Right Clicking in Windows 7 causes explorer.exe to crash and restart
Symptoms
1) When you right-click a file/folder, there may be a huge delay before Windows displays the context menu.
2) When you try to empty Recycle Bin (from Common Tasks), it opens Quick Finder instead.
3) When you click Play All in the Music or Videos folder Common Tasks, nothing may happen.
4) When you select multiple files and right click and open / print nothing happens. Whereas, selecting a single file in explorer and right click and open / print, it works fine.
5) When you right-click a folder in the Start Menu and choose Open or Explore, nothing may happen. (Whereas, it works fine in Windows Explorer.)
6) Error message "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience" when you right-click a folder.
7) Right-click is extremely slow only when the network card is enabled.
8) When you right-click on a folder and choose Properties, nothing may happen.
9) Your image editing program does not start when you click the Edit button in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
10) Data Execution Prevention (DEP) error occurs when Windows Explorer or Control Panel is launched.
11) Nothing happens when you click Slideshow or Print in the Tasks pane in Windows Vista.
12) Unable to launch applications (mainly Windows Installer shortcuts) from the recent programs list in the Windows Vista Start menu.
13) Device Manager link in the tasks pane does not work in Windows Vista
14) When you click "Set up backup" or click "Change settings" in Windows 7 Backup and Restore, nothing happens or the System32 folder opens.
Cause
These problems are caused by a bad context menu handler. A context menu handler is a shell extension handler that adds commands to an existing context menu (Example: cut, copy, paste, print, Scan with Norton etc). A poorly coded context menu handler may be causing any of the above symptoms. As context menu handlers can be added in different areas (file class, folder, allfilesystemobjects, HKCR\* registry keys), it's a difficult task for an end-user to pinpoint which shell extension is causing the problem.
Method 1 (STRICTLY is for advanced users. If you are not confident about dealing with registry, proceed to Method 2.)
First, isolate the problem. Observe when the problem occurs. While right-clicking a particular file type? While right-clicking Folders? While right-clicking all file types? As said earlier, context menu handlers can load from any of these areas:
Registry Key | Description |
HKCR \*\shellex\contextmenuhandlers | Files |
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HKCR\AllFileSystemObjects\shellex\ contextmenuhandlers | Files and file folders |
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HKCR\Folder\shellex\contextmenuhandlers | Folders |
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HKCR\Directory\shellex\contextmenuhandlers | File Folders |
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HKCR\\shellex\contextmenuhandlers | File class |
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HKCR\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers | Desktop |
If any of the symptoms occur when you deal with a folder, then you may need to inspect the context menu handlers loaded in these areas (AllFileSystemObjects, Folder, Directory). If it's only for a .txt file, inspect the file class of .txt file (HKCR\txtfile). Open Registry Editor and backup the selected branch, delete the context menu handlers one-by-one.
Manage the context-menu entries for files, folders, drives and Namespace objects
Context Menu entries
When you right-click a file or folder, you'll see the list of context menu items out of which some may be invalid. For instance, when you uninstall a software the corresponding entries may not be removed sometimes. The unwanted entries from the right-click menu can be removed using specialized tools, or manually using the Registry Editor.
Managing the Context Menu Entries using Specialized Tools (Recommended)
Most of the static menu entries in the right-click menu can be managed using the File Types tab (Folder Options) in Windows XP and earlier. Additionally, here are two excellent tools from NirSoft to manage the right-click menu.
ShellMenuView is a small utility that display the list of static menu items that appeared in the context menu when you right-click a file/folder on Windows Explorer, and allows you to easily disable unwanted menu items.
ShellExView utility displays the details of shell extensions (DLLs) installed on your computer, and allows you to easily disable and enable each shell extension.
Managing the Context Menu Entries manually using the Registry (STITCLY For "Advanced" users)
HKCR refers to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Directory
The context-menu entries for Directories is built from these locations in the registry. The same applies for the Start button in the Taskbar
[HKCR\Folder\Shell\]
[HKCR\Folder\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\Directory\Shell\]
[HKCR\Directory\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\AllFilesystemObjects\shell\]
[HKCR \ AllFilesystemObjects \ shellex \ ContextMenuHandlers\]
NOTE: AllFilesystemObjects is not specific to Folders, but applies to files as well.
