Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.

Nicholas

NppShell.dll is used to put the “Edit with Notepad++” into the file explorer context menu.

Since you are using 64bit Windows I would recommend using the 64bit version of Notepad++. Try the portable version first to check all your extensions work. You will need to use the plugin admin to download the 64bit versions or manually get the correct version.

If you don’t want to change versions, then you could try using the installer to disable the “Context Menu Entry”.

Nicholas

@Mark-Colvin said in Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.:

OS Name : Windows 8 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version : 24H2

This doesn’t look right. 24H2 is a Windows 11 version. There could be a bug where they are detecting the wrong version and trying to do something with the new Windows 11 context menu.

Mark Colvin

@Terry-R ,

This laptop computer is running a complete Win11 Pro OS. - MAC is named related identification.
Not recently checked plugin versioning. I will do that soon. [edit] performed plug-in updates, still crashed Explorer.
I assume that you suggested read my help with Windows Explorer random crashes when no directly using NPP?
That may be possible, but how can I tell this action is related to Explorer crashes?

Thanks.

Mark Colvin

@Nicholas
There were reasons during Win10 x64 usage of staying with NPP x32 instead of NPP x64. I don’t remember that reason at the moment. I think it had to do with another Windows apps running at the same time as NPP and there were problems. I will try to find the details on this decision.

But I will try disable the Content Menu feature on NPP to see if the Explorer crashes go away.
I can also try switching back to NPP x64 to see if I can find the reason for staying with NPP x32.

Thanks.

xomx

@Mark-Colvin

It is a buffer overflow caused somehow by the NppShell.dll in the Windows Explorer process. As a temporary workaround, you can disable this shell extension by going to your C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\contextMenu\ folder and run there this command in cmd (with admin rights): regsvr32 /u NppShell.dll

This is a known problem for some users (they reported it for x64 too) but unfortunately I was not able to reproduce it, so I cannot say if it is a problem of NppShell shell extension, Notepad++ app or some other SW. It can also be a conflict with some other shell extension installed in your system (otherwise I cannot explain why most Notepad++ users do not have this problem).

If you switch to x64 Notepad++ with its x64 NppShell and you still get these Explorer crashes, you can try to follow these instructions to help me with debugging of the issue:
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/15683#issuecomment-2492113826

@Mark-Colvin said in Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.:

OS Name : Windows 8 Pro (64-bit)

I am also surprised to see this info when according to your post it should be reported as Win10 or Win11.

xomx

@Mark-Colvin

Could you please report your Windows Registry relevant info:

Save the following to a file (named e.g. WinVerRegKeys-export.cmd) somewhere writable on your disk:

PowerShell "$Key='HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion'; Get-ItemProperty -Path $Key -Name *" > WinVerRegKeys64.txt
PowerShell "$Key='HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion'; Get-ItemProperty -Path $Key -Name *" > WinVerRegKeys32.txt

Run the WinVerRegKeys-export.cmd batch file by e.g. doubleclicking on it in Explorer.
Take the contents of the created WinVerRegKeys32.txt and WinVerRegKeys64.txt files and post them please here.

Mark Colvin

@xomx ,
posted here are the files you requested.

Also, I uninstalled NPP x32 and not seen any Windows Explorer errors nor crashes for over 48 hours. (normal laptop usage, about 6 to 10 hours per day)

WinVerRegKeys32.txt


BaseBuildRevisionNumber   : 1
BuildBranch               : ge_release
BuildGUID                 : ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff
BuildLab                  : 26100.ge_release.240331-1435
BuildLabEx                : 26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435
CompositionEditionID      : Enterprise
CurrentBuild              : 26100
CurrentBuildNumber        : 26100
CurrentMajorVersionNumber : 10
CurrentMinorVersionNumber : 0
CurrentType               : Multiprocessor Free
CurrentVersion            : 6.3
DisplayVersion            : 24H2
EditionID                 : Enterprise
EditionSubManufacturer    : 
EditionSubstring          : 
EditionSubVersion         : 
InstallationType          : Client
InstallDate               : 0
ProductName               : Windows 10 Enterprise
ReleaseId                 : 2009
SoftwareType              : System
SystemRoot                : C:\WINDOWS
UBR                       : 2894
RegisteredOwner           : __________@gmail.com
PSPath                    : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windo
                            ws NT\CurrentVersion
PSParentPath              : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windo
                            ws NT
PSChildName               : CurrentVersion
PSDrive                   : HKLM
PSProvider                : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

