Member Avatar for gonehere

have read some on other users experiencing a crash when Right-clicking on items, which I am experiencing. I have done some work to try to narrow down the problem but no luck thus far.
What I have discovered symptom-wise, when the crash occurs, dr.watson has an error and needs to close. This occurs when I right-click on certain icons.
Icons that I CAN r-click without a crash are things like internet explorer icon (not the shortcut), any FOLDER icons. I can r-click start menu, task bar, task bar icons, folders WITHIN the start menu, (but NOT any .lnk icons, or shortcuts.) can R-click my computer.
Can NOT r-click on any other files (Such as .txt, .bat, .exe).
This occurs also in safe mode, and/or with empty MSCONFIG.
Have done multiple spyware/virus scans which came up clean (had some minor spyware issues).
When the crash occurs, I can ctrl-alt-del, end drwatsn32.exe, at which point the current explorer window will close (explorer.exe terminates) and re-instates itself after 2-3 seconds.
To my eyes, HJT looks clean, however I'll gladly post scan results if it helps any.
From what I know, it appears to be registry-related, and if it is, I have no idea where to begin to look to fix. Have tried to help myself but from this point would like some other input.
WinXP pro SP2, all current updates, let me know any other software details you would like or recommendations.
Thanks,
gonehere

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by follyme007

Dani AI

Generated

A crash on right-clicking icons is almost always caused by a bad context‑menu (shell) extension rather than Explorer itself. The reliable way to fix this is to identify which extension (DLL) is failing, then disable or remove it. The steps below are a safe, systematic workflow that avoids blind registry edits and keeps a restore point handy.

  1. Check the Application event log and the Dr. Watson / crash report created when explorer.exe dies. Note the faulting module name and full path — that DLL is the likeliest suspect.
  2. Use a shell‑extension inspector (for example, ShellExView or Autoruns) to temporarily disable all non‑Microsoft context‑menu handlers. Test right‑click behavior. If the crash stops, re‑enable handlers one at a time (or in small groups) to find the offending entry.
  3. Once identified, uninstall or update the owning program. If the DLL path points into Program Files, remove the program; if it’s in System32, consider reinstalling the app or running sfc /scannow.
  4. If the event log doesn’t show a module, try the above disable/enable approach anyway. Also try creating a new user account to rule out profile corruption. Run chkdsk /f and keep up malware scans as a precaution.
  5. Always make a System Restore point and/or export affected registry keys before editing. Prefer disabling handlers (tools above let you do that) rather than deleting registry entries.

Credit to for narrowing this down to a third‑party component and to for the registry pointer that helped others. For a short, temporary workaround, some users (see ) report that right‑clicking blank desktop space first can sometimes avoid the crash while the root cause is being fixed.

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Member Avatar for gonehere

thank you for replying. had to work today. I'm a computer tech. go figure :P (can't win 'em all 'eh?)
So, tried as thread suggested, neither registry key had the "noviewcontextmenu" option, so on a whim I created one and set to 0 (the default anyway).
didn't work.
Going to do a different virus and spyware scans, see what they come up with. Others tried avg which I don't use but worth a shot. mebbe avast. *shrug*
Any other suggestions, will post results of scan as come available.
thanks again,
gonehere

Member Avatar for gonehere

BWAHAHAHA
FOUND the tricky summabiscuit-eater...
Ok, not sure WHY exactly, but Dr. DiVX is the culprit. So, bad guy that I am, some time ago I decided to d/L and try some software zipped in a tidy bundle for all kinds of DVD-utilities (no, not specifically "legal" yeah yeah yeah...), of which included Dr.DiVX. This was awhile back.
Unsure why, like I said, but this particular Version of Dr.DiVX is EVVVVIILLLL.... and doesn't play nice with SP2 in particular.
Buttttt I suppose that's what you get for DL'ing software and expect to get something free.
Ain't nuttin' free. :o
really appreciate your help, hope this may help someone else.
Check the other link posted too, that reg fix may help someone.

My symptoms were explorer.exe crash by any following actions :: ctrl-x,c on icons, attempting to delete files by hitting "delete" key or shift-delete, R-click on icons. NO CRASH from R-click desktop, R-click anywhere other than icons, No crash from R-click on any folders (including folders found on start-menu).

After uninstall, it alllll goes away. I'm happy. THISSSS close to formattin' the .... yeah.
*cheers* all.
gonehere

Member Avatar for nanosani

Thread solved by the guy who created it :D

Member Avatar for follyme007

I don't know for sure that you have the same problem that I had -- when I right clicked on most desktop icons, I was getting a non-recoverable freeze -- my problem has disappeared when, before right-clicking any desktop icon, I simply right click on any blank space on my desktop and then choose

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