Windows explorer locks up

1 Try uninstalling the the programs one at a time. Check out the ie.
Try remove traces of the above programs from registry id possible.
2 If the prob. has been isolated with one of the two installed programs , try to work out the
the program bugs by getting associated updates wrt ur programs.

I swear, if explorer locks up on me. Im having a problem with hardware. It seems that is where it shows up the quickest. Thankfully, it's never been a hard drive.
But, floopy biting the big one. CD reader finaly goes belly up. Shoot, lose cable.
Thats only my personal experience, but that is usualy the first place I look.

Dan

A while ago I had serious issues with explorer locking up and spent countless hours / days trying to resolve it. I ran 2 terminal servers and I thought they were identiucal (it happened on one but not the other). I finally resolved to take up a microsoft incident and it appears there is a little unknown glitch that is associated with popup blockers. I am not sure but I think it may have been MSN or Yahoo or even Google, but after I removed the popup blocker, all was well. Hope this helps

before you try removing applications, try to turn off processes and non Microsoft services in msconfig. atleast this will give you some indication of what might be causing the problem. Also check for running processes with Hijack this. It is useful for more than just spyware.

I am running Windows XP Pro on 3 Workgroup Machines and Windows Explorer has become very unstable. I think this problem occurred after one of the security updates was downloaded awhile back! Windows Explorer Windows will be running fine and then it will hang the system up and start using all the systems CPU resources. The Task Manager will report that the Explorer.exe is "not responding" sometimes; but the CPU Cycles will always be Hogged Up by the program! To "Clear the Hang" - The Explorer.exe process must be removed then restarted and/or the system must be Rebooted in order to restore the Windows Explorer back to normal. I have searched the Windows Support Websites and others for a solution to this Explorer.exe hang problem - to No Avail! ! ! Please Respond if anyone has a solution for this Problem - It's Driving Me Crazy!
Thanks - - - Shorto

If your not familiar with sfc.exe (System File Checker) I would highly recommend doing this.

Click on START/Run:
Enter sfc.exe c: /scannow

Make sure you have your Windows XP CD in the CD player though. This will look for corrupted or over-written Windows XP system files and restore them back from the Windows XP CD.

If it were me, I would check the prefecth and all, tmps and like minded folders and get rid of everything.
Having done that, I would assume the somewhere in the installations mentioned, something changed your Explorer sounds to me like Sound Blaster.
I would re-install the Explorer through the control panel. Just go to Add Remove section and the Window Components and then re-install the Explorer. If it looks ok, i.e. checked "on" then remove it and then re install it, this should "theoretically put everything back.
On the other hand you could always do a system restore.
You could also consider Updating your Sound Blaster, this usually has the effect of straightening out what SB fouled up.
I love and use SB but it has given me such problems in the past.
Good Luck
Aaron

I too had Creative Zen Vision software and Windows Explorer SERIOUSLY hanging my system but through trial and error I fixed it.

Get a full copy of XP Service Pack 2 on a CD. This may be hard to find but you need a version with autorun on it (so you don't have to go thru Explorer). Uninstall all Creative software. Not always easy but all must go. Uninstall any CD burning software including IN CD. Then re-install XP SP2.

I am running Windows x64 on my machine. I have been having lots of problems with one of my secondary hard drives with explorer.exe locking up and taking up all my proccessor. I have an AMD 64 dual-core 4800+ proccesor. I know it should handle moving some files around. Is this a bug with W64 or is it somethin I can Fix? I'm not an IT professional so Regedit and processes are unfamiliar with me. I really need some help. Could it be my drive is dying? please respond and/or email me some help fyrfyterr78@yahoo.com.
Thx , Nick

Thanks, worked like a charm. Damn, this suggestion is almost 5 years old.