[TC 11.57 & 11.55] Crashing when opening some type of files

[atilius]

Hello, I have weird problem. I had it in 11.55 and after update to 11.57 still the same.

When double click files *.html, *.pdf, TC is closing immediately. *.xlsx, *.jpg no problem.
*.txt if double click, no problem, if F3, no problem. If F4, it is down.

I have wfx plugin.

Any idea why?

Thank you, Martin

[ghisler(Author)]

Difficult to say. Maybe procdump can catch a crash:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/dd996900.aspx

1. Create new directory c:\dumps
2. Create a lnk file of procdump.exe or procdump64.exe (for 64-bit Windows) in Total Commander with Ctrl+Shift+F5, e.g. procdump.lnk
3. Open the properties of the lnk file with Alt+Enter
4. Change the command from c:\path\procdump.exe to
"c:\path\procdump.exe" -ma -i c:\dumps
5. Important: Click on "Advanced" and check option "As administrator"
6. Run procdump with this link file
7. Wait until the crash occurs.
8. To stop creating dumps, execute in Command Prompt: procdump.exe -u
9. Send me the dump file from c:\dumps in zipped form (just ONE!!!).

[atilius]

I have tried to set it but log remains empty, 0 bytes.

But to be honest, it is company ntb and I havent all rights, but when I have inserted pass for procdump, no restriction was indicated.

I have tried also new installation, but the same.

[ghisler(Author)]

It may some company software interfering.
Does launching via right click context menu work? By default, you need to right click for about half a second or press Shift+F10 to open the menu.

If it works, you can make Enter use the context menu too.
Please add the following string to the file wincmd.ini, section [Configuration]:
ExecUseContextMenu=1

You can edit the wincmd.ini via Configuration - Change settings files directly.

If the context menu also causes a crash, the problem may be a faulty context menu extension.
First, try defining an internal association via menu Files - Internal Associations -Add..
There you need to write the file types as e.g.
*.htm *.html
and then pick a program in the next dialog.

To fix the context menu crash, please try the following (you may not be able to do this on a company PC):

1. Get the free tool ShellExView:
   https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html
2. Start it. If using Total Commander 32-bit on 64-bit Windows, you need to choose menu Options - Show 32-bit shell extensions.
3. Sort the shell extensions by type
4. Disable all context menu shell extensions one by one (you can hide/keep those belonging to Windows, they are usually OK).
5. Continue until Total Commander stops crashing
6. Now you can re-enable the extensions which don't cause any problems

[atilius]

I have tried some of the activities.

I have put the line to wincmd.ini - no change.
TC crashes also from context menu.
Internal association didnt work, the same.

To be clear. TC crashes but it opens the file.

[ghisler(Author)]

Since the launch methods are all very different, it may not be the launch itself which causes the crash or disappearance. It could be some antivirus or other corporate protection software closing Total Commander because it "thinks" that launching these types of documents is harmful.

Maybe you can learn more with "Process Monitor" from Microsoft Sysinternals:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Launch it, then set a display filter as follows:
Process Name is totalcmd64.exe Include
or
Process Name is totalcmd.exe Include
for the 32-bit version.

Then check the last few lines after Total Commander closed.

[ghisler(Author)]

Any updates?

[zhugecaomao]

As an additional troubleshooting step, I would suggest testing with a fresh TC configuration — no plugins, no custom settings — to help isolate whether the crash is caused by a plugin or a shell extension rather than TC itself.

If TC runs stably with a fresh configuration, the issue is likely caused by one of your installed plugins (WLX/WDX/WCX/WFX) or a custom association. You can then re-add plugins one by one to identify the culprit.

If TC still crashes with a clean configuration, it confirms the problem lies outside TC — most likely the corporate endpoint security software

[ghisler(Author)]

Unfortunately I will have to move this to "will not be changed" due to lack of feedback. Please provide additional information now as requested above if you want to see any progress here.

Moderator message from: ghisler(Author) » 2026-06-09, 09:11 UTC

Moved to will not be changed