Windows 11 zipped folders / files immediately crashes File Explorer

Anonymous
2022-01-24T04:24:45+00:00

My Dell laptop was previously Windows 10, now 11. When I right click any zipped folder, it immediately crashes Windows Explorer, but then everything comes back. I can't unzip any zipped file at all - doesn't seem to matter what size it is.

I was trying to use the built-in unzipper utility in Windows, and when that didn't work I tried a couple 3rd party apps, including WinZip. Nothing works; they all crash, and they crash on ANY zipped file I have.

And by the way if I try to ZIP any set of files - even just 3 little word files, it does the same thing. The screen flashes, all my icons go away for a second. Then things come back, but nothing will zip or unzip.

thanks if you have any ideas!

Christine

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

120 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-08T13:56:31+00:00

    That actually worked!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-08T14:37:01+00:00

    Removing any reference to Adobe CS4 has seemed to resolve my issue although it's too early to be definitive as the issue for me was highly random. However, I've opened a few zip files and no explorer crash yet.

    For those experiencing this issue and are wary of installing the nirosoft shell view app I can say that a Norton Scan did not find any nefarious or malicious software associations. Norton, if anything, is slightly over protective too.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-19T21:39:44+00:00

    As above, this worked for me. I also have an old disc copy of Photoshop CS4 and noticed on my new Windows 11 PC I was crashing when even touching a .zip file.

    Thank you!

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-02-22T06:47:38+00:00

    i know the problem and solution and technicly know how to apply the solution off hand
    the problem is that the contect menu handler for zip files and or the windows file that actually handles the zip file is corrupted; and your solution is to usea context menu editor 3rd party software and potentially reinstall the zip handler itself, better to replace it with menu editor uzing 7 zip or remove it intirely (lots of windows os backdoor garbage from devious coders)

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-02-22T08:10:27+00:00

    THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! Have downloaded Win11 Classic Context Menu and YES! the problem has been resolved !

    I have had this problem for more than 4 years on various PCs ! I just can't believe that noone else has been able to solve it !

    A hapyy bonny!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments