I ran into a Windows Explorer issue with Windows 7 where it froze when I opened it, not displaying my drives, etc. It took me a while to read a lot of really bad suggestions (scan for a virus, disable drivers, reboot in safe mode, etc.) This is why so many forums offer little to no help. It seems everyone wants to rush in to tell you to scan for malware and often suggesting the wrong apps for a best scan. I knew my system was clean, it was a fresh install so I picked through hundreds of threads with the same incorrect advice over and over.

I finally found the correct solution confirmed by Microsoft. It is a problem with Network Discovery and a hotfix is available or you can repair it manually by adding a registry entry. It turns out this is a known issue with Windows 7 going back to the beta, yet the fix was never incorporated in Windows Update or even Service Pack 1.

The hotfix is KB2638018 and can be downloaded at Majorgeeks at http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_Explorer_Crash_in_Windows_7_Hotfix_KB2638018_d8188.html.

We made this available to inform people with the explorer crash, plus Microsoft makes it difficult to get by requiring you give your email, wait for a response, then download and extract from a zip file to run it. At Majorgeeks you just download it and run.

Please note the warning: Assume that you open Windows Explorer on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 in a network environment. In this situation, Windows Explorer crashes randomly.

While my machine is not on the network, I was able to apply it with no harm to my computer. It simply adds a registry entry. If you are not sure, simply set a system restore checkpoint before you begin.

If you need help with this, or anything else, or forums are located at http://forums.majorgeeks.com. Unlike most forums, it is moderated and has numerous Microsoft MVP’s on hand to help you. We boast 2,000 to 5,000 people online there at any given time making it the most successful help and support forums on the internet. There is a reason top tech companies like AVG, Microsoft, Time Warner, Comcast and many more send people to us for help when they hit a roadblock or want to point to a helpful thread.