Windows Explorer crashing

[BanYa4eVr]

I was going through my Stepmania files, and went into a song folder.
The Background image somehow Was unable to be "read" and Windows Explorer gave me the crash message and closed. Refreshing my entire desktop with it (which I hear is normal for when Explorer crashes.)

The File that failed to load is just a normal .JPG
I made it myself in Adobe Photoshop 6.0 so there's no virus issues (I think).

I scanned the folder for any problems, and nothing is found. Nothing.
But every time now I open the folder "that" file fails to load and crashes my Explorer.

This has happened some times before, in different folders. With different files.
But this is the first time i've nailed it down to one specific file that's doing it.

I've searched around a bit for reasons why this is happening, but I find mixed results. I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this problem and/or knows how to resolve it.

And I did just defragment all of my drives before this error occurred.

[ranatalus]

what likely happened then is either your hard drive is dying or somehow the defrag like, didn't reconnect things properly.

right click on my computer, click manage, click event viewer, click system, then sort by type. look for the red Xs that say "error" and see if there are any that list the source as something like disk(0)



also ignore any post eureka1 makes in your thread as it is probably wrong

[BanYa4eVr]

There are errors, but none that have anything to do with the disk.

Strangely, I moved the folder, and renamed it, and when I opened it after that, the file loaded properly and nothing was wrong.

That still doesn't change the fact that I want to know exactly what happened.

[kimcicle]

If you have a mass of folders with more media within them (as is with most stepmania folders), in Windows XP it loads the metadata from any video / sound file, while getting thumbnails for any images. Even if you have it turned off. I ran into the same issue when I found Windows Explorer taking forever (and even crashing) when trying to navigate through my manga or mp3 folders.

It's possible to turn these off, but turning off the image preview thing will also remove Windows Image Preview viewer, so I started to your Infranvew (or whatever it's called).

If you feel kinda risky, you can try this:
the jackol’s den » Windows Explorer Freeze problem - Mikhail Esteves

[dieKatze88]

usually, mass deleting the thumbs.db files will do the trick.

[ranatalus]

Originally Posted by BanYa4eVr

There are errors, but none that have anything to do with the disk.

Strangely, I moved the folder, and renamed it, and when I opened it after that, the file loaded properly and nothing was wrong.

That still doesn't change the fact that I want to know exactly what happened.

by any chance was that folder really deep down in the directory structure? like, was it something like C:\Windows\Program Files\Stuff\Junk\This stuff that I like\Dongs\bemani\Dance Dance Revolution 7th Mix DDRMax2 ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK\disc 1\

if so, it's possible that the folder length was too long although i really doubt that was the problem

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

by any chance was that folder really deep down in the directory structure? like, was it something like C:\Windows\Program Files\Stuff\Junk\This stuff that I like\Dongs\bemani\Dance Dance Revolution 7th Mix DDRMax2 ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK\disc 1\

if so, it's possible that the folder length was too long although i really doubt that was the problem

Windows throws an error when you try to make a folder depth too deep, and I don't think NTFS has a limit on folder depth length (the combined length of all the folder names), but the programs that run on Windows (Notably winrar) do.

[ranatalus]

i am actually pretty sure ntfs does although it's completely retarded (something like 255 characters; let me check)

yeah after a quick google, win32 programs can't see anything beyond 255 characters. windows itself should support up to 32767 (don't forget that unicode characters count as like, 3 or 4 characters) but even within that 255 a lot of programs have trouble reading anything past a short, reasonable path

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

i am actually pretty sure ntfs does although it's completely retarded (something like 255 characters; let me check)

yeah after a quick google, win32 programs can't see anything beyond 255 characters. windows itself should support up to 32767 (don't forget that unicode characters count as like, 3 or 4 characters) but even within that 255 a lot of programs have trouble reading anything past a short, reasonable path

as I said, NTFS isn't the problem, the program is.

Edit: This problem probably stems from FAT16 Extensions to allow 127 characters in a filename. Because, just like 640k of ram, that should be enough for anybody.

[ranatalus]

well yeah

and you definitely don't need to use more than 8 characters in a folder name

or spaces

that's just absurd

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

well yeah

and you definitely don't need to use more than 8 characters in a folder name

or spaces

that's just absurd

Actually, its 12.

You can rename things in dos up to 12 characters if youre using 6.0 or higher.

its called 8.3 for a reason. 8 characters, plus a period, plus 3 more characters. the file name is actually 12 characters long. you can exploit that.

[ranatalus]

i meant the directories themselves since they don't have an extension; i know about 8.3

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

i meant the directories themselves since they don't have an extension; i know about 8.3

Im going to go boot up my 486 and make directories with 12 letters in them.

[ranatalus]

shut up i'll kill you

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

shut up i'll kill you

NO U WONT LOL