Windows Explorer crash in msvcr71.dll Vista Bugs and Problems Discuss Windows Explorer crash in msvcr71.dll in the Windows Vista forums; I've been working on this since installing Vista over a week ago. Vista Ultimate is installed over an existing installation of XP Pro. I had many problems due to ...

[bpryor]

I've been working on this since installing Vista over a week ago. Vista Ultimate is installed over an existing installation of XP Pro. I had many problems due to program incompatibilities that were not suggested by the advisor, but I've been able to work through all the problems except two. Here's the worst that I can't find any solution for.

I suspect an incompatibility with a memory resident program because Explorer crashes during the time mem resident programs are loading...or appears to anyway...but the problem is, if I boot to safe mode I have the same issue, or if I use msconfig to turn off all startup programs, all system tasks, or both, I still have the problem. I have found a temporary work around by accident, but it is not a solution. What I have to do is log in as a user other than myself. It doesn't matter which one, and as is always the case, explorer crashes. I can then Ctrl-Alt-Del to switch users to myself and explorer doesn't crash. Everthing now operates normally. To shut down or restart the computer, I have to switch users back to that other user that is still crashed, then log off of that user, then I can shut down or restart. If I don't do that the computer hangs during the Log Off process and I have to do a hard reboot.

When I get details on the Windows Explorer crash it's always the same in msvcr71.dll, and always at the same offset in that DLL.

I suspect that some program I had installed in XP still has a hook in somewhere that is trying to execute and either it's incompatible with Windows or the rest of the program has been uninstalled with just the hook remaining.

I've started walking throught the registry looking for entries that shouldn't be there anymore, and I've found plenty, but nothing has helped yet.

Anyone else seen this one?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Bill

[ProCookie]

Yes i have had the same problem a few times, i have narrowed it down to my Realtek Sound driver as it allways seems to happen after i have installed or updated this driver. This may not be the case on your system, it could be another software problem. I think it probebrly caused by an incompatibilty issue with certain software but becuase it could be one of many things theres no easy fix. The best thing you can do is let Vista send the error report and let Microsoft deal with it.

[bpryor]

Thanks Anthony. I think I had read about the RealTek problem and had gotten excited that that may be the solution...but it turned out I had a RealTek Network card, but my sound is SoundMax not RealTek, so I tried updating those drivers, but it didn't help. I keep hoping that this is a common problem and a fix will be forthcoming, but I have little faith in that so I'm going to continue to try and track it down myself, and will post here if I find a solution.

Thanks again.

Bill

[bpryor]

I finally found my problem and thought I better report it in case someone else has the same mystery crash after upgrading to Vista. The problem was Stompsoft Digital Vault. It's a low-level folder and file encrypter, so it's probably not a big surprise it had a problem with Vista. Anyway, I forgot I had it installed since I use it rarely. Using their automated update service installed the newest version and the problem was gone.

Bill