Member Avatar for iamreallycool

I am having a frustrating problem. Anytime there is a window open for any program and I try to open a second one, both open windows shut down. So therefore anything I do can only involve one open window. Does any body know what's going on and how I can fix this?!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sa_shadow

Dani AI

Generated

Short expert summary and focused diagnostic checklist based on the thread (refs: , , , ).

The symptom — any open program closes when a second window is launched — usually points to one of three root areas: (A) a third‑party driver or shell extension crashing Explorer, (B) interference from security/monitoring software, or (C) corrupted system files or profile data. The following steps isolate the cause in order of effort and risk; back up important files before doing anything that writes to disk or changes system files.

Boot and isolation

  • Boot to Safe Mode (press F8 at startup). If the problem disappears, a non‑Microsoft driver/service or shell extension is almost certainly the cause.
  • Perform a clean boot (run msconfig, hide Microsoft services, disable remaining services and startup items) and reboot to identify the offending service.

Log and file checks

  • Check Event Viewer for errors time‑stamped at each crash (look under Application and System).
  • Run system checks (SFC and chkdsk). SFC may prompt for the Windows CD and chkdsk with /f usually needs a reboot:
eventvwr.msc
sfc /scannow
chkdsk c: /f

Shell extensions, AV and drivers

  • If Safe Mode or a clean boot fixes it, selectively re‑enable services/startups. Pay special attention to security suites or shell hooks (context‑menu handlers). Temporarily suspend the real‑time protection of the installed AV to test whether it’s interfering.
  • Consider disabling non‑Microsoft shell extensions (use a shell‑extension tool) and update/reinstall the graphics driver if explorer.exe errors reference display DLLs.

Profile, memory and recovery

  • Test with a new user account to rule out a corrupted profile. If crashes persist even in Safe Mode, run a memory test (Memtest86) and consider a repair install or restore from a known good backup.
    Collect exact Event Viewer error strings before a repair; those messages point to the precise DLL or process to target.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for Zachery

when did this problem start happening
do you have any antivirus programs installed
can you tell us any thing else?

Member Avatar for iamreallycool

It has been happening for about a week, and I have McAffe VirusScan. I don't have any programs that seem to be causing problems so I dont know. It's crazy!

Member Avatar for Monte

Well iamreally cool, you might want to scan your computer for viruses and or errors. You can use scandisk if you want, or go out and purchase Norton System Utilties. I wouln't buy anything unless you absolutly had too though.

Member Avatar for sa_shadow

You can find a really nice virus scanner online somewhere on the www.trendmicro.com web page.

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