DisplayFusion RSS: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/RSS/?TopicID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5 DisplayFusion RSS: explorer.exe issues Sat, 20 Jun 2026 03:11:19 GMT en hourly 1 https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/RSS/?TopicID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5 RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#82 Fri, 05 Feb 2021 15:22:20 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#82 DisplayFusion Dimdem66 -- interesting feedback on the display connection types. I can't really alter my config.

1) laptop 1920x1080 built-in display
2) portrait mode 1440x2560 Displayport
3) landscape mode 2560x1440 displayport

Screens #2-3 are dual-shared with my work laptop using HDMI, and that PC only has HDMI.

If I could make the explorer.exe issue happen at will or within X number of hours I could swap cabling and do more testing with my main home PC rig, but that is not my case.

-

I do disconnect via Win10 display panel the 2-3 screens when I am in WFH mode on my other laptop, and I still see the explorer.exe issue with just the laptop LCD, and same goes for the high CPU usage while DF.exe is alive.

kill DF.exe and i do not see these problems. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#81 Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:06:38 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#81 DisplayFusion Probably not helpful, but I recently had a similar issue with explorer.exe crashing when the system was idle. While I initially expected that DF might be the problem, in my case it turned out not to be. For me the workaround, if not the solution, was going from using DP to HDMI for a specific monitor. I don't really understand why that fixed it, but the problems disappeared. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#80 Thu, 04 Feb 2021 23:01:15 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#80 DisplayFusion Keith I am on stock 9.7.1 but I can try the beta, which i am installing 9.7.2.-beta4 now. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#79 Thu, 04 Feb 2021 20:27:54 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#79 DisplayFusion Ok, are you currently on 9.7.1, or 9.7.2 Beta 4? ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#78 Thu, 04 Feb 2021 00:34:18 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#78 DisplayFusion Keith, I do not have acronis or any other disk image OS image restore type utility installed. Lots of other stuff, but not Acronis. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#77 Tue, 02 Feb 2021 20:32:28 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#77 DisplayFusion @DFUser28: Could you try updating to the latest 9.7.2 Beta and let me know if you still run into this issue?

@TrUzApalOOza: Do you have Acronis True Image installed by any chance? ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#76 Sun, 31 Jan 2021 14:04:01 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#76 DisplayFusion Keith -- It has been a year now since I applied the tweaks. What I can confirm is that the explorer.exe hanging seems to be less, but still confident that DF is part of the issue somewhere. I've also now attributed a higher than average CPU load on the system with DF running, and not just when the process is trying to rotate my 3-screen images. I can clearly hear my laptop fan trying to keep the system cooled even when DF is not in screen rotate. If I taskman terminate DF executable, the CPU fan cycles down in less than 15 seconds.

The tweaks have reduced the explorer hangs, but not sure why when DF should be idle between my ~15 minute wallpaper rotates it is still consuming enough cycles to un-throttle my CPU.

Love the product, just hoping for some more tips to mellow it out.

-BRIAN ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#75 Sun, 31 Jan 2021 05:12:26 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#75 DisplayFusion I am facing a similar issue. explorer.exe stops responding after computer wakes up from sleep. I have to restart explorer.exe from task manager. I have 2 monitor setup with AMD graphics card. It appears DF is trying to change wallpaper when computer goes to sleep. Is it possible to disable the wallpaper change when computer goes to sleep.

Windows 10
DF Pro 9.7.1 ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#74 Fri, 03 Jan 2020 15:11:07 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#74 DisplayFusion Yes, i did misunderstand you. So as of today I now have the following tweaks applied:

a. DF, Desktop Wallpaper, Wallpaper Settings, Uncheck “use transitions when changing wallpaper”
b. DF, Options, Aero Colour Settings, check “don’t change the aero color"
c. Window 10 OS Settings (Start Menu, Settings, Personalization, Colors, uncheck "Automatically pick an accent colour" option in the Windows settings”

I will reboot and update in a few days. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#73 Fri, 03 Jan 2020 13:46:32 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#73 DisplayFusion @TrUzApalOOza: Going back to post #63, you mentioned you already tried it, but I think we got our wires crossed there. I was referring to the "Automatically pick an accent colour" option in the Windows settings, not the DF settings. Have you already checked to make sure that's disabled as well? ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#72 Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:12:54 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#72 DisplayFusion Okay, I think I've determined the windows key issues was NOT related to displayfusion.

I have made the tweaks listed earlier in this thread with aero colors and animations, and today explorer did NOT stop responding, so this is a positive move for me.

I'll try a few more days after new year's and see, then I may put those settings back the way I had them to see if the problem comes back. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#71 Mon, 30 Dec 2019 23:17:04 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#71 DisplayFusion Aaron,

I never correlated the windows key issue, but your symptoms seem similar to mine and I am sticking to my note that 9.6 seems worse. I've been doing a ton of screenshots using WindowsKey-Shift-S lately and that does seem to be aggravating the hang issue more. I never kill Displayfusion though, i taskmanager kill explorer.exe via a .bat file i created that nukes it with taskkill.exe and then starts a fresh explorer.exe process. Maybe I should add nuking displayfusion.exe and restarting it within my same .bat file.

here is my cheap .bat file which i have on my start menu/desktop, but at times have to run via taskmanager.exe when the system is really cranked off.

