explorer.exe now consistantly crashes after XP SP2 upgrade

"Roger Morgenstern" wrote in message
...
You arenot unique. I get the same response from SP2.
After installation, IE will not work (but my AOL account,
virus updateing, etc. works fine, so the cable modem and
network card are OK). When I use Sytem Resore to "un-do"
the SP2 upadte everything is fine. modem

Yeah, weird aye? I have updated about 60 -70 pcs and only two have had major
problems. Mind you most were all identical hardware/software setup, so that
doesn't really say anything. The DHCP got screwed on my Toshiba laptop though
and the service wouldn't even run - dependancies issues. Had to System Restore
my way out. This time the laptop seems ok after SP2. I have seen a few strange
crashes on the pcs I have updated, and always let them send through the error
report. Hopefully Microsoft will stop beta testing there software on us and
actually release better quality final releases, rather than constant patches and
hotfixes.

Rock writes:
D.R. wrote:
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at "0x00000000".
The memory could not be written"

Ran memtest+ for a few hours. no memory issues. Computer free from viruses and
spyware. Explorer crashes every time I click on it. Can revert to SP1 and all is
ok again. Installing SP2 brings the problem back. What gives?

Sigh, I don't know what else to suggest. I am guessing it is probably
one (or more) of the shell extensions listed in the shell extension
viewer causing the problem. Another poster had a problem with it
crashing at the same memory address but when opening a folder with .avi
files. He found it was the .avi properties handler (one of the system
extensions) that was causing the problem. This is a microsoft
extension. There are so many of extensions listed, I don't know how
long it would take to go through the whole list and what other problems
would happen if you disabled one that is critical to the operation. So
at this point I don't know what to suggest.

Having read thousands of these postings it seems that a small number of
the folks with the Windows Explorer problem do find that disabling a
Shell Extension fixes it. I was disabling, testing, and re-enabling
these one at a time until I got tired of that. So I selected all 75
of them at once, 71 of them being Microsoft supplied, and disabled the
entire batch with one click. Didn't make any change in the Windows
Explorer problem in my case. So I selected all 75 of them, turned them
back on, and then had to go manually undo some of the things that get
lost if you disable and then re-enable.

You can also "divide and conquer", disable half them, try it, if it
doesn't fix it, enable them and disable the other half. There is less
certainty in this but it can save time.

But there are other explanations out there somewhere for the persistent
reports by many people of almost identical problems with Windows Explorer
post-SP2, it is just that nobody has reported what they really are or how
to really decide what the culprit is.

And my Windows Explorer still refuses all mouse clicks in anything but
Safe mode or in a bare newly created user. Nobody has thus far had a
clue about how to diagnose the real cause or the real fix.

"Don Taylor" wrote in message
...
Rock writes:
D.R. wrote:
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at
"0x00000000".
The memory could not be written"

Ran memtest+ for a few hours. no memory issues. Computer free from viruses
and
spyware. Explorer crashes every time I click on it. Can revert to SP1 and
all is
ok again. Installing SP2 brings the problem back. What gives?

Sigh, I don't know what else to suggest. I am guessing it is probably
one (or more) of the shell extensions listed in the shell extension
viewer causing the problem. Another poster had a problem with it
crashing at the same memory address but when opening a folder with .avi
files. He found it was the .avi properties handler (one of the system
extensions) that was causing the problem. This is a microsoft
extension. There are so many of extensions listed, I don't know how
long it would take to go through the whole list and what other problems
would happen if you disabled one that is critical to the operation. So
at this point I don't know what to suggest.

Having read thousands of these postings it seems that a small number of
the folks with the Windows Explorer problem do find that disabling a
Shell Extension fixes it. I was disabling, testing, and re-enabling
these one at a time until I got tired of that. So I selected all 75
of them at once, 71 of them being Microsoft supplied, and disabled the
entire batch with one click. Didn't make any change in the Windows
Explorer problem in my case. So I selected all 75 of them, turned them
back on, and then had to go manually undo some of the things that get
lost if you disable and then re-enable.

You can also "divide and conquer", disable half them, try it, if it
doesn't fix it, enable them and disable the other half. There is less
certainty in this but it can save time.

But there are other explanations out there somewhere for the persistent
reports by many people of almost identical problems with Windows Explorer
post-SP2, it is just that nobody has reported what they really are or how
to really decide what the culprit is.

And my Windows Explorer still refuses all mouse clicks in anything but
Safe mode or in a bare newly created user. Nobody has thus far had a
clue about how to diagnose the real cause or the real fix.

So does the problem not exist if you trash the profiles and create new ones?
I never tried that. What a pain if it is though. :-)

D.R.

