OK, I think I've got it licked. I had managed to solve the problem once
and forgot to post a solution. I started having the problem again out
of nowhere and had to search for a solution all over again. So, here's
saving everyone some grief.
It turns out that the drag and drop shell extension for the bluetooth
information exchanger on Sonys was causing the problem. You can simply
disable the drag and drop handler and solve the crashing problem.
You'll lose a small bit of functionality when it comes to your ability
to drag and drop to bluetooth, but that should hardly affect any of us.
Bluetooth will continue to work and there are alternatives to dragging
and dropping for bluetooth file transfers, etc..
While it's possible to modify the registry to disable this handler, I
didn't want to take the time to track down the right keys using
SysInternals or anything along those lines. A much simpler solution is
to use a tool called ShellExView.
Download the program from here:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview_setup.exe
Here's the source page detailing the app:
'ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows'
(
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html)
1) Download and install ShellExView.
2) Launch ShellExView.
3) Locate the entry with the Extension Name of Bluetooth Information
Exchanger (Type = Drag & Drop Handler) (Description = TosBtExt) and
select that entry.
4) Right click and choose Disable Selected Items.
5) Exit ShellExView. (I'd leave it installed in case you need to muck
around with that setting again)
That's it.
Credit goes to Drew on this page where I found the solution:
'Cowland.org - Home' (
http://www.cowland.org/home/index.php)
For non-Sony users that might be experiencing nearly identical
symptoms, I'd recommend turning off all Drag & Drop Handlers using
ShellExView (sort by the Type column to group them together first).
Then enable them one at a time and keep retesting the system until you
find the extension that causes your system to choke.
I'm sure everyone has been coping with this problem for weeks/months
like I have and it's a tremendous relief to sort this out. My system
has been getting quite messy.
Cheers,
Corey
P.S. There is a work-around for the problem for those of you that
still have trouble. You can user the command prompt to manage files
(use copy, move, and xcopy commands, etc.).
P.P.S. I suspect that the problem may disappear when bluetooth is not
active on the system (i.e., disabling wireless connections via a laptop
wireless switch), but I haven't tested for it.