Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Windows Explorer Error - Common Causes, Simple Fixes

By: Logan Albright

Have you ever been using the computer, just surfing the net or playing around with a Windows based software, and suddenly you get the message that ‘Windows Explorer has encountered an error’ - which follows the entire desktop crashing, a little hour glass appearing and then the entire desktop, flushed with all your icons; reappearing again. The problem is, whatever you were doing has been erased and if you were doing some work with any of the office tools and did not save them, then you can wave them goodbye. This article will tell you how you can avoid all that, by exploring the common causes and simple fixes you can do to prevent Windows Explorer error.

Windows Explorer errors and crashes are pretty common nowadays, especially with the newer incarnations of Windows, and there are some easy ways you can adopt to avoid them completely. One, is to maintain the health of your computer and its internal physical memory. Some of these problems have been traced to an overly fragmented drive, which means that data and important files have been scattered all over the disk - requiring Windows to constantly re fragment data. This also causes hiccups within the system and can cause Windows Explorer to crash at the same time. Avoid this by using the defragment tool that is present on your system.

Leave it on over night if you have a particularly large hard disk and soon in the morning, you will be presented with a faster and much more efficient machine. Also, take a look at the programs you have installed, especially those that are running in the background. More than 60% of computer uses have no idea about the damage they are doing to their system by having unnecessary programs running in the task bar, eating away at precious system memory. Delete those that you do not need and ensure that those that are running need to be running. If there are non essential, then quit the program at once and ensure that it does not load up at start up again.

One more common root of Windows Explorer crashes is the registry itself. This tiny file that sits within the core system of Windows is one of the most important files in the OS. Windows uses it as a digital log book as well as an instruction guide to run programs. Once malware, viruses and over use set in, orphan keys, bad command lines and even corrupted data become a familiar sight in registry files. These corrupted and messed up files are the cause of explorer errors and crashes. Get a decent registry cleaner online and start cleaning your registry regularly. The process is extremely fast and it ensures the overall health of your registry - which means the overall health of your entire system. Once you are able to ensure the health of your registry, then these niggling problems in Windows Explorer will surely disappear, along with the common causes. It is a simple fix, and together with the rest discussed, will ensure that your computer will run smoothly all the time.