Heads-up: Desktop context menu crash

(Update: This problem is fixed in Opus 9.1.2.0. However, you may still like to disable the NVidia menu to speed up the Desktop context menu.)

If you've been experiencing Explorer.exe crashes when the Desktop context menu is used then you're probably affected by a problem caused by the combination of Opus and the latest NVidia drivers (v185).

A fix for the problem has been written and will be included in the next Opus release, which should be out fairly soon.

For now, if you're affected by the problem then you can prevent the crash by disabling either the Opus or the NVidia items on the Desktop context menu. (The problem only occurs if they are both on the menu together.)

To disable the Opus items, go to Settings -> Preferences / Miscellaneous / Windows Integration and turn off Add layout and other items to Desktop context menu.



To disable the NVidia item you can use NirSoft's ShellExView. Disable the NVIDIA CPL Control Menu Extension as shown below:



Alternatively, you can disable the NVidia item using SysInternals' AutoRuns, as shown below. This does exactly the same thing as using ShellExView.



Once the Opus update is out you'll be able to enable everything again. (Having said that, if you do not use the NVidia item then you may wish to leave it disabled as it causes an annoying one-second delay every time you open the Desktop context menu.)

(Note: The NVidia control panel has a View -> Add Desktop Context Menu option. Turning that off will not avoid the crash, nor the one-second delay. NVidia's menu code is still run every time you open the Desktop context menu, even if the option is turned off and nothing is actually added to the menu. You must disable the code using one of the methods above instead.)

All of the changes discussed above will take effect immediately. There is no need to restart anything.