"D.R." D.R. @ NZ writes:
"Don Taylor" wrote in message
Rock writes:
D.R. wrote:
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at
"0x00000000".
The memory could not be written"

Ran memtest+ for a few hours. no memory issues. Computer free from viruses
and
spyware. Explorer crashes every time I click on it. Can revert to SP1 and
all is
ok again. Installing SP2 brings the problem back. What gives?

Sigh, I don't know what else to suggest. I am guessing it is probably
one (or more) of the shell extensions listed in the shell extension
viewer causing the problem. Another poster had a problem with it
crashing at the same memory address but when opening a folder with .avi
files. He found it was the .avi properties handler (one of the system
extensions) that was causing the problem. This is a microsoft
extension. There are so many of extensions listed, I don't know how
long it would take to go through the whole list and what other problems
would happen if you disabled one that is critical to the operation. So
at this point I don't know what to suggest.

Having read thousands of these postings it seems that a small number of
the folks with the Windows Explorer problem do find that disabling a
Shell Extension fixes it. I was disabling, testing, and re-enabling
these one at a time until I got tired of that. So I selected all 75
of them at once, 71 of them being Microsoft supplied, and disabled the
entire batch with one click. Didn't make any change in the Windows
Explorer problem in my case. So I selected all 75 of them, turned them
back on, and then had to go manually undo some of the things that get
lost if you disable and then re-enable.

You can also "divide and conquer", disable half them, try it, if it
doesn't fix it, enable them and disable the other half. There is less
certainty in this but it can save time.

But there are other explanations out there somewhere for the persistent
reports by many people of almost identical problems with Windows Explorer
post-SP2, it is just that nobody has reported what they really are or how
to really decide what the culprit is.

And my Windows Explorer still refuses all mouse clicks in anything but
Safe mode or in a bare newly created user. Nobody has thus far had a
clue about how to diagnose the real cause or the real fix.

So does the problem not exist if you trash the profiles and create new ones?
I never tried that. What a pain if it is though. :-)

At the moment, well for the last week or two, I am still holding onto
the fantasy that if I don't just blow away everything that we MIGHT
have a chance of actually figuring out what the problem REALLY is and
thus help who knows how many other folks who are having the same problem.

"Don Taylor" wrote in message
...
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ writes:
"Don Taylor" wrote in message
Rock writes:
D.R. wrote:
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at
"0x00000000".
The memory could not be written"

Ran memtest+ for a few hours. no memory issues. Computer free from
viruses
and
spyware. Explorer crashes every time I click on it. Can revert to SP1
and
all is
ok again. Installing SP2 brings the problem back. What gives?

Sigh, I don't know what else to suggest. I am guessing it is probably
one (or more) of the shell extensions listed in the shell extension
viewer causing the problem. Another poster had a problem with it
crashing at the same memory address but when opening a folder with .avi
files. He found it was the .avi properties handler (one of the system
extensions) that was causing the problem. This is a microsoft
extension. There are so many of extensions listed, I don't know how
long it would take to go through the whole list and what other problems
would happen if you disabled one that is critical to the operation. So
at this point I don't know what to suggest.

Having read thousands of these postings it seems that a small number of
the folks with the Windows Explorer problem do find that disabling a
Shell Extension fixes it. I was disabling, testing, and re-enabling
these one at a time until I got tired of that. So I selected all 75
of them at once, 71 of them being Microsoft supplied, and disabled the
entire batch with one click. Didn't make any change in the Windows
Explorer problem in my case. So I selected all 75 of them, turned them
back on, and then had to go manually undo some of the things that get
lost if you disable and then re-enable.

You can also "divide and conquer", disable half them, try it, if it
doesn't fix it, enable them and disable the other half. There is less
certainty in this but it can save time.

But there are other explanations out there somewhere for the persistent
reports by many people of almost identical problems with Windows Explorer
post-SP2, it is just that nobody has reported what they really are or how
to really decide what the culprit is.

And my Windows Explorer still refuses all mouse clicks in anything but
Safe mode or in a bare newly created user. Nobody has thus far had a
clue about how to diagnose the real cause or the real fix.

So does the problem not exist if you trash the profiles and create new ones?
I never tried that. What a pain if it is though. :-)

At the moment, well for the last week or two, I am still holding onto
the fantasy that if I don't just blow away everything that we MIGHT
have a chance of actually figuring out what the problem REALLY is and
thus help who knows how many other folks who are having the same problem.

Exactly. Please post back here if you discover what the fix is. I will keep
looking. Many thanks.
D.R.

