"Windows Explorer has stopped working" error

[carnageX]

Hi, a client had brought in his computer because this error was coming up. I hooked it up, and booted the computer. This is the whole error:

A dialog box comes up/says "Windows Explorer has stopped working... Checking for a solution to this problem." Then another dialog box comes up after that one closes automatically, which says, "Windows Explorer is restarting." These errors continually cycle. I cannot do anything with the taskbar/there are no icons on the desktop. I can open the Task Manager, and manually end explorer.exe/restart it back up, but as soon as I restart it back up, the error cycle continues.

I tried booting into Safe Mode, and the error also comes up there. I haven't tried repairing yet, and I know there's a recovery partition set up on the drive. I don't think I can repair from a Vista disc, because (according to what he told me over the phone/in person) all he has is a Vista Upgrade disc (he hasn't brought it in yet, he's going to bring that in tomorrow). I'd like to try to repair it first, if possible, and try to avoid reformatting if possible (because I'm not sure how I'll be able to back up his data if I can't even boot up). I'm guessing my only real option is to try to repair?

Here are the specs (this is all I could really gather from System Information/dxdiag.exe):

HP Pavilion s7700n
Vista Home Premium
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ ~2.0GHz
894MB RAM
nVidia GeForce 6150 integrated gfx 128MB

If anybody knows what I could do, that'd really be helpful. Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate it.

Edit: "Last known working configuration" does not work either, just tried it.

 

[Vormund]

This is a wild shot, but are there any updates for the BIOS?

Does he have any idea of what started it? ...what changed anytime recent to the incident? I know, probably not, but it's always worth asking.

 

[carnageX]

Haven't checked for any BIOS updates, but I'll do that.

Right now I'm trying system restore from a couple days ago.

He doesn't. He said that it started like yesterday (which I'm hoping he's right about the day, because the restore point I picked is from the 13th). Guess I didn't ask him if anything had changed recently (I know I should have). I'll update when the system restore gets done.

 

[Alvin.C]

Hello,

The best option is either to perform a repair on Vista, or format and re-install Vista.

You can perform a repair using any Vista disc, including a retail disc.

A backup of important data files should always be made, even if you're doing a repair on Vista.

Also, you don't have to have access to the OS on the computer to be able to backup the data. You can remove the hard drive slave it in another computer and transfer the files across to the host's hard drive.

 

[carnageX]

System restore didn't work, and there aren't any BIOS updates available.

You can perform a repair using any Vista disc, including a retail disc.

But can you perform a repair using an Upgrade disc of Vista? That's what I wasn't sure about. And there's also a recovery partition on the HDD, so should I just use that, or should I wait for him to bring in the Upgrade disc?

Also, you don't have to have access to the OS on the computer to be able to backup the data. You can remove the hard drive slave it in another computer and transfer the files across to the host's hard drive

Ah, right. That option slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder =).


Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it!

Edit: I'm leaving from work in just a few minutes, so I won't be able to try anything new (i.e. repairing) to fix it until tomorrow. I'll gladly take suggestions on it though =).

 

[Alvin.C]

Hello,

You can perform a repair using a Vista upgrade disc.

I'm assuming that his computer came with Windows XP, so recovering the system using the recovery partition will restore the system to its factory condition - with XP installed. I would wait till you get hold of the Vista upgrade disc.

 

[carnageX]

Hello,

You can perform a repair using a Vista upgrade disc.

I'm assuming that his computer came with Windows XP, so recovering the system using the recovery partition will restore the system to its factory condition - with XP installed. I would wait till you get hold of the Vista upgrade disc.

Ok, I wasn't sure if you could with an Upgrade disc or not.

And, all he said that had was "a Vista upgrade disc." He said that's the only OS disc that it came with, and all the other discs for it he had were just like driver discs for his printer/camera/etc.

 

[Vormund]

Ok, I wasn't sure if you could with an Upgrade disc or not.

And, all he said that had was "a Vista upgrade disc." He said that's the only OS disc that it came with, and all the other discs for it he had were just like driver discs for his printer/camera/etc.

This computer came preloaded with Vista, correct? (Looking at the specs online.)

The "upgrade disc" is probably the CD that they include with all Vista releases, "Vista Anytime Upgrade" (even Ultimate, hah), which esentially takes you to this website here and has nothing to do with restoring the PC.

If that's right (that the PC did come with Vista), the recovery partition is the only option - but it'll likely have a similar "recovery" option.

Sorry if I'm off here.

 

[carnageX]

This computer came preloaded with Vista, correct? (Looking at the specs online.)

The "upgrade disc" is probably the CD that they include with all Vista releases, "Vista Anytime Upgrade" (even Ultimate, hah), which esentially takes you to this website here and has nothing to do with restoring the PC.

If that's right (that the PC did come with Vista), the recovery partition is the only option - but it'll likely have a similar "recovery" option.

Sorry if I'm off here.

Actually, I think you may be on the right track there xD. He had mentioned it being a "Vista Anytime Upgrade," but I wasn't really sure exactly why he needed an Upgrade disc if it was an OEM, so I asked him to bring it in xD.

Well, I'll back his documents/stuff up, and then I'll do the repair from the recovery partition. Hopefully I don't have to re-install, because he didn't make his re-install discs (**** HP...makin ppl have to make their own -.-). Funny thing about that is, that when I was messing around with it, the "You need to make your recovery discs" came up -.-... But I didn't wanna make 'em then, since I didn't know if it was going to backup everything (including that error).

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

 

[carnageX]

Well, I wasn't able to hook the HDD to another computer, because none of the computers we have here have SATA ports And that's what this one requires, lol. But, there's a data backup feature (that backs up different data automatically), so I'm using that before I do a repair (backing it up to an external HDD).

^^^ Just updating you guys, if any of you happen to care xD.