start the process of scanning system files and all errors found will be automatically corrected (you may need an installation disk with your version of Windows). If you run the utility with the “/verifyonly” parameter, only the test will be performed, without automatically correcting the errors found.