Windows Explorer locks up

Hi midjack,

I appreciate most of the steps tried. I request you to disable the antivirus software and check if you are able to access windows explorer. Also check if you are able to access Windows explorer in Safe boot. Please follow the steps given in the link below for clean startup:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

If you are unable to access with the above mentioned steps, the next option will be perform system restore. Please find the steps for system restore from the link given below:

http://dell.to/VRG2ad

Please reply with the status to assist you further.

“To know more about Dell’s products, services and drivers & downloads, please go to http://dell.to/QjjZDA".

Problem remains after disabeling Norton Anti-virus. Cannot get into Safe Mode by pressing F8.

Hi midjack,

I would like to know if you tried to perform clean startup for which the steps were given. These steps can be performed while the system is normally booted. I also suggest you to run MS Fixit which pops-up by clicking ‘Download’.  I am once again providing the link for steps to perform clean startup.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

This should resolve the issue, in case the issue is not resolved, we may have to restore the system to the factory installed state.  

Let us know the progress to help you further.

HI midjack,

Unfortunately we have not received feedback from you on this topic. If you need continued support, please respond to this post. Other community members who need assistance please start your own topic in a new thread.

Have run clean startup and Fixit, also many others including full system virus scans, even created a new user profile. Still have same problem. I have a Dell Win 7 installation disk. Can I reinstall Windows 7 right over the installed copy as I could with XP? The computer works fine except for Windows Explorer.

Hi midjack,

Reinstalling the Operating system is a good option. However I suggest you to restore the system to the factory installed state if the HDD is not formatted and the recovery partition intact. Please find the link below for instruction to restore the system to the factory installed state:

http://dell.to/Wj1rZe

In case you are unable to restore the system to the factory installed state from the recovery partition, you may clean install the Operating system. Find the link for instruction for Windows installation:

http://dell.to/Wj9o0m

In doing a Clean Install should I first reformat the drive or maybe just the Primary Partition?

FYI Although this problem only appears to involve Windows Explorer, it is persistent, but does not seem to be a major one, since I can cure it by rebooting. I will probably wait a few more days before deciding.

Thanks for all of your help.

Hi midjack,

You may format the primary partition before installing the Operating system. Please back up all the data before restoring the system to the factory installed state or before Operating system reinstallation.

In case you want to wait and check, you may do so. However please reply to this post or start a new thread in case you need any assistance.

Before I reinstall, is there a way to just reinstall Windows Explorer? That is the only function not working right, and it works most opf the time. I just have to believe WE is exceeding a memory allotment of some kind. Especially since picture (JPEG) thumbnails start loading fine, but soon turn to blank icons as though a memory cache has been filled. This happens only in WE.

Hi midjack,

There is no option to install only Windows Explorer. Only option is to restore the system to the factory installed state or clean install of Operating system.

With the real problem being minimal and apparently only with Windows Explorer, I'm just not quite ready to reinstall Windows, which seems to be the only sensible way to correct the problem. Restoring the system from the factory-installed state will still require reinstalling all of the programs, some of which were a real hassle when I installed then at the time the computer was new.

I will wait and see if any upcoming Windows Updates fix the problem. If the problem gets worse I suppose I'll have to reinstall.

Thanks again for your help.

FYI I have found that the following batch file will restore the File & Folder tree including icons and drive designations. It's not a cure-all, but it sure beats rebooting everytime the files disappear. Maybe this will help someone else:

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe

cd /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local

attrib –h IconCache.db

del IconCache.db

start explorer