OK, I think I've got it licked. I had managed to solve the problem once and forgot to post a solution. I started having the problem again out of nowhere and had to search for a solution all over again. So, here's saving everyone some grief.
It turns out that the drag and drop shell extension for the bluetooth information exchanger on Sonys was causing the problem. You can simply disable the drag and drop handler and solve the crashing problem. You'll lose a small bit of functionality when it comes to your ability to drag and drop to bluetooth, but that should hardly affect any of us. Bluetooth will continue to work and there are alternatives to dragging and dropping for bluetooth file transfers, etc..
While it's possible to modify the registry to disable this handler, I didn't want to take the time to track down the right keys using SysInternals or anything along those lines. A much simpler solution is to use a tool called ShellExView.
Download the program from here:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview_setup.exe
Here's the source page detailing the app:
ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows
1) Download and install ShellExView.
2) Launch ShellExView.
3) Locate the entry with the Extension Name of Bluetooth Information Exchanger (Type = Drag & Drop Handler) (Description = TosBtExt) and select that entry.
4) Right click and choose Disable Selected Items.
5) Exit ShellExView. (I'd leave it installed in case you need to muck around with that setting again)
That's it.
Credit goes to Drew on this page where I found the solution:
Cowland.org - Home
For non-Sony users that might be experiencing nearly identical symptoms, I'd recommend turning off all Drag & Drop Handlers using ShellExView (sort by the Type column to group them together first). Then enable them one at a time and keep retesting the system until you find the extension that causes your system to choke.
I'm sure everyone has been coping with this problem for weeks/months like I have and it's a tremendous relief to sort this out. My system has been getting quite messy.
Cheers,
Corey
P.S. There is a work-around for the problem for those of you that still have trouble. You can user the command prompt to manage files (use copy, move, and xcopy commands, etc.).
P.P.S. I suspect that the problem may disappear when bluetooth is not active on the system (i.e., disabling wireless connections via a laptop wireless switch), but I haven't tested for it.