Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close.

[chuck]

When I try to delete "some files" (such as a jpg from My Pictures) I get the following error message: "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." When I click on more info I get the following: Error SignatureAppName: explorer.exeAppVer:6.0.2900.2180ModName: ntdll.dllModVer: 5.1.2600.2180Offset: 002ae22I can click to view tech infor (not shown here).Do I have a corrupt ntdll.dll, and if so, how do I replace it?Also don't know if this is connected but the "heading" of Windows Explorer is Microsoft Internet Explorer.

[epp_b]

- What version of Windows are you using? - NTDLL.DLL can be extraced from the CD or from dllfiles.com

[usasma]

I think there's 2 likely possibilites here:1) A virus infection that has slipped past your protection, and2) A corruption of a windows fileFirst, please check your Event Viewer (this assumes you're using XP). Go to Start...Run...and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter. In the left hand pane will be 3 categories (Application, Security, and System). Please click on each one in turn while viewing the messages in the right hand pane. You may need to right click on any Error message and select "Properties" to view the exact error message. Please let us know what error messages that you've found.For the virus thingie, do a couple of these free, online scans to double check your system:http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirushttp://housecall.trendmicro.com/http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.htmlhttp://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htmhttp://onlinescan.avast.com/http://support.f-secure.com/ols/start.htmlhttp://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspxIn order to check the file corruption issue you can do the following steps:1) Run SFC.EXE /SCANNOW from the Run prompt. This will scan your system for any changed windows protected files and will prompt you for your CD to replace them. Please visit Windows Update immediately afterwards to ensure that one of your updates hasn't been changed.2) If that doesn't correct it, then I'd try a repair install of XP. This will preserve your programs and settings, while replacing all of the files that windows needs to operate. Here's a link for the instructions: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm . Please visit Windows Update immediately afterwards to reapply the updates that were changed by the repair install.

[chuck]

I think there's 2 likely possibilites here:1) A virus infection that has slipped past your protection, and2) A corruption of a windows fileFirst, please check your Event Viewer (this assumes you're using XP). Go to Start...Run...and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter. In the left hand pane will be 3 categories (Application, Security, and System). Please click on each one in turn while viewing the messages in the right hand pane. You may need to right click on any Error message and select "Properties" to view the exact error message. Please let us know what error messages that you've found.For the virus thingie, do a couple of these free, online scans to double check your system:http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirushttp://housecall.trendmicro.com/http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.htmlhttp://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htmhttp://onlinescan.avast.com/http://support.f-secure.com/ols/start.htmlhttp://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspxIn order to check the file corruption issue you can do the following steps:1) Run SFC.EXE /SCANNOW from the Run prompt. This will scan your system for any changed windows protected files and will prompt you for your CD to replace them. Please visit Windows Update immediately afterwards to ensure that one of your updates hasn't been changed.2) If that doesn't correct it, then I'd try a repair install of XP. This will preserve your programs and settings, while replacing all of the files that windows needs to operate. Here's a link for the instructions: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm . Please visit Windows Update immediately afterwards to reapply the updates that were changed by the repair install.

John -Sorry for the delay - have been out of town.Thanks for the ideas. I did as you suggested (all steps) including the repair of XP. Still have the same problems (but not all the time). Guess I'm going to have to do a clean install. Thanks for the help.Chuck

[SunRise]

Hi for everyoneIndeed I've the same problem but in some differents, for Ex. I've that Msg "windows explorer hsa encountered ...." whn I browes through the windows (open folder, copy files, .....)and the details here:AppName:explorer.exeAppVer:6.0.2900.2527 ModeNAme:Unknown ModeVer: 0.0.0.0offset:00000000so wht the problem

[b2cm]

Internet Explorer>Tools>Internet Options>Advanced:Tick "Disable Script Debugging" (Internet Explorer/Others). Click OK.

[Probguy]

I have also been encountering the same problem , i.e., "windows explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close". After i send the error report, then another message comes saying " drwatson postmor.... has encountered an error and needs to close". It started about a week back.It occurs randomly and a bit frequently some times. I also checked whether the windows protected files were alright and they were alright.I have the following from event viewer:Event Type: ErrorEvent Source: Application ErrorEvent Category: NoneEvent ID: 1000Date: 2/13/2006Time: 8:08:03 AMUser: N/AComputer: YOUR-9SSZN26CWADescription:Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2900.2180, faulting module browseui.dll, version 6.0.2900.2802, fault address 0x0005d03b.For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.Data:0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail0010: 75 72 65 20 20 65 78 70 ure exp0018: 6c 6f 72 65 72 2e 65 78 lorer.ex0020: 65 20 36 2e 30 2e 32 39 e 6.0.290028: 30 30 2e 32 31 38 30 20 00.2180 0030: 69 6e 20 62 72 6f 77 73 in brows0038: 65 75 69 2e 64 6c 6c 20 eui.dll 0040: 36 2e 30 2e 32 39 30 30 6.0.29000048: 2e 32 38 30 32 20 61 74 .2802 at0050: 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 20 offset 0058: 30 30 30 35 64 30 33 62 0005d03b0060: 0d 0a .. Event Type: ErrorEvent Source: Application ErrorEvent Category: (100)Event ID: 1000Date: 2/13/2006Time: 8:08:17 AMUser: N/AComputer: YOUR-9SSZN26CWADescription:Faulting application drwtsn32.exe, version 5.1.2600.0, faulting module dbghelp.dll, version 5.1.2600.2180, fault address 0x0001295d.For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.Data:0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail0010: 75 72 65 20 20 64 72 77 ure drw0018: 74 73 6e 33 32 2e 65 78 tsn32.ex0020: 65 20 35 2e 31 2e 32 36 e 5.1.260028: 30 30 2e 30 20 69 6e 20 00.0 in 0030: 64 62 67 68 65 6c 70 2e dbghelp.0038: 64 6c 6c 20 35 2e 31 2e dll 5.1.0040: 32 36 30 30 2e 32 31 38 2600.2180048: 30 20 61 74 20 6f 66 66 0 at off0050: 73 65 74 20 30 30 30 31 set 00010058: 32 39 35 64 295d

