Windows Explorer, in Italian " Windows Explorer " is the most important program of the Windows operating system, because it governs the opening of windows.
It is one of the backbones of the operating system related not only to browsing folders and searching for files, but also for the operation of the taskbar, the start menu and any program that is opened.
The error message " Windows Explorer has stopped working ", which happened more often in Windows 7, but also present in Windows 10, therefore becomes very limiting and frustrating because it prevents the normal functioning of the computer and closes all open windows, including the programs you are using.
The objective of this guide is to try to eliminate this problem related to the freezing of Windows Explorer, with the most common solutions and the corrections to be made to resolve the error.
READ ALSO: What to do if folders and windows close on their own
To find evidence of the existence of the Explorer.exe process, that is of Windows Explorer, you must open the Task Manager (or Task Manager), pressing the CTRL-Shift-Esc keys together.
By sorting the list of active processes in alphabetical order (in Windows 10 you have to go to the Windows Processes section downwards), you will find the Explorer process which, if it bolts, can be terminated and restarted from here.
Without shutting down the computer, you can restart explorer resources if it has stopped working by going to the Task Manager, pressing on File> New Task (Run), writing explorer.exe and pressing Enter on the keyboard to return the taskbar, icons and the windows had been opened.
We have seen in another article all the ways to terminate and restart explorer.exe if the desktop disappears or freezes .
Now, if the Windows Explorer lockout error occurs only once, it may have been a temporary problem that resolved itself.
However, if the " Windows Explorer has stopped working " warning occurs often, if it does not go away and if the Windows Explorer process restarts itself and continuously, the following solutions must be applied to solve this error so that Windows no longer freezes.
1) First of all make sure that you have installed the latest Windows updates, by clicking on the Start menu on " Windows Update " (or in Windows 10 by going to Settings> Updates and security ).
In addition, since the most common cause of an Explorer.exe error is related to any programs not perfectly compatible with the version of Windows in use, you must also make sure that the programs in use, including those that run in the background, are updated.
Finally, the hardware device drivers must be updated (see here how to update the drivers).
Windows Explorer can go haywire and stop if there are programs in conflict with it.
To locate these culprit programs and processes, you can use the event log.
From the Start menu, search and start the event viewer and then, from the menu on the left, go to Windows Logs> Application .
On the right side there should be many errors that can be clicked to find out the program that generated them.
If the error is clear, you can solve the Windows Explorer problem by removing or updating that failed software.
If the window on Windows Explorer has stopped working, it appears when you press the right mouse button on an empty point or on an icon, it may be that you have to check the menu and disable the useless or suspicious elements.
To do this you can use the ShellExview program.
2) Perform the scandisk to find and correct the errors on the disk where Windows is installed.
Scandisk is an excellent internal tool, irreplaceable with external programs, which checks if there are bad sectors on the hard disk and which tries to correct any problems.
To start the Scandisk you can start from the Start menu, click on My Computer, right click on the disk icon where there is Windows (in general the disk C :), select the Properties, go to the Tools tab, Press on the " Run Scandisk " button and select both error checking options in the next window.
Since the disk is in use by Windows itself, to start the scan, you will then need to restart the computer and wait until it completes.
3) Without a doubt, if the Resource Explorer stops working too often, it can be the fault of a virus, malware or trojan .
In order not to leave anything to chance, it is better to do a nice complete scan with the antivirus and its virus search tool on the computer.
In this regard, I recommend reading the guide to remove malware completely
4) Disable services that are not Microsoft but that depend on external applications.
From the Start menu, search for msconfig and press enter to bring up the system configuration interface.
At the Startup Options tab, remove all the selected items (even antivirus, if that's the problem).
Then go to the Services tab and tick the " Hide all Microsoft services " item at the bottom.
This ensures that only third-party services are displayed and you can temporarily disable all of them.
At the end, restart the computer, verify that everything is working properly, restart Msconfig and, step by step, reactivate the services and programs of the start menu one by one to find the one that causes the Windows to hang.
5) If there is really a system problem, an effective solution is to check all the Windows files, by searching for the missing or damaged ones and with automatic replacement of these with the original version of the system files.
It is practically like a restore of the original Windows files, in case there are errors or shortcomings.
To start this type of scan you must go to Start, Programs, Accessories, locate the command prompt and start it with administrator rights (right click, run as administrator).
In the black window, type sfc / scannow and press enter.
This scan and replacement of Windows system files could be more successful if you start your computer in safe mode (F8 key at pc startup).
For more details see the article on SFC and the solution of the file not found error.
6) The resource explorer error could also derive from a blockage of the Ram because the computer memory is damaged .
On Windows 10, 8, 7, you can check the RAM memory by starting it from the Start menu, writing memory in the search box and finding the Memory Diagnostic tool.
The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool is also found in the Control Panel, among the administrative tools.
7) The Windows Explorer error message can be displayed if the Windows desktop or any folder contains corrupt or damaged files.
The most common cause are multimedia files, audio, video and flash elements .
It may also be that you experience the problem only when you open a specific folder in Windows Explorer.
Basically, it's about identifying the corrupt file, moving it or deleting it .
