Shell Problems Shell Menus ShellExView Utility NirSoft Utilities
shmedia.dll - Explorer crashes when right-clicking on, or opening, a folder with XviD-encoded .avi files

I was only seeing the crash in certain specific folders. I used a third-party file manager (xplorer2 lite)
to help move files around and rename things until I could isolate what type of file was causing it. Then
I used shexview to search for any shell extensions listing 'avi'. I disabled them one at a time until I
found the one causing the problem. By the way, it didn't cause a problem with "normal" .avi files, just
the XviD-encoded ones. I notice that the Video Thumbnail Extractor is from XP SP2, and I am now
using Vista. I used PC-Mover to migrate from XP to Vista, so that is why I still have the old file.

The details of the shell extension that might cause the problem:

Shell Extension Name: Video Thumbnail Extractor
Filename: shmedia.dll
Description: Media File Property Extractor Shell Extension
Company: Microsoft Corporation
Product Name:
File Version: 6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
CLSID: {c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}

If you think that you have similar problem in your system, you can try to fix the problem by disabling the specified shell extension. In order to do that, simply follow the instructions below:

  1. Download and run the ShellExView utility from this Web page.
  2. Find the right shell extension according the details specified above.
  3. Select this shell extension and press F7 to disable this extension. After disabling the shell extension, check if the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, you should enable back the shell extension by pressing F8, and then try to search for another shell extension that might cause your problem.

This shell extension problem was reported by Larry P.