The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

OK, I know ...
this is an old problem,
but I have a very specific scenario,
and I am sick & tired of being brushed off
on various forums (not here !) with empty phrases like :
live with it, can't be fixed, not our fault - blame Windows,
give up Your favorite programs, etc.

I would like to compare notes with people who have similar issues,
and see how they (hopefully) fixed the issue,
or maybe we can figure out something together.

The "old theme" is this :
You are using Your default File Manager (for example Windows Explorer, XYplorer, Double Commander)
for normal "file work", which includes using the context menu (right-click),
and after 9 or 10 times the File Manager crashes (freezes, goes "funny", won't take Your commands. etc).
You then restart the File Manager, everything is fine for a little while, and then it happens again.
@ I have often found workarounds for bad shell extensions, especially by using links in "Send To".

Here is the specific scenario :
Starting with Windows 8, the "Send To" cannot have Sub-Folders inside it
to neatly sort out (sub-divide & classify) the various Send To links that I would like to use.
So, I resorted to the portable FileMenuTools for this.
My default File Manager is the portable XYplorer.
Developers of both these programs told me basically
"it's not our fault, blame Windows for this".
The XYplorer guys were polite, but had no further ideas,
the FileMenuTools developer stopped responding to my further communications
but made a very interesting observation in his last response :
watch in Task Manager how Explorer is "pumping up" (increasing) RAM
each time You use the context menu, and this non-releasing or RAM crashes it eventually.

This is the creative solution that I am trying to figure out :
I applied a RAM cleaner MiniMem, and I tuned up it's settings so that
it releases unused memory every 100 seconds from only 2 programs - XYplorer, and (Windows) Explorer.
Now the situation is much improved :
the crashes that used to occur every 5 minutes, now occur maybe every 45-60 minutes.
Am I onto something here ?
I wrote to the FileMenuTools developer about this,
I suggested that he builds something into FileMenuTools
that cleans up the elevated RAM after each use,
but I never heard back from him again.

Here is what I would like to avoid :
Yet another "give up on software" (like FileMenuTools & XYplorer here).
I have disabled every other shell extension that I can think of,
and yet the Explorer RAM keeps going up with each context menu use.

Appeal to You (who are reading this) :
Did You have similar experiences ?
What did You learn from them ?
Any suggestions ?
Any brave programers who want to look into this Explorer RAM issue ?
I thought RAM cleaners are ancient history, but maybe not ?

Stoik wrote:watch in Task Manager how Explorer is "pumping up" (increasing) RAM
each time You use the context menu, and this non-releasing or RAM crashes it eventually

I never noticed this behavior (RAM pumping), but it is indeed true (just checked), yet I never got an "explorer" crash on my win 10 yet (and I restart it maybe once or twice a month).

@Stoik

I'm assuming you're using Windows 10? Perhaps it will be useful to list the computer's specs, as well as how you use File Explorer (how many windows open, etc).

It almost never crashes on me (I think once in the past year?). And has never hogged more memory than it should on my system.

Dear "shnbwmn",

1. My operating system is Windows 8 (64-bit),
my CPU speed is 2.4 GHz, I have 8 GB of RAM.

2. XYplorer (portable) is my default "file manager",
I have only one window of XYplorer open (it is a dual pane manager).

3. I have disabled all shell extensions
except "FileMenu Tools" (portable).

My 1st response to the problem
was to wonder why restarting XYplorer would fix
a RAM problem in Windows Explorer (now called File Explorer),
but the connection is actually quick to figure out :
XYplorer hooks into Windows Explorer, and
the context menu You see in XYplorer is actually
the context menu of Windows Explorer.

Obviously, I did a lot of research & interaction on the XYplorer forum,
only to find out that people have had the same problem
also with other "file managers" - not just with XYplorer,
including myself (occasional crashes with Windows Explorer over the past decades),
and that is why I turned my attention to this - more general - forum,
also my two key players (XYplorer & FileMenu Tools) are portable.

Ok, thanks. Just squeezing out some info and eliminating other causes.

What happens if you stop (unregister) FileMenuTools and start it again, does it resolve the problem? If so a task or AutoHotkey script that stops/starts it every X minutes might be something to look into.

Hi "Lintalist" !

Interesting idea !
Intuitively, I feel there might be something in it, but I cannot put it in words.
Can You help me - what is the logic ?

I will try it.
Give me a day or two to test it, I will let You know.

By the way, I love Your software (Lintalist),
very clever use of AutoHotKey !

Thread note: I bumped this over to the Problems and Troubleshooting forum. I just mention it in case someone bookmarked it; sometimes the link dies even though I always leave a "shadow link" in place.

To Webfork :
You are right about the better placement of the thread.
I realized this after posting it,
but I did not know whether to & how to move it.

To Lintalist :
I tried what You suggested.
Via AutoHotKey every 5 minutes I un-register FileMenu Tools & 1 second later I register it again.
It worked !!!
Now I am even more curious HOW that actually works ?
Thanks for the great idea !

Glad to hear it worked, it probably releases the memory when it exits. Why I don't know. Of course not perfect solution but it if avoids a crash...