Some more obscure locations - Based on the FolderType Template
For Music folders, the context menu loads from this additional location:
[HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\]
[HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
For Video folders
[HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\]
[HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
For Picture folders
[HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\]
[HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
Drives
To remove the context-menu entries for Drives, the following are the paths:
[HKCR\Drive\Shell\]
[HKCR\Folder\Shell\]
[HKCR\Drive\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\Folder\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\]
Namespace objects
To remove the context-menu entries for Namespace icons (My Computer, Recycle Bin etc), check here:
[HKCR\Folder\Shell\]
[HKCR\Folder\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\CLSID\{Namespace-CLSID}\shell\]
[HKCR\CLSID\{Namespace-CLSID}\ shellex \ ContextMenuHandlers\]
Example - For My Computer the key would be:
[HKCR\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
Files
The context-menu entries for Files are built from the following registry locations:
[HKCR\\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\] [HKCR \*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\*\shell\]
[HKCR\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
To remove the WinZip related context-menu entries, seen on the picture, you need to remove the entries here:
[HKCR\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\WinZip]
Example: For Shortcuts (.lnk files), the context-menu is built from:
[HKCR\lnkfile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\exefile\shell\]
[HKCR\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\AllFilesystemObjects\shell\]
[HKCR\*\shell\]
[HKCR\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
[HKCR\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\]
Method 2 - Using ShellExView to determine the Context-menu causing the problem
ShellExView (by Nir Sofer) is an excellent tool to view and manage all installed shell extensions. If available, it displays the description, as well as version details, company information, location, file name and more. You can optionally disable/enable any item, which can be very useful to disable an extension, that you don t need or that has been left behind in your right click menu from a previous software install.
Effective usage of ShellExView to resolve right-click problems
Download ShellExView (from nirsoft.net) and run it. It will scan the registry for all the shell extensions. Once the scan is over and the list is displayed, you need to spot the context menu handlers. Sort the results using "Type", so that the context menu handlers are displayed together.
The rule is to disable non-Microsoft context menu handlers *one-by-one* and verify if the problem is solved. If disabling one does not solve the problem, undo the disabled item and disable the next non-Microsoft handler. Do the same until the problem is solved and finally identify the culprit. Scroll right to see the Company Name column in ShellExView.
Problems when you right-click an empty area in the Desktop?
If you have a problem when you right-click on a blank area on the Desktop, then you need to inspect the handlers in this registry key. (ShellExView v1.14 and later versions enumerate the items from this location)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Directory \ Background \ shellex \ ContextMenuHandlers
The only handler present by default (in a clean XP installation) is the New handler. If you find any additional sub-keys there, it may have be added by third-party applications. Usually, the software that comes with your graphic card adds entries to the above location. Here is one instance, an article from the Intel Graphics Controller website.
Solution:
Follow these steps to remove the Intel custom additions to the desktop right-click menu:
2) Navigate to the folder where the Remove_Intel_Menu.reg file was saved and double-click the file to add the information to the registry.
3) Click OK when prompted.
When these steps are completed, the menu should immediately be gone. To re-enable the menu, reinstall the graphics drivers.
Operating System:
Windows 95*, Windows 95 OSR 2.x*, Windows 98*, Windows 98 SE*, Windows 2000*, Windows Me*, Windows NT 4.0*, Windows XP Professional*, Windows XP Home Edition*
This applies to:
Intel® 82810 Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)
Intel® 82815 Graphics Controller
Intel® 82830M Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)
Intel® 82845G Graphics Controller
Intel® 82852/82855 Graphics Controller Family
Intel® 82865G Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)
Intel® 82915G/82910GL Express Chipset Family
Intel® 82945G Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express Chipset Family
Mobile Intel® 945GM Express Chipset Family
