The problem

I have been using Windows 8 for a few months now, and today my taskbar has been crashing every few seconds. The taskbar will lose all its icons, then they will all reappear in a few seconds. File Explorer also crashes, however all my programs remain intact.

I've spent the last few hours looking everywhere online, and I couldn't find a solution. How can I analyze and fix this issue?

Additional information

• This is the error event that got logged:

  Log Name:      Application
  Source:        Application Error
  Date:          08/03/2014 21:55:33
  Event ID:      1000
  Task Category: (100)
  Level:         Error
  Keywords:      Classic
  User:          N/A
  Computer:      Turtle
  Description:
  Faulting application name: explorer.exe, version: 6.3.9600.16441, time stamp: 0x5265dec8
  Faulting module name: verifier.dll, version: 6.3.9600.16384, time stamp: 0x5215f8f7
  Exception code: 0x80000003
  Fault offset: 0x000000000000abd4
  Faulting process id: 0x2dfc
  Faulting application start time: 0x01cf3b18fa56ab86
  Faulting application path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
  Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\verifier.dll
  Report Id: 5eb78db3-a70c-11e3-8277-8056f2a58ef6
  Faulting package full name: 
  Faulting package-relative application ID: 
  Event Xml:
  <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
    <System>
          <Provider Name="Application Error" />
          <EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
          <Level>2</Level>
          <Task>100</Task>
          <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
          <TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-03-08T21:55:33.000000000Z" />
          <EventRecordID>21019</EventRecordID>
          <Channel>Application</Channel>
          <Computer>Turtle</Computer>
          <Security />
    </System>
    <EventData>
          <Data>explorer.exe</Data>
          <Data>6.3.9600.16441</Data>
          <Data>5265dec8</Data>
          <Data>verifier.dll</Data>
          <Data>6.3.9600.16384</Data>
          <Data>5215f8f7</Data>
          <Data>80000003</Data>
          <Data>000000000000abd4</Data>
          <Data>2dfc</Data>
          <Data>01cf3b18fa56ab86</Data>
          <Data>C:\Windows\explorer.exe</Data>
          <Data>C:\Windows\system32\verifier.dll</Data>
          <Data>5eb78db3-a70c-11e3-8277-8056f2a58ef6</Data>
          <Data>
          </Data>
          <Data>
          </Data>
    </EventData>
  </Event>
  

  In the Event Viewer there is a 'Event Log Online Help' button which gives a 404 error.

• The sfc.exe command did not find any integrity violations.

• I've tried merging this .reg file into the registry:

  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\Explorer.exe]
  "DumpFolder"=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,61,00,6c,00,44,00,75,\
    00,6d,00,70,00,73,00,00,00
  "DumpType"=dword:00000002
  
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe]
  "GlobalFlag"=dword:02000100
  "PageHeapFlags"=dword:00000003
  

  No dumps where created, however.

If you have Windows Restore enabled, try restoring to a previous point. If that does not help I would create new user or user profile.

As you have also tried sfc method, if this does not help I believe the only way to fix it is to reinstall Windows.