Resolved Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close.

I have been chasing this problem with explorer.exe for a few months. ddwin.exe pops up and gives this useless error message while scrolling up and down files in the C root directory. Explorer continues to work for a while and then quits.

I have been reading all kinds of stuff on the internet with no help. So, I started doing stupid things. Like putting in a new copy of explorer.exe, and changing the virtual memory settings.

Yesterday I noticed that a number of files had accumulated in my root directory (240 files). It's easier to dump your downloads there so you can find them later, of course.

So I created a sub directory and moved most of these files into that. The problem was solved. I suppose explorer.exe has some designed-in limits that have nothing to do with memory.

Cliff

 

Thanks for the response.

No, the problem has not recurred, but I may have deleted something in the process. Thanks for the article. Yes I had ShelExView, but it seemed like too much trouble to pick through all those entries.

I would rather be lucky than good, especially with Windows. I just wanted to get back to editing pictures.

Cliff

 

The problem with explorer.exe seemed to move over to my E: drive. I would scroll up and down through the root files and ddwin.exe would pop up.

I used shexview.exe and disabled all the non-Microsoft stuff with no effect.

I tried some of the anti-virus programs, and had lots of hits on them, but my own purchased copy of Prevx didn't find any problems. The Malicious Software Removal Tool in Microsoft Security evidently removed one virus. But I don't trust any of these people either.

So I went to E: and started deleting the root files as I had with C:. (E: is mostly just a backup copy of my data files from C) I came to a file "MySnap.avi" which I was unable to delete. It was "in use" by some other process which I couldn't identify. Nothing I could do with explorer.exe could rename or move or delete it. Also, I noticed that my A: drive would be grinding away (with no disk in it) from time to time for no reason.

MySnap is a file generated by Video Edit Magic Express to capture a single frame jpg image from an avi or wmv movie. Somehow it generated this MySnap.avi bogus file, and something was trying to do something with it.

So, I used the DOS Command Prompt and easily deleted the bogus MySnap.avi file. Once again, everything seems to be working smoothly.

Just another mystery of the Windows World.

Cliff