Right Clicking most files on my desktop and in explorer crashes explorer

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For a few months now, I’ve had an issue with my file explorer where every time i try to right click a file, program, or icon, (unless its a steam game shortcut or something of THAT sort) it crashes explorer and it restarts. Until today, it was also crash whenever i clicked the file explorer on the task bar as well, but i fixed THAT specific issue. This is becoming a REAL pain and I’d be incredibly grateful if SOMEONE could please help me figure out what is happening and how to fix it.
Bear with me, as I’m no expert on the structure of the code behind windows explorer but i know some of the basics.

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I assume you are using Win 8 since you do not specifically state 8 or 8.1 upgrade. Was your OS ever working correctly?

How did you acquire Win 8? Was it an upgrade from XP or Win 7 or was it a Clean install from an ISO file? Many times these weird type problems are caused by an upgrade of an OS to Win 8 (this also happened in earlier versions as well). If there is something in the original version that remains or does not upgrade properly, many weird problems can result.

You might try to open an Elevated Command Prompt (Win + X then Command Prompt with Admin rights) and type “sfc /scannow” without the quotes. (Notice the space between sfc and /) This might find and fix the problem.

If the above does not work, you might be looking at a Refresh or Reset, or a full reinstall.

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Most times problems with a context menu in File Explorer are because of a corrupted extension. See Add, Remove, Edit Context Menu items in Windows 7 | 8 for information on managing context menu items.

Joe

--Joe

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I’m sure this is a problem associated with the shell extensions. Shell extensions are the right click menu items (technically known as, context menu items). In your case, malfunctioning shell extensions are the root issue.

1. Use a shell extension modifier program.
2. Retrieve the list of all shell extensions.
3.Right click a shell extension, choose Disable item.
4. System reboot is essential.

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