Troubleshooting

If Windows Explorer crashes when using Classic Explorer, you can create a dump file to help diagnose the issue:

Using Sysinternals ProcDump:

1. Download Sysinternals ProcDump
2. Extract the downloaded files to a folder
3. Open Command Prompt as administrator
4. Navigate to the folder containing ProcDump
5. Run the following command:
   procdump.exe -ma -e explorer.exe
6. Reproduce the crash
7. ProcDump will create a dump file when Explorer crashes

For Random Crashes:

Configure Windows Error Reporting to create dump files automatically:

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps
3. If LocalDumps doesn't exist, right-click on Windows Error Reporting and create a new key named"LocalDumps"
4. In the LocalDumps key, create the following values:
   • String value: DumpFolder = %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps
   • DWORD value: DumpCount = 10
   • DWORD value: DumpType = 2
5. Restart your computer
6. Dump files will now be created in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps when Explorer crashes

For detailed logging of Open Shell Menu activity:

Enable Advanced Logging:

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OpenShell\StartMenu\Settings
3. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value named"LogCategories"
4. Set its value to 0xfff (hexadecimal)
5. Close Registry Editor

Generate and Use the Log:

1. Click the Start button to trigger logging
2. The log file will be created at: %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenShell\StartMenuLog.txt
3. When reporting issues on GitHub, attach this log file to provide detailed information
4. After troubleshooting, you can delete the"LogCategories" registry value to disable logging

ETW (Event Tracing for Windows) provides deeper diagnostic information for complex issues:

Prerequisites:

• Ensure you're using the latest version of Open Shell
• For pre-Windows 10 systems, install the Windows Performance Toolkit
• Windows 10 and later already include the necessary tools

Collecting a Trace:

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator
2. Run the following command to start tracing:
   wpr -start GeneralProfile
3. Reproduce the issue you're experiencing
4. Run the following command to stop tracing and save the file:
   wpr -stop trace.etl -skipPdbGen
5. Compress the trace.etl file (it can be very large)
6. When reporting the issue, share the compressed trace file with the developer securely (not directly on GitHub due to potential personal information)