Forum Discussion
Browser launches Windows Explorer for file locating, but then freezes up. Dialog inaccessible.
Environment/Scenario: Windows 11, using a browser such as Google Chrome, Opera, Edge, etc. Hardware is an HP ZBook, i7 Core 32GB RAM 1TB SSD computer, well within Windows 11 requirements.
Within a forum website where one can elect to include a media file (such as an image), clicking on the link launches the mini dialog for Windows Explorer. It's possible to navigate to the file of interest. Clicking "OK" or double-clicking the image shifts focus back to the calling program. However... the program freezes. Totally unresponsive, yet, Task Manager does not show a status of unresponsive. If you go to the task bar and mouse over the frozen browser, a mini icon of the session shows. When you mouse over that, you then get a view of the session... but it's showing the Windows Explorer file selection dialog that had previously been clicked "OK." So it's still there... but it's not showing as a separate process in the visual application stack. However, if you click on that dialog, focus is immediately lost and then focus changes to the browser session still in an unresponsive state. Perplexing!
In some cases, if you wait some minutes... 10+ or so... the dialog may timeout and return control back to the browser. But sometimes it doesn't happen. ALSO, if you launch a separate Windows Explorer process and browse for files, all is OK, until you double-click to open a file for viewing. That Photo Viewer session is OK, but upon going back to the Windows Explorer, it is now unresponsive and grayed out with a busy mouse pointer status.
I ran SFC /scannow, which had found some corruption and fixed it. I also ran the DISM commands to verify integrity. All passed. Rebooted. Ran SFC /scannow again and all checked out.
This problem started happening a little over a month ago. Prior to that, all sorts of frequent file attachment activities with Windows Explorer were fine. I'm wondering if some subsequent Windows Update might've caused a problem? I searched and could not find an official report of this problem.
Any advise would be appreciated to resolve this. Thanks!
OK, I think the latest patch may have solved this.
I was previously on build 22621 version 1153, released Jan 26th 2023. I'm now on version 1194.
Build 22621 Version 1194 descriptionSeveral bullet points in there look like they may be addressing my reported problem. And so far, after a good 6 hours since the patch was applied, the problem has not yet returned.
- No, the problem returned. This patch did not solve it.
klineg
Hello,This issue may be caused by a number of factors, including a compatibility issue between the browser and Windows 11, a conflict with another software or hardware component, or a problem with the browser itself.
Here are some steps you can try to resolve the issue:
Restart your computer: Sometimes, simply restarting your computer can resolve the issue.
Update your browser: Make sure that your browser is up to date with the latest version.
Disable extensions: Try disabling any extensions you have installed in your browser to see if one of them is causing the issue.
Check for compatibility: Check to see if there are any known compatibility issues between your browser and Windows 11.
Run a virus scan: Run a full virus scan on your computer to make sure that your system is free from malware.
Update your drivers: Make sure that all your drivers are up to date, especially your graphics card driver.
Try a different browser: If the issue persists, try using a different browser to see if it resolves the issue.
