Windows – “Connect to a network” does not open (and others)

freezewindows 7

Update

I've decided to video some of the issues:

Perhaps I should break this into three separate issues. These issues came with my freshly-bought Windows 7 installation (although I may or may not have customized some services perhaps before the issues started):

Issue list

  • The Windows Explorer window responsible for opening "Network and Sharing Center" freezes when the same is opened.
  • Windows lags on shutdown at one of two screens. (1) The "Shutting Down" prompt; (2) The "Logging Off" prompt. It must be hard reset.
  • Windows starts such that only the background color is shown. The mouse can be moved, and I can use alt+ctrl+del to start task manager, then using file->run to open other programs. After about thirty minutes, the task bar and desktop background and desktop icons return.
  • When I start Windows, and the desktop and icons and what-all come up right away, I cannot click anything on the task bar, including the start button. I can click and open desktop icons, but I cannot click inside any running program, including windows explorer, unless I run something as an administrator or run task manager, at which time this issue resolves.

Best Answer

I was searching around for the same issue. For me Windows Media player was also doing the same thing. Blank white screen and frozen.

One by one I closed each window and the culprit was Mozilla Thunderbird. After closing thunderbird I got a message saying "Windows Explorer has stopped working" then I clicked "Restart Windows Explorer" and everything was back to normal.

So anyone finding this can try:

  • Open the Start menu.
  • Hold down the Control and Shift keys, and right-click on a blank space in the Start menu.
  • Choose "Exit Explorer."
  • Open the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), navigate to File->Run, enter "explorer" and hit OK.

Mind you, the problematic program can be something else. I should update Thunderbird as I've been ignoring it for 3 weeks.

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