WinVerRegKeys64.txt



SystemRoot                : C:\WINDOWS
BaseBuildRevisionNumber   : 1
BuildBranch               : ge_release
BuildGUID                 : ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff
BuildLab                  : 26100.ge_release.240331-1435
BuildLabEx                : 26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435
CompositionEditionID      : Enterprise
CurrentBuild              : 26100
CurrentBuildNumber        : 26100
CurrentMajorVersionNumber : 10
CurrentMinorVersionNumber : 0
CurrentType               : Multiprocessor Free
CurrentVersion            : 6.3
DisplayVersion            : 24H2
EditionID                 : Professional
EditionSubManufacturer    : 
EditionSubstring          : 
EditionSubVersion         : 
InstallationType          : Client
InstallDate               : 1732282151
LCUVer                    : 10.0.26100.2894
ProductName               : Windows 10 Pro
ReleaseId                 : 2009
SoftwareType              : System
UBR                       : 2894
PathName                  : C:\Windows
PendingInstall            : 0
ProductId                 : 00330-53097-84373-AAOEM
DigitalProductId          : {164, 0, 0, 0...}
DigitalProductId4         : {248, 4, 0, 0...}
RegisteredOwner           : __________@gmail.com
InstallTime               : 133767557516344286
PSPath                    : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows 
                            NT\CurrentVersion
PSParentPath              : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT
PSChildName               : CurrentVersion
PSDrive                   : HKLM
PSProvider                : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

Sorry, not enough karma to attach files to posts yet. Supplied as code.

Mark
—
moderator edited to remove real email address

xomx

@Mark-Colvin

Thanks.
But I didn’t find anything wrong in your data (that could explain your previously reported Win8).

But all this gives me the idea that perhaps the affected users here have something unusual/wrong in their Registry, which in turn causes the N++ shell extension to crash. I have checked the NppShell source code and indeed - some parts of the code are not the best in terms of resilience to unexpected input or some resource or data unavailability. I didn’t manage to crash Explorer exactly the same way as all affected users report, but in principle that could be it (maybe I just didn’t simulate the right bad data in the Registry).

I’ll try to raise some questions in the NppShell project issues.

Mark Colvin

@xomx ,

Update: I installed npp.8.7.5.Installer.x64 five days ago without Context Menu feature and fewer plugins. So far, no Windows Explorer crashes.

I really miss the Context Menu feature, NPP is so easy to open many file types with this quick step for a quick peek.

I will re-configure NPP soon with Context Menu turned on and see if the problem returns. Any advice on data collection for this issue if it re-occurs?

TIA,
Mark

xomx

@Mark-Colvin said in Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.:

Any advice on data collection for this issue if it re-occurs?

As I already said:

@xomx said in Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.:

If you switch to x64 Notepad++ with its x64 NppShell and you still get these Explorer crashes, you can try to follow these instructions to help me with debugging of the issue:
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/15683#issuecomment-2492113826

So if you can, please follow the instructions in that GitHub comment and then somehow forward me the relevant Explorer crash dump file generated along with a possible NppShell.log.

If the GitHub procedure seems too complicated for you - the main thing is to get the crash-dump file while using my special version of the “C:\Program Files\Notepad++\contextMenu\NppShell.dll”, so download it and after the usual reinstall of your Notepad++ with the shell context extension, replace the standard NppShell.dll file there with the file from this archive: https://github.com/user-attachments/files/17850910/NppShell_v1500_x64_Debug.zip

If you have any questions about the GitHub instructions, do not hesitate to ask me.

Mark Colvin

@xomx ,
Thank you for the alternatives on this investigation. I will update as I get more information.

Thanks again,
Mark

Mark Colvin

@xomx,
Posted dump file and error dialog at:
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/15683#issuecomment-2492113826

Saw when open .ZIP file… got the error dialog, clicked retry, and all explorer windows vanished.
Hope it helps…

Mark Colvin

@xomx,
5 hours later, another error with NppShell.DLL, but no new dump file created.
This occurred during a copy/paste operation from one Window to another.

xomx

@Mark-Colvin

Could you please check if you are not running N++ in Windows8 compatibility mode? More about it here.

Mark Colvin

@xomx
How does this compatibility mode affect the Explorer context menu invocations?
The one Shortcut I have is NOW set to Compatibility mode with Windows 8. But rarely use it directly…

What about the errors with NppShell.DLL which occur without NP++ even turned on?
(I am missing something on how this NppShell.DLL works outside of NP++)
See NppShell.log files posted in github thread…

Thanks,
Mark

xomx

@Mark-Colvin said in Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.:

How does this compatibility mode affect the Explorer context menu invocations?

Good point, this probably influences the N++ app only and not the NppShell extension DLL invoked by the shell Explorer.

David MS

Hello,

I have also constantly the problem that NppShell.dll crashes the Windows 11 Explorer.
After uninstalling Notepad++ the explorer runs without crahes.

I use the latest version of Notepad++ (8.7.9).

Does exists a workaround or a fix?

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

David

xomx

@David-MS said in Notepad++ v8.7.1 (32-bit) NppShell.dll is intermittently crashing Windows Explorer.:

Does exists a workaround

If you mean by this a workaround to not have to completely uninstall the N++ for preventing the Explorer crashes, then yes - unregistering of the NppShell context-menu handler helps: https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/99261

or a fix?

I could not exactly reproduce the issue myself but found some potential problematic places in the NppShell source code and put a “hardening” of that code to my TODO. Unfortunately not enough free time yet. More info and possible future progress in the GitHub issue.