Windows 11 Explorer freeze

The last few updates of Bitdefender is causing Windows 11 Explorer to freeze

How can I fix this?

Thankyou

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Comments

  • Flexx
    Flexx Defender of the month mod

    Kindly have a look at the below stated link provided by bitdefender support

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/13429/

    If issue persists,

    Generate bitdefender BDsysLog: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1922/

    Generate bitdefender support tool logs: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1733/

    Generate bitdefender connectivity logs: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/9689/

    Share the logs & your query with bitdefender support team by dropping them an email at [email protected]

    If the generated logs are larger in size, you can upload the logs to google drive or we.tl (7days link validity for free users) or ask the support team to provide you with the online link & password of bitdefender cloud where you can upload the logs and share the upload link with the support team.

    The support team will reply back to your query within next 24-48 hours excluding weekends.

    Regards

    OMEN Laptop 15-en1037AX (Bitdefender Total Security) & Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Bitdefender Mobile Security)

  • Hi @Snapper,

    Here it is working normally 🙂

    Check if it is really the DB that is causing this possible problem.

    Regards,

    Guilherme

    Total Security: Current Build 26.0.34.162 Mobile Security Android: Current Version 3.3.201.2204

  • It may also be a good ideea to check if there are any updates for Explorer and apply them, if possible.

    Regards

  • I've been having the same problem for the past week, and only when I uninstalled Bitdefender that the issue got resolved, I hope that Bitdefender fixes this ASAP so I can use it again.

  • Gjoksi
    Gjoksi DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 2022 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 23

    Hello.

    My specs: OS Windows 10 Pro 22H2 x64 With Latest Windows Updates Installed, OS Build 19045.3086, Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0

    On June 16, while working on my laptop, the taskbar and all icons on the screen simply disappeared.

    Few seconds later, i got a notification from Bitdefender telling me that a threat has been detected and that disinfection is in progress.

    I clicked on the notification and i saw that the Advanced Threat Defence (ATD) module blocked and disinfected the explorer.exe file.

    When i opened Quarantine, the file wasn't there.

    Right after that, i restarted my laptop and the taskbar and all icons on the screen reappeared and since then i haven't experienced the same issue again.

    Maybe the ATD's detection causes the explorer to freeze and all you need to do is to restart your device.

    Just to mention that i'm sure that ATD falsely detected explorer.exe as malware.

    Regards.

  • Hi @Lockhart,

    The engineers would require some samples/logs from your device to diagnose this. Can you get in touch with them so they can investigate further? They will advise what is required from you to proceed with the troubleshooting process, as I don't think we can get to the bottom of this on the forum..

    Head to the link below to choose from the available contact channels (chat, phone, email/ticket) and please let us know how it goes and what was the cause once they find it, so we can help other users that may encounter this in the future.

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

    Regards

  • Hi @Alexandru_BD

    Unfortunately I have completely wiped the system and did a fresh install since I had the issue, But I do know somethings, First it has something to do with a recent windows updates that broke something with my AMD Drivers and the only way to resolve the issue was to uninstall Bitdefender or uninstall my graphics driver so I choose Bitdefender as it was the least painful of the two.

    my system is:

    Ryzen 5 3400g

    Integrated Vega 11 Graphics

    16 GB DDR4 Ram 3200Mhz

    System running on pci3 m.2 SSD


    I have another system that has Bitdefender installed with latest windows with no issues, that system is a laptop with i5-8350u ,12 GB Ram and 512 GB SSD

  • all of the sudden, yesterday, I started to have issues as well. I am on win 11 pro and first started with losing internet. Chrome gave me an error: dns_probe_finished_bad_secure_config. I received this error even after reboots. I later realized this only affected Chrome as Edge worked fine.

    After multiple reboots my computer started freezing. It would continue to freeze on further reboots. My computer worked fine once in safe mode. I rebooted back to normal windows from safe mode without making any changes to my computer. This time I was able to use my computer but once again chrome did not work. I uninstalled BD and chrome started working again. I reinstalled BD today. Now my internet drops on this particular computer for everything, not just chrome. I troubleshooted the issue to be BD firewall. Once I shut the firewall down my internet comes back online. I am on build 27.0.14.69 engine 7.94856

  • I have the same issue as Snapper and Lockhart. Explorer freezes since the last Windows 11 update and the update of Bitdefender. It is an issue on Windows 11 only as BD works fine on my Windows 10 notebook.

  • I have opened a support ticket and wait for feedback.

  • Alexandru_BD
    Alexandru_BD admin
    edited June 26

    Hi @DoubleD-CH,

    Does it go back to normal if you temporarily disable the Firewall in Bitdefender?

    The first troubleshooting step, as suggested by the Support engineers as well is to temporarily disable the security modules in Bitdefender to find out which one is the culprit. Based on @TipTopTom's findings and after consulting with our developers I'm inclined to think that the firewall might actually be causing this somehow, but I'm not sure yet.

