- This should fix start menu not working (at all!) on users who upgraded into 22621.2428 not through 22621.2361 with EP installed. Updating into this version will redownload symbols due to changes in the way they are managed.
- 22621.2428 was just released to the general public, but symbols for twinui.pcshell.dll are not available at the time of writing. Despite that, StartDocked.dll and StartUI.dll are still the same as 22621.2361.
- I've also removed hardcoded and stuffed-together offsets of really old DLL versions to make the code more concise.
- Added patterns for twinui.pcshell.dll as a backup when symbols are not available
- Made LoadSymbols clear the returned symbol data when the version is mismatched
- Failure of hooking functions should not prevent Explorer from loading at all anymore
When Windows is updated, it may fundamentally change the layout and
functionality of `explorer`'s internal data structure. Since
ExplorerPatcher intensively patches those in order to deliver its
functionality, it may lead to `explorer` crashing when it performs
these modifications while being unaware (outdated) of the latest OS
changes. The worst scenario is when the crashes happen when `explorer`
starts up (for example, when the user logs in), and could cause the
user to experience an endless loop of `explorer` crashes, and leave
him/her unable to practically use the computer.
In order to mitigate this scenario, when `explorer` starts up as the
shell, ExplorerPatcher increments a counter stored in the registry.
After a predefined timeout (by default, 10 seconds), ExplorerPatcher
will reset the counter to 0. If `explorer` crashes during this period,
the counter will not be reset. When `explorer` restarts, the cycle
repeats. If the counter reaches a predefined value (by default, 3),
instead of starting up again normally (and very probably crashing
again), ExplorerPatcher will display a message window informing the
user about what is happening, offering a few suggestions on how to
proceed next and disable its entire functionality until the next
File Explorer restart, in order to give the user a chance to perform
maintenance on the machine.
This fixes Task View and Win-Tab, Alt-Tab breaking after pressing
Win-Tab, flyouts alignment, notification center alignment, Windows key
shortcuts on OS builds 22621.1413+.
Thanks @CthRio for the heads up.
Impact: Failure to check against a NULL value and dereferencing it
leads to a crash in `explorer.exe` with fault offset 0xfc69 on
22621-based OS builds. This happens when right clicking certain system
tray icons, like "Epic Games Launcher" when using the Windows 11
taskbar.
Description: The issue has been addressed with improved checks: a check
against NULL values is performed before attempting to work with the
data the variables might point to.
