Explorer.exe High CPU utilization when accessing .FLV files
This problem seems to have only started a couple of days ago with Windows Explorer (NOT IE = Internet Explorer).Symptoms - open folder of video files with Windows Explorer if the folder is set to display thumb nails - Explorer.exe uses 99% of CPU - and continues until I stop the process. If the folder is set to display details then the high CPU usage does not occur until a video file is pointed at - then the symptoms are the same. I have not noticed this behavior before. As I have many video files on my PC I cannot say if all behave this way - BUT they do seem to be .FLV files.I have done web searches on this problem - the closest I have found to my symptoms are:Explorer .exe causes 100%CPU Usage - Club MyCEExplorer .exe causes 100%CPU Usage - Page 2 - Club MyCESolveExplorer .exe Consuming 100% CPU Resources - Tech SalsaWindows Explorer Freezes‎Reading those threads - I have removed the key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}\InProcServer32and even though the problematic files are .FLV (and not .avi) I have also changed the value of default in the key:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler from “87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E” to 0Folder Options -> View tab and make sure that the option “Automatically search for network folders and printers” is unchecked and the option “Launch folder windows in a separate process” is checked. Apply.Re-registering the Winzip also fixes this problem sometime. Type regsvr32 C:\windows\system32\zipfldr.dll /u in the run box.I have also updated my video codecs (K-Lite Mega Pack 6.32.0) and .FLV files will play on Windows Media Player (10.00.00.4074) including the ones that seem to make Explorer.exe to use 99% CPU when pointed at.In desperation I have installed ExplorerXP alternative and that works fine on the video folders no Explorer.exe hangs even when the files are clicked on.The only significant change to my system other than regular XP SP2 updates when notified was an automatic update ofDownloadHelper - Media download Firefox extensionand at first I thought it may have been DownloadHelper corrupting the .flv files - but the Explorer.exe behavior seems to have extended to older .flv files - which did not seem to have caused any problems previously.Right now I seem to have a workaround using ExplorerXP alternative - but Explorer.exe has never caused such problems before until a couple of days ago - it would appears as though something has been changed without me knowing, and is causing this high CPU utilization when simply pointing to a .flv file in Windows Explorer.Any suggestions please?I have and do regular -updates to my XP SP2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.100216-1441 (Service Pack 2)) -I have not updated to SP3 - even though I had dones so successfully a few months ago - but I back-installed SP2 because SP3 causes my USB 2.0 ports to work much more slowly - reverting back to SP2 has the USB ports working much faster.anti-malware scansAMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3100; 1024 Mb; 100Gb HD 1 person got this answerI do too
July 23rd, 2010 7:18pm

I can confirm it is definitely .FLV video files that causes explorer.exe to use up all remaining CPU (like 99%) - by only pointing at the file.as posted above I do not display thumbnails and have removed the registry keys that uses shmedia.dll - at least on .avi files. But the high CPU utilization by explorer.exe occurs even when pointing to old .FLV files that were fine just a few days ago.I obviously have changed something on my PC but I can't figure out what to incur such a catastrophic effect eg: if I have mixed media folders with even one .FLV file opening that folder as thumbnails would hang my PC and I would have to manually end explorer.exe via task manager and restart it to recover.Any help/suggestions please? my PC usage is so dependent on explorer.exe - it is such a fundamental part - that this is really upsetting.Thanks for any suggestions.
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July 25th, 2010 12:39am

I may have solved this problem - I am not sure if it was unique to my PC or perhaps more generally applicable -I had tried other things like cleanly uninstalling FLV Player and reinstalling the latest version and redoing the flv associations - but that did not do it.I read this thread in: Windows 7 Forums > Files, Folders, and Search >Explorer Crashes opening Folders with FLV where it was suggested that QuickTime may have been the culprit.I was dubious - as my version of QT was from 2004 and had been on my PC for a long time.But finally in desperation I uninstalled QuickTime application - but pointing to a FLV file still caused explorer.exe to use all CPU.Then I did the uninstall again this time uninstalling all registry/references to QT.This time explorer.exe behaved fine - just like before any problems - in other words I can point to any FLV file and there would only a momentary and reasonable CPU usage. I can even turn thumbnails on in a folder with lots of FLV files and the behavior was just fine.Instead of the official Apple QuickTime - I have installed QuickTime Lite (Alternative) and re-tested everything - and things appear to be normal with explorer.I hope some of this helps someone.Like the poster in the referenced thread said - who would have thought QuickTime would have caused these severe problems
July 25th, 2010 10:24pm

UnknownVT,Thank you, thank you, thank you! The 'Explorer - .flv' hang was driving me nuts. Like you, I tried what I could find on the Internet to no avail until I happened upon this string. I deleted QuickTime and the problem went away. It also seems to have noticibly lessend the delay between clicking on a file or folder and seeing it on my screen.Thanks again,barrie3223
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July 29th, 2010 5:03am

The 'Explorer - .flv' hang was driving me nuts. Like you, I tried what I could find on the Internet to no avail until I happened upon this string. I deleted QuickTime and the problem went away. It also seems to have noticibly lessend the delay between clicking on a file or folder and seeing it on my screen.You are more than welcome - glad to be of some help.We have ThePeoples.Info in the thread -Windows 7 Forums > Files, Folders, and Search >Explorer Crashes opening Folders with FLV to thank for the solution.As I said I was a bit dubious, since my version of QuickTime was dated 2004 and had been on my PC for awhile - why it should act up in such a detrimental way I still do not understand.
July 29th, 2010 7:40am

Me too had hav the same problem couple of years ago,this was due to "buffer over flow error"...when i installed McAfee, it automatically protects from buffer over flow errors,, But i was not able to figure out - what is the actual problem..anyway. thanks lot for the help.
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August 26th, 2010 3:56am

Recently, my CPU activity has been running between 94% and 100%. Command responses have been sluggish and sometimes zilch. About two weeks ago I downloaded QuickTime for PCs. The comments regarding QuickTime that I have been reading in this thread give me cause to suspect the QT installation as a possible source of the problem.
October 1st, 2010 10:12pm

I have exactly the same issue with .flv files and explorer.But my problem is this: I DON'T have Quiicktime installed ! could the problem be a plugin (for Firefox, for example)? ThanksPianoman(Portugal)
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October 29th, 2010 6:58am

Delete[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.flv\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"This will prevent creation of thumbnails for .flv which should fix the problem.
November 3rd, 2010 10:26pm

i had this dumb problem without any quicktime apps. and also searched a lot of sites for the solution...i didn't have SystemFleAssociations in win registry..was really confused...finally your response helped me...thanks a lot-Atul :)
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December 27th, 2010 5:46pm

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