Explorer falls in some loop while right-clicking an .exe or a shortcut to one and never opens up the properties panel.


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kanenas

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Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 25H2 26200.8524
Another weird case.

As the topic says, when I right-click some shortcut to an exe file or right-click the file itself, the window I'm in gets a rotating blue mouse pointer and stays like that for ever.
At this point, I can't even close that window (it's busy I suppose) but I can close it from the taskbar.

The following made no difference:

Tried the modern explorer and the classic explorer change (at the moment I'm using the classic)
DISM checks (no errors found),
disabling all non-Microsoft shell extensions with ShellExView,
rebooting after every change I tried.

Curiosities:

The above doesn't happen for all .exe files and their shortcuts. The files that have a problem are usually bigger in size but why would that affect the profile's display?
All of them work fine if I use a 3rd-party explorer (I used Total Commander and Directory Opus). This implies it can't be anything critical in some shell extension or the registry.

In the special case of restarting the explorer through ShellExView Options, the explorer starts up as usual but with a black and empty desktop. But the right-click problem goes away. Right-click works as usual until I restart the Explorer through some other way.
Only some file groups on the desktop along with Recycle Bin and they all respond just fine.

Any way to reset the desktop (after I copy my file groups to a safe space of course).
I'm out of any other ideas.

Thanks in advance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 25H2 26200.8524
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASRock
    CPU
    6C+4c Intel 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-13400, 4100 M
    Motherboard
    ASRock B660M-HDV
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, Intel UHD Graphics 730
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 24V2W1G5
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 Pro with Heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    1GB
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
I have

Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\PersistentHandler]
@="{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile]
@="Application"
"EditFlags"=hex:38,07,00,00
"FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
  00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
  32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
  00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,30,00,31,00,35,00,36,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon]
@="%1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open]
"EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas]
"HasLUAShield"=""
"Extended"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runasuser]
@="@shell32.dll,-50944"
"Extended"=""
"SuppressionPolicyEx"="{F211AA05-D4DF-4370-A2A0-9F19C09756A7}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runasuser\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{ea72d00e-4960-42fa-ba92-7792a7944c1d}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]
@="Compatibility"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Compatibility]
@="{1d27f844-3a1f-4410-85ac-14651078412d}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\NvAppShExt]
@="{A929C4CE-FD36-4270-B4F5-34ECAC5BD63C}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\OpenGLShExt]
@="{E97DEC16-A50D-49bb-AE24-CF682282E08D}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen]
@="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\DropHandler]
@="{86C86720-42A0-1069-A2E8-08002B30309D}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\ShimLayer Property Page]
@="{513D916F-2A8E-4F51-AEAB-0CBC76FB1AF8}"

Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.exe]
@="exefile"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.exe\PersistentHandler]
@="{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile]
@="Application"
"EditFlags"=hex:38,07,00,00
"FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
  00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
  32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
  00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,30,00,31,00,35,00,36,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\DefaultIcon]
@="%1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell\open]
"EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell\runas]
"HasLUAShield"=""
"Extended"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell\runas\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell\runasuser]
@="@shell32.dll,-50944"
"Extended"=""
"SuppressionPolicyEx"="{F211AA05-D4DF-4370-A2A0-9F19C09756A7}"
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    MSI MS-7D98
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-13490F
    Motherboard
    MSI B760 GAMING PLUS WIFI
    Memory
    2 x 16 Patriot Memory (PDP Systems) PSD516G560081 6400MT (32-37-37-74); 1.35V)
    Graphics Card(s)
    GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 WINDFORCE OC 12G (GV-N4070WF3OC-12GD)
    Sound Card
    Bluetooth Аудио
    Monitor(s) Displays
    INNOCN 15K1F
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    WD_BLACK SN770 250GB
    KINGSTON SNV2S1000G (ELFK0S.6)
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1000W
    Case
    CG560 - DeepCool
    Cooling
    ID-COOLING SE-224-XTS / 2 x 140Mm Fan - rear and top; 3 x 120Mm - front
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 RGB TKL
    Mouse
    Corsair KATAR PRO XT
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender Antivirus
    Other Info
    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/66553205
Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some software conflicting with Windows. Brink's procedure will help you weed out which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

Make sure you have no corrupt system files that is causing this problem. Open a command prompt as administrator and type dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
When complete restart. Then open command prompt as admin again and run sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair

See if issue happens in safe boot. If it does not, it would point to a driver. Boot to Safe Mode in Windows 11
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x1tb Solidigm m.2 nvme /External drives 512gb Samsung m.2 sata+2tb Kingston m2.nvme
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    #1 Edge #2 Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26200.8457
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink Mini PC SER5
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800U
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics card(s)
    integrated
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Crucial nvme
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    still too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    System 3 is non compliant Dell 9020 i7-4770/24gb ram Win11 PRO 26200.8457
Thank you both for the suggestions.

