Windows XP Explorer crashes

Every other time I open a folder that uses explorer, such as ‘My Computer’ or a folder that has several shortcuts in it, explorer crashes. After answering whether or not to send a report to microsoft, the desktop icons disappears and then all the icons reappear after a few seconds. Opening ‘My Computer’ or whatever after that will be OK. Try it a second time and it crashes again. Not seeing any similar problem when starting a shortcut to a program from the desktop.