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I've never seen this before, but every time I attempt to open the control panel, explorer crashes. It's Windows 64 bit Pro, with Office, and Visual Studio. Anyone seen this before?

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Can you check the event logs and dig out any errors listed around the time Explorer crashes? It may give an indication as to exactly what process or file is causing it to happen. – Kez Feb 16 '11 at 18:54

4 Answers

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One suggestion is to head over to C:\Windows\System32, order the list of files by file type and test each control panel applet (ending in .cpl).

Run (double-click) each one in turn and see if one causes Explorer to crash. If you find the culprit, you should be able to replace it from a working computer.

An alternate may be to perform a system restore, if you have a date in mind when you know the control panel opened without crashing.

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You might have a virus of some sort (hopefully not). You can run it in safe mode and try to do a system restore. Otherwise, you can also do a clean install, but I would suggest backing up your data first.

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Try running the System File Checker, with the following command:

SFC /SCANNOW

If that doesn't work it might be prudent to run a repair install.

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yeah, no luck. i guess it's time for reinstall. – Todd SJ Simmer Feb 16 '11 at 18:21
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My solution was:

cd c:\windows\system32\ <br>
mkdr cpl <br>
move *.cpl cpl\ <br>
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