explorer.exe / drwtson32.exe keeps closing

[coolcoates]

This has only started happening recently and I'm not quite sure why. I'm on Windows XP, and when I'm browsing through folders and proceed to open a video with Media Player Classic (which I have been using for a while with no problems until now) often (not always) explorer either closes automatically and then restarts with no message, or comes up with the usual messages like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close..." or sometimes it is drwtson32.exe instead.

I'm not sure why this has been happening, and I'd be grateful if anyone has any suggestions.

[Ai Haibara]

Do you have thumbnails for videos enabled in Explorer?

[coolcoates]

Erm, I think so. How would I find that out?

Thanks

[Soopafresh]

From the Start-->Run icon in Windows, enter

regsvr32 /u "c:\windows\system32\shmedia.dll"

Ai Haibara is most likely right in his diagnosis. When thumbnails for videos is turned on, it can really destabilize explorer.exe . The above command will turn it off.

[coolcoates]

Soopafresh, wow, I don't know what that was but it seems to have worked!

Thanks so much man!

[Krispy Kritter]

I've been having the same issue for about the last 2 weeks. For me, it occurs whenever I try to move files from one drive to another. I do not have thumbnails turned on, I use the "list view" in Windows Explorer. I can sometimes view the files (avi for instance) using MPC, but as soon as I try to drag and drop to another drive, I'll get the pop-up error (which allows me to continue what I'm doing until I click OK on the alert) or Windows Explorer will completely shutdown and restart.

I thought I was having hardware issues. Maybe this is related to a recent update?

[aedipuss]

too many programs trying to handle the video files at the same time i would guess. start with the last one you installed or updated and check it's options/settings for things you can turn off.

i had the same problem, and it turned out to be divx causing it. once i turned off the optional features like show divx logo, menu navigator, and show if a movie has divx features, the crashes ended and explorer was much faster.

yours could be the same type problem.

[Krispy Kritter]

Aside from Windows updates, this machine hasn't changed in months. I use it for running emule, and as the download folder fills up, I move it off. Aside from that, it's bascially a server. I have a HDD full of mp3's and some video that I share for the family on the LAN. It was when I was trying to move some files from one HDD to another that I encountered the problem. I initially thought it was related to a single avi file, but after deleting the file in question the problem continues. I get the same error (sometimes - not always) moving any type of file (mpeg, avi, rar, zip).

If it is a hardware issue, then it should be resolved soon as I just ordered parts for my new primary machine. Most of my current gaming rig parts will migrate over to the server. However, I just found it odd that the OP was suddenly having the same error that just started for me.