Windows 11 Explorer freeze

Snapper

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

How can I fix this?

Thankyou

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/96277/windows-11-explorer-freeze

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 bitsy@bitdefender.com

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

Guilhermesene

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/96277/windows-11-explorer-freeze

Hi @Snapper,

Here it is working normally 🙂

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

Regards,

Guilherme

Alexandru_BD

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/96277/windows-11-explorer-freeze

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

Regards

Lockhart

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

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.

Alexandru_BD

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

Lockhart

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

TipTopTom

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

DoubleD-CH

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.

DoubleD-CH

I have opened a support ticket and wait for feedback.

Alexandru_BD

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

Snapper

Hi Alexandru_BD

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

This is really effecting my productivity

Thanks

Snapper

DoubleD-CH

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".

Alexandru_BD

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

Snapper

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

Alexandru_BD

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

DoubleD-CH

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

DoubleD-CH

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.

Snapper

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

DoubleD-CH

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

Alexandru_BD

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

Snapper

Hi all

OK, Its been a week with version 27

Haven't had an explorer freeze at all

So the problem is fixed

Thankyou

Sten Tijhuis

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.

Sten Tijhuis

UPDATE:

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

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

Alexandru_BD

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

MSuomi

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...

Snapper

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

😕

MSuomi

Anything happened, regarding this?

Haven't seen any info of app update and I currently don't have time to test...

Snapper

MSuomi

It takes weeks for Bitdefender to reply

I just constantly check for updates, via the app, hoping they have fixed it

Snapper

MSuomi

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/329059#Comment_329059

Some new update came, so I tried to install it yesterday. After reboot, same problem continues. I disabled firewall, no help. So I uninstalled again...

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/329311#Comment_329311

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 bitsy@bitdefender.com

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

AvengerUK

After having various issues for months and months, I finally narrowed it down to Bitdefender.

(Then found this thread, wish I'd found it sooner!)

I've been having all sorts of issues starting up Windows, then Explorer crashing / the PC being completely unusable. (Even on a fresh install of Windows 11).

Uninstall Bitdefender - back to normality.

Words can't express how annoyed I am (at myself as well!) for it being caused by Bitdefender all this time.

Also very annoyed to see its been "known" for months by BD too with no fix.

There goes my subscription I think it's safe to say.

Snapper

Hi AvengerUK

Bitdefender is so bad, it reminds me of the way Norton's Antivirus went ten years ago.

I'm currently trying to find an alternative to Bitdefender, as I wont be renewing subscription unless the fix this problem.

Its real killing my productivity having to restart explorer.exe or restarting my PC every time Bitdefender causes system a freeze.

Snapper

Deadser

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/329351#Comment_329351

Agreed. I've used it for a couple of years, and had numerous issues with it, most notably the fact that upon booting up the system, its process starts gobbling up my RAM. Most of the time I see it when it gets to around 7 GB (yes, 7 GB, NOT 700 MB!) of usage, because that's when I notice the slowdown. But I've seen it as high as 11 GB! That's a third of my installed RAM used by one process! And it's by FAR the process that's tied up the most RAM. Completely unacceptable. I just installed the latest update this morning, and the issue with the freezing of explorer started happening, further slowing down the system. So I just said goodbye--canceled my rebill and uninstalled. I'll start looking for a replacement. Hopefully something that is a little easier on resources. For the most part, I was okay with the software apart for the resource issue, so if that ever gets fixed, I might come back.

Snapper

I had exactly the same experience with the latest Bitdefender update. Freezing of explore, no response from clicking on any item on my desktop. All software, Drivers and OS, are up to date. Disable Bitdefender and Explorer works fine!

So they still have not fixed this error. I'm giving other antivirus a software a test. if anyone has any recommendations then please let me know.

Thanks

Snapper

Liobet

Hi Snapper,

A ten pence tip:

Did you check your system thoroughly?

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-sfc-scannow-command-fix-problems-windows-10

I use CCleaner to clean the registry base, then the SFC...

Cheers,

L.

Scott

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/330090#Comment_330090

Hello :)

You may be okay to use the portable version, I just wouldn't be running the .exe installer version, though.

https://cybernews.com/news/ccleaner-confirms-data-breach/

Cheers :)

Liobet

Thanks for the piece of information, Scott !

MSuomi

Well, I saw that Intel had put out new Wifi- and BT-drivers. So I decided to try again, what is the situation now.

Updated BD, rebooted and it seems to work normally now...

Will chime back, if those problems come back...

Liobet

Thanks for the heads up, MSuomi!

Jona Smiles

After 3 years of using BD and occasionaly happen to stumble upon this issue, its finally time for me to move on to a new Antivirus Software. Seeing that BD, a program that should improve my day to day work is slowing me down with no efforts in fixing this, even in 2024 is just frusttrating at this point. Will never come back. bye.

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/336661#Comment_336661

@camarie can you check on this.

Regards

Sten Tijhuis

Hi everyone,

Sten here again! I'm happy to report that the issue on my HP ZBook Firefly 16 G10 (1360P model) seems to be resolved.

I temporarily switched to another antivirus suite called HP Wolf, but I wasn't a fan. I just wanted to get my laptop working properly again, without the constant Windows Explorer crashes.

Yesterday, I decided to give Bitdefender another try. I did a clean install of my system, and I'm glad to say that Bitdefender seems to be working perfectly now! Big thanks to the Bitdefender developers for their help.

I'm happy to be back using my favorite antivirus software.

Kind regards,

Sten Tijhuis

Alexandru_BD

Hello @Sten Tijhuis and thank you for your feedback and appreciation! It's good to know the problem was solved and we are happy to have you back on board! 😉👍️

Best regards,

Alex

Snapper

Hi All

I can confirm that Bitdefender v26.0.35.174 is running well. Haven't had an Explorer freeze as yet. Lets hope they have fixed this error?

Thanks

Snapper

Sten Tijhuis

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/336807#Comment_336807

Yes, they have!!

I've done some testing on my end, and I can tell that all my Virtual Machines running build 22631.3296 are working just fine.

RedsFan

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/336807#Comment_336807

You have an old version of BD ??? latest is 27.0.30.140 march 4.

Sten Tijhuis

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/329351#Comment_329351

With all respect, you CAN"T compare Bitdefender with such a crap software like Norton.

"Let's mine some Crypto" And eat 30% of our CPU...🤡

Oh, and I haven't even talked about McAfee and Avast...

Bitdefender, Eset, SentinelOne. My top 3 ;)

(Not in the correct order or something, but just my 3 favourite ones)

Kind regards,

Sten Tijhuis / Stensel8

Sten Tijhuis

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/336828#Comment_336828

Sometimes Bitdefender takes some time to update itself to the latest version. Especially on reinstalls / clean installs.

However, you can force that on the system tray, by right clicking it.

Snapper

Hi RedsFan

I am actually running v27.0.30.140

My mistake, as took the version number from Windows 11 Installed Apps

Bitdefender.png

Which displays a different version number

Thanks

Snappper