You can have each Explorer window run in a separate instance to ensure in most cases that you still have Taskbar and Desktop access when a particular Explorer window freezes. Open the Registry and look for this string:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Right-click on an empty space in the right pane and select 'New->DWORD Value' and name it 'DesktopProcess'. Right-click on the new Dword Value and select 'Modify'. Change the value to read 1. Exit the Registry and reboot your system for the changes to take effect.