I had this problem, manifesting at various times & for various reasons.Any
use of COntrol Panel or Computer Management or System Tray would
occasionsally cause the shell to hang. In response to a separate problem with
USB devices, I updated the chipset INF file which I got from Intel website,
and refreshed XP. This fixed both the USB problenm (all well in Device
Manager but no USB devices!), and appears to have sorted the SHell problem.
This may be because the INF file contained instructions for the Display
adapter as well (since this is integrated on the laptop motherboard). It may
be worth checking into display/chipset updates. Good luck

"D.R." wrote:


"Don Taylor" wrote in message
...
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ writes:
"Don Taylor" wrote in message
Rock writes:
D.R. wrote:
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at
"0x00000000".
The memory could not be written"

Ran memtest+ for a few hours. no memory issues. Computer free from
viruses
and
spyware. Explorer crashes every time I click on it. Can revert to SP1
and
all is
ok again. Installing SP2 brings the problem back. What gives?

Sigh, I don't know what else to suggest. I am guessing it is probably
one (or more) of the shell extensions listed in the shell extension
viewer causing the problem. Another poster had a problem with it
crashing at the same memory address but when opening a folder with .avi
files. He found it was the .avi properties handler (one of the system
extensions) that was causing the problem. This is a microsoft
extension. There are so many of extensions listed, I don't know how
long it would take to go through the whole list and what other problems
would happen if you disabled one that is critical to the operation. So
at this point I don't know what to suggest.

Having read thousands of these postings it seems that a small number of
the folks with the Windows Explorer problem do find that disabling a
Shell Extension fixes it. I was disabling, testing, and re-enabling
these one at a time until I got tired of that. So I selected all 75
of them at once, 71 of them being Microsoft supplied, and disabled the
entire batch with one click. Didn't make any change in the Windows
Explorer problem in my case. So I selected all 75 of them, turned them
back on, and then had to go manually undo some of the things that get
lost if you disable and then re-enable.

You can also "divide and conquer", disable half them, try it, if it
doesn't fix it, enable them and disable the other half. There is less
certainty in this but it can save time.

But there are other explanations out there somewhere for the persistent
reports by many people of almost identical problems with Windows Explorer
post-SP2, it is just that nobody has reported what they really are or how
to really decide what the culprit is.

And my Windows Explorer still refuses all mouse clicks in anything but
Safe mode or in a bare newly created user. Nobody has thus far had a
clue about how to diagnose the real cause or the real fix.

So does the problem not exist if you trash the profiles and create new ones?
I never tried that. What a pain if it is though. :-)

At the moment, well for the last week or two, I am still holding onto
the fantasy that if I don't just blow away everything that we MIGHT
have a chance of actually figuring out what the problem REALLY is and
thus help who knows how many other folks who are having the same problem.

Exactly. Please post back here if you discover what the fix is. I will keep
looking. Many thanks.
D.R.

Try to disable the Firewall service !!!
It worked for me..

Dennis

"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message ...
Hi there,

I finally did it. After much debating about whether it was safe to install XP
SP2, I updated about 16 pcs in a classroom to XP SP2 today.

However, one pc which was working fine previously, now crashes everytime I try
to open My Computer or Control Panel. Here is the message:

"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The
memory could not be written"

I can't get into the Control Panel or anything. The PC was working fine until
today's update. I have done a complete virus-scan and spyware scan prior to
installing SP2.

After the error, I tried a "sfc /scannow" to see check and reinstall protected
system files. Not fixed. Explorer.exe still crashes when trying to open a
folder.

Please could someone help shed some light on this.

Am I best to use System Restore to remove SP2, or try a Repair Install with my
non-sp2 XP CDROM?

Thanks in advance.
D.R.

Dennis wrote:

Try to disable the Firewall service !!!
It worked for me..

Dennis

"D.R." D.R. @ NZ wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I finally did it. After much debating about whether it was safe to
install XP SP2, I updated about 16 pcs in a classroom to XP SP2
today.

However, one pc which was working fine previously, now crashes
everytime I try to open My Computer or Control Panel. Here is the
message:

"Add Word: Explorer.exe Application Error:
The instruction at "0x1001ca30" referenced memory at
"0x00000000". The
memory could not be written"

I can't get into the Control Panel or anything. The PC was working
fine until today's update. I have done a complete virus-scan and
spyware scan prior to installing SP2.

After the error, I tried a "sfc /scannow" to see check and reinstall
protected system files. Not fixed. Explorer.exe still crashes when
trying to open a folder.

Please could someone help shed some light on this.

Am I best to use System Restore to remove SP2, or try a Repair
Install with my non-sp2 XP CDROM?

Dennis, since you are not creating a Master installation and just
Ghosting all your computers, I assume that the hardware is radically
different on each computer. Is the troubled computer one you built
yourself or OEM? If so, which OEM? Post back with more details about
the system.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"