Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

I'm having a problem with Windows 8 which is the file explorer is randomly crashing. This used to happen from time to time in Windows 7 too but I could bring back the file explorer by running "explorer.exe" from task manager. I tried to the same thing in Windows 8 but didn't work, is there anything I can do to get the file explorer back to avoid restarting?

share|improve this question
I had a similar problem. I ran SFC /scanNow and recieved bad new in the form of corrupted files. – Guy Thomas Jan 1 at 11:48
We need a dump to see more. please download this reg file from my SkyDrive and make a double click on the file to import it. If you can't do this, run regedit.exe and import the registry file there! When the Windows Explorer crashes, Windows Error Reporting Service creates a dmp file under C:\Localdumps. Please upload the dump file (compressed 7z or RAR to reduce the size) and I take a look at the dump with the Debug – magicandre1981 Jan 1 at 15:22
Could be a bad codec. Try disabling thumbnail generation. – Martheen Cahya Paulo Jan 2 at 2:26

4 Answers

up vote 0 down vote accepted

Try to update your Windows by "Windows Update". It will fix your several common issues.

I faced the same problem but after updating Windows it's working fine now. You can update your Windows even if you aren't using the genuine version.

share|improve this answer
up vote 3 down vote

Press CtrlShiftEscape to bring up the taskmanager. Click File in the menu and then Run Task. Launch explorer.exe from there. It will relaunch explorer the same way as in Windows7. If your explorer does not launch you might have a more serious problem (bad ram, bad disk). But the procedure to relaunch explorer is not different from Windows7.

share|improve this answer
well it's not working and i have no bad ram, no bad disk. When this I don't even have the metro UI, and all i'm stuck with is just a blue background and I can between apps. – Arvand Jan 1 at 9:36
up vote 0 down vote
  1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del
  2. Choose Task Manager
  3. Click "More Details"
  4. Go to File → "Run new task"
  5. Type explorer and click OK
share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

This way worked for me to fix the problem without actually ending the Windows Explorer task. Just force the frozen windows to close:

  1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del
  2. Choose Task Manager
  3. Click arrow next to the Windows Explorer task
  4. Right click all the windows that are open under the Explorer and select End Task
  5. Open the windows back up as normal
share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.