Classic Shell: Forum

Hello,

We have Classic Shell installed on a Server 2012 R2 terminal server for testing, and also connect via RemoteApp (A reduced connection without a traditional explorer shell).
We don't intend to use Classic Shell when in RemoteApp (since there is no shell!) but we have noticed that when it is installed for normal desktop sessions, any RemoteApp sessions that are opened crash out on the RemoteApp process (rdpinit.exe) with a Faulting Module as ClassicStartMenuDLL.dll


I have attached two crash dumps captured from rdpinit.exe when the crash occurs.
The issue can be replicated in our environment just by connecting in via RemoteApp and waiting for a few minutes.
The crash does not occur when users connect to the same server in a full RDP shell.
The issue is resolved by removing Classic Shell. We only have the Start Menu component and updater components installed.

The version of Classic Shell is 4.2.5
Many Thanks,

Looks like ClassicStartMenu.exe is trying to inject into the rdpinit.exe instead of explorer.exe. It is possible rdpinit is creating a window with the same class name "Shell_TrayWnd" as the taskbar. That's not a supported scenario.
I may add some extra safety checks in the future, but at the moment I don't know what they'll be.

That makes sense, my understanding is rdpinit is meant to be a lightweight shell based on explorer without most of the UX elements.
Is there any way to blacklist it from hooking into rdpinit? I don't mind helping test a solution, but we are going to have to push these servers into production at some point most likely without Classic Shell, which would suck because we all (and our users) love it!

We are having the same problem with Classic Startmenu and Windows 2012 R2 RDS. Is there already a workaround available? RemoteApp is now crashing after a few seconds. Thnx!

Try the attached zip file. It replaces two of the files in the Program Files\Classic Shell directory.
You will have to exit the start menu when you do the swap. Right-click on the start button and select Exit.

Note that the attached file is only for Classic Shell 4.2.5. Replacing the files if you have a later version installed may not fix your issue and this fix below is most probably already included in versions of Classic Shell after 4.2.5.

It works
Thnx for the quick response!

@bottswana, can you try the fix too and verify it works? I could only get Classic Start Menu to crash once in a RemoteApp session with Word running and never again after that.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.