I found the solution for me at least. Every time I right clicked in File Explorer running Windows 8.1 and Start8 shell, File Explorer crashed.

I ran ShellViewEx and found the single entry that was causing the crash. For me, it was PRECISELY: NVIDIA CPL Context Menu Extension.

Apparantly it was installed when I installed a new video card. Whatever the reason, after disabling all non-Microsoft entries then working backwards to re-enable them, NVIDIA CPL Context Menu Extension was the culprit for me. If you have that entry in there try disabling it and re-check to see if File Explorer still crashes. 100% worked for me.

Whew you just saved me a whole lot of work thanks a lot!

Fantastic man! I disable al context menus and then started enabling them 1 by 1.

As of this writing 6 months has transpired since this comment of yours posted and it helps me still. Thanks a lot.

You're welcome. Took me forever to find a solution so once I did, I had to share. My system hasn't crashed since.

Thanks Dude!!!!!!!!
Same Culprit

Helloo.........I have a problem. Whenever I right click on my desktop I am getting an error from EXPLORER.exe as server threw an exception. Please solve it
Thank u in advance

Thanks for the post. The NVIDIA CPL was the culprit for me and you saved me a ton of time

Thanks! Solution #1 works fine on Win 8.1 Pro

thanks, it was the skydrive thing that caused my explorer to crash. tried the solution 1 and it worked :)

I dont even have a CLSID folder in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, should i be concerned?

'CLSID' is one of basic keys in registry; you need to look again into the registry Tree to find it.

Without 'CLSID' key most of your programs won’t work at all, even the ones from Microsoft.

See my comment for @Simon

Solution 1 worked for me Thank you sooo sooo much - peace

the first solution worked out perfectly - except for the fact that I use Windows One Drive on a regular basis and now I can't OTL

i have problem with renaming a folder, it always says "error code 0x8007000D The Data Is Invalid" when i trying to rename a folder. i'm using win 8.1 and i don't know how to fix it. Please can you help me.

The first solution worked for me. Thanks a lot! I was pulling my hair out!

Mine didn't work =(
Mine freezes when i try to rename a file. usually the first time i open file explorer and im looking for a file, if i try to rename it, file explorer would freeze. after the freeze it would work fine
Any idea what the problem is?
(shouldn't be my usb ports because i tried all of them) sometimes it happens to my second internal HDD. but more common on external usb devices.

oh and how do i reverse solution one?. i actually use my cloud storage(one drive) but i was willing to sacrifice it if that was the fix, it wasn't. so i need to get it back =)

Set-Back the Attributes Value data to
f080004d (Hexadecimal)
or
4034920525 (Decimal)

Hello,
I unsuccessfully attempted the first procedure. Now I want to reset it back to its default stage and I cannot. I have already input twice and both the decimal and hexadecimal, but when I click ok, I get error message. Do I need to input values in the Binary value under "Modify Binary Data"? I am using windows 8.1

No you don't need to put value in binary.

Whats the error message you get ?

I have repaired my PC. Inventor is now running. I had to restore my PC to previous date before an update. I didn't refreshed it because many programs were set to be uninstalled. Now everything works and I even have shell view.exe End of the problem.

Let me tell you. I came to this blog because my computer chases its tale
when right click procedure. I needed to install a program as the administrator and I was logged in as the administrator, but I couldn't install program. I searched online for a solution to this issue and I ended up in here. I unsuccessfully attempted the first procedure and I never saved a back up of the registry. I was able to download, use and solved the computer problem with Shell Extensions manager. Yet, I never restore the registry editor to its default status. Norton was the agent causing the troubled and now is disable.
Unfortunately Autodesk Inventor does not start. The splash screens loads up but after a few seconds is vanished from the screen and the program never starts. After I posted for the first time, I was able to change the attributes values from "0" back to the 0xf080004d value using the same procedure. Now it's back to the original value but inventor is still not loading up. As I type, I am reinstalling inventor, I hope that this will fix the issue, if not, I need to restore the registry to its default. Basically ShellExView solved the right click dilemma but I now need Inventor. The error I am referring reads " Cannot edit Attributes: Error writing the value's new contents"

The reinstallation of Autodesk Inventor has been futile, as I anticipate it.

Haven't managed to solve my specific problem yet (I get a crash when I right click on anything in the bottom of the left pane - anything under This PC), but I'll keep trying.

However, on trying these solutions, I've lost my OneDrive link in the left pane - possibly from trying the 'Cause and Solution 1' above? I've tried to reverse the actions given above, but I'm not sure what to set the Attributes Value data to in the Shell Extensions bit of the registry. Is this the problem do you think? Is there another way or enabling the cloud storage extensions so OneDrive works properly? Any help appreciated.

Set the Attributes Value data to
f080004d (Hexadecimal)
or
4034920525 (Decimal)

Thanks - that sorted it.

I dont know for sure, but by using solution 2 seemed to speed up log in screen to desktop significantly.

Problem still persist, tried all solutions except system refresh.

Hi, I can't find the "CLSID" folder within "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT".... i just have "cls"... I'm on windows 8.1 with all latest updates... Hope you can help me here because this File Explorer is driving me crazy..

@Simon
'CLSID' is one of basic keys in registry; you need to look again into the registry Tree to find it.

OK the solution 1 fixed it, there is definitely something wrong with OneDrive and the File Explorer... The thing is, that the integration between MS Office, Windows 8 and OneDrive its the thing I love the most about this new Windows... I hate that I have to loose that for getting a normal File Explorer browsing on a i7, 16GB Ram machine...

I went through all those steps in solution 1 but received an error on the last step and was unable to change attributes.

Try it in Safe Mode

Thanks, I will. Though I may also switch OS's too. Not only does File Manager not work, but it still wont recover from hibernation mode after the recommended fixes, and the metro look and current start menu still suck. I think they really dropped the ball here: 8.0, with after market start menu, while not perfect, was better.

Solution 1 fixed my issue.

Solution 1 works for me, thank you :)

My explorer.exw crashes when i tried to search something in moder / metro ui or tried to open Firefox in desktop. Solution 1 worked for me. Thanks :)

No succes yet: I still have the problem that when I'm using the file explorer in an application the application will be aborted, directly after selecting the file explorer f.i. to open or save a file.

I seems like the application/file explorer is started without the right information or missing something that will be corrected afther/during the aborting because when the application is restarted it has no problems with the file explorer.