Explorer hangs and taskbar becomes unresponsive when playing game

It sounds like you're experiencing a frustrating issue with explorer.exe hanging and the taskbar becoming unresponsive while playing games. Based on the events you've checked in the Event Viewer, it seems that the explorer.exe process is indeed encountering problems, which could be related to the recent update.

Here are a few steps you can try to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:

1. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Windows is fully updated. Sometimes, subsequent updates can fix issues introduced in previous ones.
2. Disable Game Bar and Background Recording: Since the events mention BcastDVRUserService, it may be related to the Game Bar or background recording features. You can disable these by going to Settings > Gaming > Game Bar and turning off the Game Bar. Also, check Captures in the Gaming settings and disable background recording.
3. Clean Boot: Perform a clean boot to see if any third-party applications are causing conflicts. This can help isolate the issue. You can find instructions on how to perform a clean boot on the Microsoft support site.
4. Check for Corrupted User Profile: Sometimes, user profiles can become corrupted. You might want to create a new user profile and see if the issue persists there.
5. Reinstall Graphics Drivers: Outdated or corrupted graphics drivers can cause performance issues in games. Make sure to reinstall your graphics drivers from the manufacturer's website.
6. System Restore: If the issue started after a specific update, consider using System Restore to revert your system to a point before the update was applied.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to consider reaching out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

References:

• Application error in Explorer.exe when you shut down or restart Windows
• Resolved issues in Windows 11, version 24H2

I have the same bug, tried everything to fix it! nothing works.
Every x minutes the taskbar, explorer etc crashes :(

Tried:

1. Complete reinstall windows
2. Removing programs
3. Disabling msconfig services
4. Updating everything
5. SFC / DISM
6. Disable random display related settings..

I'm lost, no where a fix to be found :(

Hi sinpool,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum. I understand that you're facing issues after Windows update. Please try fully disable Game DVR via Registry. Even if UI toggles are off, the underlying capture services may still initialize. Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\GameConfigStore

Set these values:

"GameDVR_Enabled" = 0
"GameDVR_FSEBehaviorMode" = 2
"GameDVR_HonorUserFSEBehaviorMode" = 1

Then go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\ApplicationManagement\AllowGameDVR

Set: "Value" = 0 and restart your PC.

If you issue persists, please disable or reset BcastDVRUserService. This service is directly referenced in your error messages.

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc.
2. Locate GameDVR and Broadcast User Service_xxxxx (names vary).
3. Set Startup type: Disabled.
4. Reboot.

If the service reappears or resists disabling, run:

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage

This removes the Xbox Game Bar that triggers the capture components.

The initial response might not address the problem. So, if your problem persists or you need any assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Post Answer" if you cannot add comment. This helps me can read your follow up. Thanks for your effort. 

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Best regards. 

About disabling the game DVR, I tried to disable game DVR inside Windows settings and the Xbox app, and disabled BcastDVRUserService following some guides on the internet inside regedit, because it didn't allow me to set its startup value to disabled in services. But yesterday, the hang of Explorer happened again while I was playing an online game, but in the event viewer, it doesn't show any errors related to bcast. I'll try the new method of disabling game DVR that you suggested and will report the results when I'm out of work and can try playing the same game.