Windows Taskbar Freezes / Hangs While Running The Process

Resolution for Windows Taskbar that freezes / hangs while running the process.

If Event Viewer Logs shows Explorer.exe is getting crashed on regular interval i,e. for every 1-2 minutes, below approaches can be followed.


If jobs should be running every 1 minute of interval:
There are series of events which gets triggered when a job is triggered i.e Windows session are created, all the windows process, Robot executor are triggered as services and post closure of the Robot automation all the processes are stopped , memory disposed and eventually windows session is closed.

For schedule as short as 1 minute, it is not a recommended approach to schedule at such short interval.

  • Windows session fails to create so as the existing session is being closed and it does take minimal time to for the session to close completely. This will eventually end up with windows server session related issues.


Below are the recommendations
Approach #1:
When the same process is being executed in a loop, instead of scheduling every 1 minute interval include a delay of 15-30 seconds as per requirement at the end of the workflow. And again loop the workflow from the beginning.
This will help to rerun the execution with out any impact on the windows environment as the Robot executor will be running indefinitely.
Doing so, schedule the job only once and the closure of the Job can be done by validation of datetime within the developed code.

Approach #2:
Include enough time between 2 consecutive jobs.
Example: For a job which runs for 1 minutes should have a minimum of 1-2 minutes between each subsequent runs (30 Seconds windows session + 30 seconds unforeseen server slowness)

Restart Windows Explorer

  1. Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Windows Task Manager.
  2. In the Task Manager, click on File > Run new task . Type explorer in the open box and then check the box “Create this task with administrative privileges” and click OK .

Alternatively, you can:

  1. Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Windows Task Manager.
  2. Search for Explorer in the processes tab
  3. Right-click on the Explorer entry and select Restart
  4. Explorer will restart and the taskbar should start working again

Hope This Information solves the issue being faced by you.