Prevent Windows Explorer from trying to extract metadata

Windows Explorer (Windows 7 x64) crashes when it sees allegedly corrupted .wav files. I'm dealing with this problem and the hotfix outlined in "High CPU usage in the Explorer.exe process when you open a folder that contains corrupted .wav files in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2" doesn't work for me.

The hotfix says that this happens if the .wav file is corrupt (which I don't think it is). What makes this even worse is that I can't access the file in any program. As soon as the open dialog sees the file, Windows tries its metadata extraction trick and explorer.exe halts.

Can I by any means tell Windows to stop this "metadata extraction" action? I have seen multiple problems associated with it in the past.

Solution 1:

Create a .reg file with content:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers\.wav]
@="{#e46787a1-4629-4423-a693-be1f003b2742}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers\.wav]
@="{#e46787a1-4629-4423-a693-be1f003b2742}"

and doubleclick the .reg file

For undo:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers\.wav]
@="{e46787a1-4629-4423-a693-be1f003b2742}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers\.wav]
@="{e46787a1-4629-4423-a693-be1f003b2742}"

and be sure to restart as this fix will not take effect until you do so.