[Rammer]

I have also been encountering the same two problem in the same sequence.I anxiously await a response!

[Guest LilBambi]

There are several types of malware that can cause these types of problems, and I know these are definitely a real pain to folks!I would suggest that each of you start your own thread topic (use your username and HiJackThis as the subject.Post your HiJackThis log (be sure you are using the latest version 1.99.1) which can be downloaded here:HiJackThis! 1.99.1If you have trouble reaching the above URL, try these places:http://216.180.233.162/~merijn/files/hijackthis.ziphttp://downloads.subratam.org/hijackthis.ziphttp://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/hijackthis.ziphttp://computercops.biz/zx/Merijn/hijackthis.zipSave the hijackthis.zip to your Desktop.In Windows XP:Open My Computer, double click the C: driveOn the left under File and folder Tasks, click on "Make a New Folder" and name the folder HJT.On the desktop, doubleclick the to open the hijackthis zip folder you downloaded.Right-click on the hijackthis.exe file and choose copy.Then browse to the c:\HJT directory, right-click and choose paste.Double click the file to run the program.In Win9x/ME:Open My Computer, double click the C: driveOn the file menu, click File->New->Folder and give it the name HJT.Double click to open the zip file (Win9x/ME will need a program to unzip the file, like WinZip. If you don't already have one, you can get a program like WinZip at places like download.com or majorgeeks, filehippo, etc.Choose to extract the file hijackthis.exe file from inside the zip, and save it to c:\HJT.All - Run HiJackThis:Double click on hijackthis.exe (in c:\HJT) and put a checkmark in the checkbox labeled Don't show this frame again when I start HijackThis, as most instructions you will given will not account for this screen. After you have put a checkmark in that checkbox, click on the None of the above, just start the program button.To have HijackThis scan your computer for possible Hijackers, click on the Scan button. Wait for it to finish, will take a minute to go through all the NT services in WinXP.Click the Save Log button at the bottom and a text file will open with the log in it. Copy and paste the contents of the log into your first post in the new topic.HiJackThis Tutorial at BleepingComputer.comThere are several members of our forum who are also ASAP trained experts in analyzing HiJackThis! logs and can help you find the source of your problem.Or if you prefer to post your HiJackThis! log directly on an ASAP forum, then check out the website below and choose any of the very capable forums listed to post your HiJackThis log and they will help you out:Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals

[Rammer]

I found a solution that appears to be working for the last 2 days.Reference this article RE: Bad Context Menu Handlers.http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=1116I sorted the contents by most recently added and turned off items untilthe problem was solved. Good luck!

[ihabsaid]

Hello All,I tried the instructions below and they worked - In order to check the file corruption issue I ran SFC.EXE /SCANNOW from the Run prompt. I also "Disable Script Debugging" (Internet Explorer/Others)And re-installed Div-XI also tried the above - Reference this article RE: Bad Context Menu Handlers.http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=1116I have no issues now - just at some websites I get a run-time error that gets debugged automatically.Thanks guys

Edited August 17, 2008 by ihabsaid

[ihabsaid]

hi, ihabsaid, and welcome! thanks for the tip!

I am still having problems - I keep getting the Windows Explorer error as well as drwatson error - Will HiJak work?this is nuts, I am so frustrated!!!!!!!!!

[lewmur]

I am still having problems - I keep getting the Windows Explorer error as well as drwatson error - Will HiJak work?this is nuts, I am so frustrated!!!!!!!!!

I have a client that is having the problem with some websites. (I can duplicate the error by trying "Print Preview" from the site." I just did a clean install of w2k pro on the computer and installed sp4 and all updates from MS Updates, so the problem is NOT malware. And this is with the suggested options checked in the Internet Options Advanced settings.The same site works fine from my XP system and it works from his computer when running FF3. Edited August 21, 2008 by lewmur

[deedee]

This works for me:Go to control panel, performance and maintenance, system, advanced, error reporting, disable error reporting, and uncheck but notify me when critical errors occur, ok.Windows 8 was doing this everytime I closed a window. Now is fixed

[jolphil]

Does this sound like your problem?http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293623jolphil