@echo off
echo #########################################
echo ## task killing hung explorer.exe
echo #########################################
taskkill /F /FI "IMAGENAME eq explorer.exe"
echo.
echo #########################################
echo ## now restart explorer.exe
echo #########################################
c:\windows\explorer.exe ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#70 Mon, 30 Dec 2019 22:57:39 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#70 DisplayFusion I've had a similar experience since upgrading to 9.6. I've always had the stutter when wallpapers change...sometimes up to 6 or 7 seconds, and then I have to wait once the system starts to catch up again for my mouse clicks to catch up with me.

I haven't ever tried any of the tweaks mentioned earlier in this thread and I can start exploring those.

But the biggest issue has been that after running for a while, certain explorer.exe functions begin to fail. Today it was my Windows key, which I use a lot. And the final symptom before I have to go in to task manager and kill displayfusion.exe is usually clicking on a taskbar icon on the taskbar on my 2nd or 3rd monitor. At that point, the spinning circle comes up and I can no longer switch tasks by clicking on icons on the extended taskbars, or alt-tab. The primary taskbar still works though. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#69 Tue, 24 Dec 2019 13:20:27 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#69 DisplayFusion This may or may not be related, or could just be a contributing factor at least, see https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/1219858/Windows-10-update-Microsoft-fix-File-Explorer-problem-November-2019-Update ; which talks about bug fixes for "was noted to address a problem where the app would have trouble rendering when using multiple monitors.". My explorer.exe hangs definately occur when i have multiple copies open, usually on 2 if not all 3 monitors.

But since we have determined my stutter issue gets worse the longer my system uptime/DF rotates wallpapers I'm pretty sure its DF as the majority source.

-

I'm still testing, but with new 9.6 i've had a few more full explorer.exe hangs than usual. I did check to make sure my two DF config changes were in place. I will keep posted in the event explorer.exe hangs continue to be worse on this new release. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#68 Sat, 21 Dec 2019 18:20:57 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#68 DisplayFusion Sounds good, just let me know if you need any further debug/diag info. I'll keep my rotation cycles back to normal 5/10/15min ranges ... and if stuttering gets bad, reboot at least for now. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#67 Sat, 21 Dec 2019 16:19:50 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#67 DisplayFusion Ok, thanks! We'll work on some more in-depth testing for this after the holidays and see if there's anything we can do from our end. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#66 Thu, 19 Dec 2019 22:50:29 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#66 DisplayFusion i fresh rebooted, then set my wallpapers to 30s, 60s, and 90s respectively. The stuttering definately is getting worse the longer I allow the system to rapid cycle wallpapers, I would say it was almost 99% stutter free after a fresh reboot. My normal rotation is 5/10/15mins. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#65 Wed, 18 Dec 2019 17:46:02 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#65 DisplayFusion Sounds good! Does that stutter happen right after a fresh reboot, or only after DisplayFusion has been running for a while? ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#64 Fri, 13 Dec 2019 23:40:50 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#64 DisplayFusion
Quote:
Thanks! Everything looks ok there. Do you have the "Automatically pick an accent colour" option enabled in the Windows Settings > Personalization > Colours section?


Nope, that was the 2nd thing i changed as noted earlier.

b. DF, Options, Aero Colour Settings, check “don’t change the aero color

-

The stutter is hardly a problem, especially if don't see any of tweaks to try. As long as explorer.exe stays unhung this is great.

But I'll try any tweak you want, just give a me a to-do list. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#63 Fri, 13 Dec 2019 17:21:31 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#63 DisplayFusion Thanks! Everything looks ok there. Do you have the "Automatically pick an accent colour" option enabled in the Windows Settings > Personalization > Colours section? ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#62 Fri, 13 Dec 2019 04:06:23 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#62 DisplayFusion here you go Keith, my 3 monitor DFpro file. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#61 Thu, 12 Dec 2019 19:52:05 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#61 DisplayFusion @TrUzApalOOza: Glad to hear it's not crashing! Could you send me a copy of your troubleshooting info? Here are the steps:

  • Open the Settings > Troubleshooting tab
  • Click the "Export Info to File" button
  • Reply with the file attached
]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#60 Wed, 11 Dec 2019 22:40:00 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#60 DisplayFusion I still see a brief 1-3 second stutter of my system when the wallpaper rotation occurs, especially if I am in a window that is explorer.exe derivitive such as a save-as dialog box, or just plain file explorer. The dialog window I am on may even briefly show "(not responding)" during the wallpaper updating, but if I just pause 1-3 seconds it all comes back to life.

But so far at 1.5 days I have not had a crash/hang situation. ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#59 Wed, 11 Dec 2019 15:49:04 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#59 DisplayFusion Thanks for the update! Please let us know if you still run into the crashes with those options disabled.

Thanks! ]]> RE: explorer.exe issues https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#58 Tue, 10 Dec 2019 17:44:46 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/explorerexe-issues/?ID=d0308f5e-dc88-4d12-91ae-e18137cfbbf5#58 DisplayFusion This still appears to be a problem even with version 9.5. Been dealing with explorer.exe crash/hang issues for over a year and noticed it came back on a fresh Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18362.476] reload.

So following your notes above, I have done the following:

a. DF, Desktop Wallpaper, Wallpaper Settings, Uncheck “use transitions when changing wallpaper”
b. DF, Options, Aero Colour Settings, check “don’t change the aero color

I then increased my 3-screen wallpaper rotation (landscape, portrait, landscape) down to 1, 2, 3 minute rotations. I've been running 6+ hours without a crash so far. I've put my rotate times back to normal as this bug appears to be worked around for now.

NOTE: I never reboot, only sleep/hibernate, so my W10 has uptime of 3-4 weeks at a time before a true reboot. Wondering if that factors into this bug, is this still some form of GDI leak? ]]>