Trying to run ADUC "as different user" causes Explorer to crash.

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Trying to run ADUC "as different user" causes Explorer to crash.

SDF 60

On my company's work laptop, I am trying to launch "Active Directory Users & Computers," using the "Run as different user" option from the right-click menu; this is so I can use a different set of credentials that can make changes to objects within the module. However, every time I try to do a right-click, a Shift + right-click, or use the "Menu" key on the app, Windows Explorer crashes and restarts. This started happening last week. I can't recall the last time I was able to successfully open the right-click menu on this icon. The crashing occurs on all icons in the folder, "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools". I am able to right-click other folders without issue; however, trying to use Shift + right-click, or the "Show More Options" in the simplified right-click menu, also causes Explorer to crash.

As a workaround, I tried to launch ADUC from PowerShell using "RunAs," and the desired credentials, but I get the error, "193: (...)Active Directory Users and Computers.lnk is not a valid Win32 application."

I have attached an XML of the latest Explorer crash from "Event Viewer." My company laptop is running Windows 11 24H2.

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Answer 1

Hi SDF,

To launch Active Directory Users and Computers with alternate credentials immediately, you must bypass the shortcut and call the Management Console executable directly with the ADUC snap-in as the argument. The correct syntax is runas /user:DOMAIN\TargetUser "mmc %SystemRoot%\system32\dsa.msc". This will prompt for the password and launch the console without relying on the unstable Windows Explorer shell.

Regarding the Explorer crash, the specific failure on Shift + Right-click and "Show More Options" confirms that a third-party Context Menu Handler is triggering an unhandled exception when the legacy context menu (IContextMenu) is invoked. Since the crash happens specifically on shortcuts in the Administrative Tools folder, the faulting extension is likely attempting to resolve the shortcut target or render an icon overlay and failing due to incompatibility with the Windows 11 24H2 kernel or UI automation layer.

You can identify the exact culprit by opening Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) and filtering the Application log for Event ID 1000 (Application Error) at the timestamp of the crash. Inspect the Faulting module path. If this path points to a non-Microsoft DLL (common offenders include older versions of PDF editors, context-menu-based compression tools, or cloud storage icon overlays), you must uninstall that application or use the Sysinternals Autoruns utility to uncheck the specific context menu handler under the Explorer tab. If the faulting module is listed as a generic Windows component like ucrtbase.dll or windows.storage.dll, it still indicates a third-party extension is passing invalid parameters to the system; in this case, proceed with disabling non-Microsoft context menu extensions one by one until stability returns.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

VP

SDF 60 Reputation points

2026-01-12T22:28:46.76+00:00

The "runas" command provided did not work for me. When I input the command, and entered the password, I got an error message that said, "This operation requires elevation." I was using an Administrator instance of PowerShell, and my account is a local Administrator to the system.

However, the error log did point to a 3rd-party DLL of software my company uses. I unchecked the instances within the "Explorer" tab of "Autoruns," and after which, I was able to load the full right-click menu again, and use the "Run as different user" option to launch ADUC with the correct credentials.

Thank you very much!