    In any case, for those who have already contacted the Support teams, the engineers will get back to you shortly with further instructions.

    Regards

  • Hi Alexandru_BD

    Is there any news on a fix, for this particular problem?

    This is really effecting my productivity

    Thanks

    Snapper

  • Short update: my ticket was redirected to the technical department 4 days ago. I have not heard from them yet.

    @Alexandru_BD : Only a deinstallation solved the problem for me. Just to disable all the modules did not help. I do not have issues with the internet connection, "only" with the freeze of the "File Explorer".

  • Hi @DoubleD-CH,

    I have asked our technical department to get in touch with you as soon as possible. The case has been escalated to Tier 2 technical where our engineers will follow up shortly.

    I'm looking forward to updates on the case.

    Thank you for your patience.

    Regards,

    Alex

  • Hi Alexandru_BD

    I hope this problem is fixed quickly, as its causing a lot of inconvenience

    Having to restart the PC every time this happens or access the task manger and restart explorer.exe

    Thanks

    Snapper

  • Hi @Snapper,

    I sounded the alarm, but please note that your request will still have to go through the Support teams for analysis. If this situation is widespread, the insights collected by the engineers will help them investigate and solve this quickly. Otherwise, our powers are limited here in the community, as we can't gather the necessary logs and they are mandatory for the development teams get to the bottom of this in a timely fashion. This way we can also tag the cases and see how many reports are out there.

    Head to the link below to choose from the available contact channels (chat, phone, email/ticket) and please let us know how it goes:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

    Regards

  • Hello again. Short updated from my side: I have today provided the requested logfiles to the support team. Let's wait - and hope!

  • Another short update: apparently, the issue is fixed with the latest version (27.0.14.78, release date 11 July 2023). However, I was not yet able to update to that version so I cannot confirm that it is solved. (even with the manual update option I am still on version 26). Support team is informed accordingly. Hence I am waiting for the latest release or comment.

  • Hi DoubleD-CH


    I'm on the latest version 27.0.14.78, updated on the 11 of July

    So far the Explorer.exe freeze problem has not happened

    Still under testing, only time will tell

    Thanks

    Snapper

  • I can also confirm that with the latest version 27.... so far, the issue did not occur. Thanks to the support team!

  • That's good news! We all appreciate your patience 👍️

  • Hi all

    OK, Its been a week with version 27

    Haven't had an explorer freeze at all

    So the problem is fixed

    Thankyou

  • Same issue here on a HP ZBook 16 G10 Firefly with 1360P processor.


    Installed Bitdefender, and immediately after the first reboot, my explorer.exe and Windows search service are crashing or hanging. I thought I bricked my Windows OS, so already did a clean install twice, but now I know it's Bitdefender itself.


    UPDATE: Seems that turning off the Bitdefender firewall and letting Windows handle it's own firewall has fixed the problem. This workaround is working for me.


    Event viewer log(dutch):

    De Windows Search-service is onverwacht beëindigd. Dit is nu 8 keer gebeurd.


  • UPDATE:


    Lol, even with the firewall disabled this problem is happening now.


    I'm uninstalling Bitdefender now to see if that helps.

  • Hello @Sten Tijhuis and thanks for joining us here.

    I've seen isolated cases where the firewall was sometimes blocking svchost.exe and other times allowing it, but if the situation you have encountered persists even with the firewall OFF, I would recommend contacting the Technical Support Teams, as more information might be required to troubleshoot this. You can get in touch with the Bitdefender engineers by choosing one of the contact channels available here:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

    Let us know how it goes.

    Regards

  • Well, I have been also having this problem now for a while...

    I have Bitdefender installed on 2 computers.

    On my main rig it works as it should, but on my ITX-machine it has made exactly the symptoms others have told here.

    Freeze on login and internet not working properly. Machines are close to same, same software installed on both...

    Though ITX is connected with integrated Wi-Fi (AX600) and main rig with ethernet.

    As of the latest re-install today, everything was fine until I installed Bitdefender and updated it, rebooted.

    And the problem was back... I then uninstalled Bitdefender and everything was back to normal.

    I kinda don't want to troubleshoot again in a little while, because I have now reinstalled Windows 3 times from scratch in a couple weeks time (failed NVME and now this problem with Bitdefender).

    When my nerves get a little better, I might test again and try it with Ethernet, if that makes the difference. Maybe even get those logs...

    For now, I just keep the plain Windows defender...

  • I am astounded that Bitdefender does not test sufficiently to stop this error reoccurring

    Especially on windows 11, as this should be running without problem

    Its not as if Bitdefender is free, I'm paying for this inconvenient

    They want you to send logs and reports instead of testing there product properly

    I don't want to be an unpaid beta tester and having to keep switching to Windows Defender, to be able to conduct my work

    😕