If you are unable to delete this file using windows (because as you press on it, the pc freezes), you must remove it from the DOS command prompt.
It is one of the backbones of the operating system related not only to browsing folders and searching for files, but also for the operation of the taskbar, the start menu and any program that is opened.
The error message " Windows Explorer has stopped working ", which happened more often in Windows 7, but also present in Windows 10, therefore becomes very limiting and frustrating because it prevents the normal functioning of the computer and closes all open windows, including the programs you are using.
The objective of this guide is to try to eliminate this problem related to the freezing of Windows Explorer, with the most common solutions and the corrections to be made to resolve the error.
READ ALSO: What to do if folders and windows close on their own
To find evidence of the existence of the Explorer.exe process, that is of Windows Explorer, you must open the Task Manager (or Task Manager), pressing the CTRL-Shift-Esc keys together.
By sorting the list of active processes in alphabetical order (in Windows 10 you have to go to the Windows Processes section downwards), you will find the Explorer process which, if it bolts, can be terminated and restarted from here.
Without shutting down the computer, you can restart explorer resources if it has stopped working by going to the Task Manager, pressing on File> New Task (Run), writing explorer.exe and pressing Enter on the keyboard to return the taskbar, icons and the windows had been opened.
We have seen in another article all the ways to terminate and restart explorer.exe if the desktop disappears or freezes .
Now, if the Windows Explorer lockout error occurs only once, it may have been a temporary problem that resolved itself.
However, if the " Windows Explorer has stopped working " warning occurs often, if it does not go away and if the Windows Explorer process restarts itself and continuously, the following solutions must be applied to solve this error so that Windows no longer freezes.
1) First of all make sure that you have installed the latest Windows updates, by clicking on the Start menu on " Windows Update " (or in Windows 10 by going to Settings> Updates and security ).
In addition, since the most common cause of an Explorer.exe error is related to any programs not perfectly compatible with the version of Windows in use, you must also make sure that the programs in use, including those that run in the background, are updated.
Finally, the hardware device drivers must be updated (see here how to update the drivers).
Windows Explorer can go haywire and stop if there are programs in conflict with it.
To locate these culprit programs and processes, you can use the event log.
From the Start menu, search and start the event viewer and then, from the menu on the left, go to Windows Logs> Application .
On the right side there should be many errors that can be clicked to find out the program that generated them.
If the error is clear, you can solve the Windows Explorer problem by removing or updating that failed software.
If the window on Windows Explorer has stopped working, it appears when you press the right mouse button on an empty point or on an icon, it may be that you have to check the menu and disable the useless or suspicious elements.
To do this you can use the ShellExview program.
2) Perform the scandisk to find and correct the errors on the disk where Windows is installed.
Scandisk is an excellent internal tool, irreplaceable with external programs, which checks if there are bad sectors on the hard disk and which tries to correct any problems.
To start the Scandisk you can start from the Start menu, click on My Computer, right click on the disk icon where there is Windows (in general the disk C :), select the Properties, go to the Tools tab, Press on the " Run Scandisk " button and select both error checking options in the next window.
Since the disk is in use by Windows itself, to start the scan, you will then need to restart the computer and wait until it completes.
3) Without a doubt, if the Resource Explorer stops working too often, it can be the fault of a virus, malware or trojan .
In order not to leave anything to chance, it is better to do a nice complete scan with the antivirus and its virus search tool on the computer.
In this regard, I recommend reading the guide to remove malware completely
4) Disable services that are not Microsoft but that depend on external applications.
From the Start menu, search for msconfig and press enter to bring up the system configuration interface.
At the Startup Options tab, remove all the selected items (even antivirus, if that's the problem).
Then go to the Services tab and tick the " Hide all Microsoft services " item at the bottom.
This ensures that only third-party services are displayed and you can temporarily disable all of them.
At the end, restart the computer, verify that everything is working properly, restart Msconfig and, step by step, reactivate the services and programs of the start menu one by one to find the one that causes the Windows to hang.
5) If there is really a system problem, an effective solution is to check all the Windows files, by searching for the missing or damaged ones and with automatic replacement of these with the original version of the system files.
It is practically like a restore of the original Windows files, in case there are errors or shortcomings.
To start this type of scan you must go to Start, Programs, Accessories, locate the command prompt and start it with administrator rights (right click, run as administrator).
In the black window, type sfc / scannow and press enter.
This scan and replacement of Windows system files could be more successful if you start your computer in safe mode (F8 key at pc startup).
For more details see the article on SFC and the solution of the file not found error.
6) The resource explorer error could also derive from a blockage of the Ram because the computer memory is damaged .
On Windows 10, 8, 7, you can check the RAM memory by starting it from the Start menu, writing memory in the search box and finding the Memory Diagnostic tool.
The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool is also found in the Control Panel, among the administrative tools.
7) The Windows Explorer error message can be displayed if the Windows desktop or any folder contains corrupt or damaged files.
The most common cause are multimedia files, audio, video and flash elements .
It may also be that you experience the problem only when you open a specific folder in Windows Explorer.
Basically, it's about identifying the corrupt file, moving it or deleting it .
If you are unable to delete this file using windows (because as you press on it, the pc freezes), you must remove it from the DOS command prompt.
