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

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-22T09:07:34+00:00

    au contraire, removing 7Zip is what solved it for me

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-02-22T12:37:51+00:00

    I guess I would amend this statement to:

    • the problem is that the context menu handler for zip files and/or the windows file that actually handles the zip file is corrupted;
    • a solution is to use a context menu editor 3rd party software and potentially reinstall the zip handler itself, better to replace it with menu editor or remove it entirely.

    One person downloaded and reinstalled Win11 Classic Context Menu which fixed the problem too.

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/restore-old-right-click-context-menu-in-windows-11/a62e797c-eaf3-411b-aeec-e460e6e5a82a

    Perhaps the Tom's Hardware page on this is clearer. https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/windows-11-classic-context-menus

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T20:32:36+00:00

    Thank you, worked perfectly! Fixing CS4 in the context menu solved the problem for me.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-05-03T21:55:54+00:00

    There are various solutions for this problem.

    Remove various programs that conflict with the zip handler in Win 11

    Remove Avanquest Powerdesk 11

    Removing any reference to Adobe CS4 has seemed to resolve my issue

    Contact menu handler for zip files and or the windows file that actually handles the zip file is corrupted

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