CompuDerp: The Derpening (External Harddrive Edition)

[Deth Muncher]

Hey guys, as many of you know, I'm not the savviest when it comes to actual computer issues, so once again I've come to they mighty hivemind of the playground to see if you guys can answer my question.

I have a mostly full 1TB external harddrive. Every time I open it up in My Computer (I'm using a PC desktop running Windows 7), it crashes Windows Explorer, and restarts it. Now, I've figured out I can access the files via having them in one of the side menus (like, if I'm accessing another folder, it'll show up on the side, and I can open things from there), but I'm wondering why it's doing this and how I can fix it. I let Windows scan the drive earlier today, and it said everything checked out, and I just downloaded a program from the company that makes the harddrive (Seagate) to do a diagnostic on it. But is there any reason you guys might know of that just does this?

EDIT: I should note that while this happens on my Windows 7 computer, my laptop, which is running Vista, does not crash when I open the harddrive.

[factotum]

My guess would be there's a dodgy file in the root of that drive. This would be confirmed if you can directly open a subfolder (by typing X:\foldername, where X is the drive letter of the external drive and foldername is a folder you know exists on it, into the start menu) and that DOESN'T crash Explorer. If that's the case you then need to find which file is causing the problem, which could be a bit of a faff!

[Deth Muncher]

Originally Posted by factotum

My guess would be there's a dodgy file in the root of that drive. This would be confirmed if you can directly open a subfolder (by typing X:\foldername, where X is the drive letter of the external drive and foldername is a folder you know exists on it, into the start menu) and that DOESN'T crash Explorer. If that's the case you then need to find which file is causing the problem, which could be a bit of a faff!

Faffing about indeed. I'm pretty sure that must be the deal, despite my file checks turning up green, but I'm just gonna have to trial and error it I guess.

[factotum]

It's not necessarily a malicious file--it could just be a corrupt one. Some applications install shell extensions for particular file types that, for example, show a thumbnail of what's in the file rather than an icon, and those things can be prone to crashing if they encounter something unexpected when reading the file--and since those shell extensions are running under the Explorer process, they take it down with them when they die!

[Brother Oni]

I suspect the best way would be to divvy up all the files in root into several new folders using your Vista computer, then get your Windows 7 computer to open up each folder individually, with further dividing up of folders that crash Explorer until you pin it down.

[Deth Muncher]

Originally Posted by factotum

It's not necessarily a malicious file--it could just be a corrupt one. Some applications install shell extensions for particular file types that, for example, show a thumbnail of what's in the file rather than an icon, and those things can be prone to crashing if they encounter something unexpected when reading the file--and since those shell extensions are running under the Explorer process, they take it down with them when they die!

Originally Posted by Brother Oni

I suspect the best way would be to divvy up all the files in root into several new folders using your Vista computer, then get your Windows 7 computer to open up each folder individually, with further dividing up of folders that crash Explorer until you pin it down.

You are both beings of logic. This is a thing I shall attempt when my time is freer and my brain is more awake.

[super dark33]

Hive mind?
oh you mean the miThere is no mind control citizen, go back to your fun.