I tried first with a clean boot but I had the same results. Still no errors in DISM and sfc.
Then I compared my registry to abactuon's.
99% the same.
There were two empty entries related to WinRAR (in [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers])
{B41DB860-64E4-11D2-9906-E49FADC173CA} and {B41DB860-8EE4-11D2-9906-E49FADC173CA}
There was an extra "Content Type reg_sz application/x-msdownload" under [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
And lastly, a couple of "Extended"="" entries I didn't have.

So I equalized mine to abactuon's, rebooted, and still the same!!!

Annoying... I'll try Process Monitor tomorrow but a week ago I tried it, there was nothing obvious.

Regards and thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 25H2 26200.8524
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASRock
    CPU
    6C+4c Intel 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-13400, 4100 M
    Motherboard
    ASRock B660M-HDV
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, Intel UHD Graphics 730
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 24V2W1G5
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 Pro with Heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    1GB
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
www.elevenforum.com

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x1tb Solidigm m.2 nvme /External drives 512gb Samsung m.2 sata+2tb Kingston m2.nvme
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    #1 Edge #2 Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26200.8457
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink Mini PC SER5
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800U
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics card(s)
    integrated
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Crucial nvme
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    still too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    System 3 is non compliant Dell 9020 i7-4770/24gb ram Win11 PRO 26200.8457
kanenas said:
Another weird case.

As the topic says, when I right-click some shortcut to an exe file or right-click the file itself, the window I'm in gets a rotating blue mouse pointer and stays like that for ever.
At this point, I can't even close that window (it's busy I suppose) but I can close it from the taskbar.
Click to expand...
I have exactly the same thorn in my side. Please announce a solution if you have one. If I have to make a shortcut sometimes I can go into administrator CMD and copy an exe file to an xxx file, make a shortcut and then edit it to an exe, but of course I don't dare right click on it following that. If I do, I'll have to restart explorer from the task manager to exit the loop. Have you fixed it yet? If so, please let us know.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIndows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Minisforum AI X1 Pro
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
    Motherboard
    Minisforum
    Memory
    96GB
    Sound Card
    AMD Radeon 890M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 HP 524sa
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue 4TB
    PSU
    internal minisforum
    Case
    Minisforum Mini
The described behavior is usually caused by a third party shell extension. Use ShellExView to disable all non-Microsoft extensions and see if that fixes it.

ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows

Shell Extensions Manager
www.nirsoft.net

If that makes no difference, I would do a repair via Windows Update (it will keep your apps and data).
www.elevenforum.com

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer
I'm afraid I have no solution that I consciously applied.
I tried the suggestions that the great people here suggested (except the in-place upgrade) and ended up where I started.
I gave up on it until Foos reminded me of it, and now I see that it behaves differently !!

Now, the shortcuts that gave me a problem (along with all other shortcuts I tried), accept the right-click but the 'properties' option has disappeared!?
I can still use the 'properties' in the Explorer's windows 'Home' panel.

Since the initial problem description, the only things that come to mind are:

1) A problem came up where I couldn't save some files in the disk.
So I changed the permissions in some folder branches (downloads, documents and such). I added my logon user ID and my system's administrators (if they were missing) with full permissions.
I also made my logon ID the owner of those branches.

I don't remember checking for the shortcut problem since I was too busy getting the system back to normal.

And then I upgraded to 25H2 (and today to its latest version).

What fixed the problem and what happened to 'properties' in the right-click, I can't even guess.

As for restarting Explorer when it gets into this never-never-land, it wasn't necessary for me.
When that Explorer window was getting stuck in some loop, I just closed the window from its taskbar icon.

Sorry I don't have any clear answers about this annoyance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 25H2 26200.8524
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASRock
    CPU
    6C+4c Intel 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-13400, 4100 M
    Motherboard
    ASRock B660M-HDV
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, Intel UHD Graphics 730
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 24V2W1G5
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 Pro with Heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    1GB
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Well, it's fixed now AFTER updates 25H2, Cumulative .NET Framework, KB5007651, and Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64. The option to Get latest updates is greyed out. Not a big deal, but maybe should try to fix that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIndows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Minisforum AI X1 Pro
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
    Motherboard
    Minisforum
    Memory
    96GB
    Sound Card
    AMD Radeon 890M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 HP 524sa
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue 4TB
    PSU
    internal minisforum
    Case
    Minisforum Mini

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 25H2 26200.8524
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASRock
    CPU
    6C+4c Intel 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-13400, 4100 M
    Motherboard
    ASRock B660M-HDV
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, Intel UHD Graphics 730
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 24V2W1G5
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 Pro with Heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    1GB
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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