Explorer.exe won't start

[Caspian]

I'm running XP Pro, English version.
I have an own-built system consisting of an AMD Athlon 1,33GHz CPU, Abit Socket-A mobo (can't remember the model right now), 768MB DDR RAM, a Turtle Beach Montego sound card, a GeForce2 MX400 gfx card, and two harddrives (one 80GB Seagate Barracuda and one 120GB WD Caviar) in case this helps understanding my problem (which I doubt).

I'll start by explaining what's wrong. When I start the computer Windows boots up quite normally, and I get to the logon-screen where I get to chose which profile to log onto (my girlfriend's or mine). When I click on one of 'em the logon screen disappears and the wallpaper appears like it always does. But that's it. Nothing more happens. No desktop, no icons, no taskbar or startbutton. Nothing. The computer stops accessing the harddrive so it doesn't get any further than that. If I press ctrl+alt+del the task manager appears (thank god) and through it I can se that many of my auto-started tasks have indeed been started. But there's no explorer.exe... which is bad. I've tried to start it manually through the task manager -> New Task (Run...) but nothing happens, and it still doesn't appear among the active processes. I'm clueless as to what to do about this.

I re-installed XP from scratch about a week ago. I deleted the previous installation after I made a backup of my (and my girlfriend's) profile in the Documents and Settings folder. I then installed XP by the book, patched it up completely, installed all the programs I normally use, recreated the profiles and tweaked everything the way I always do. So far so good.

A few days ago an error message appeared when I was logging on. I had just clicked on my user in the logon-screen and my wallpaper had just shown up when the message appeared. I don't recall *exactly* what it said, and I couldn't take a screenshot 'cos it hadn't finished booting up yet, but I do remember that it said something about a damaged registry-file and that a successful recovery from an older backup had been made. I have no idea what caused this error message, but whatever the problem had been it appeared to have been fixed so I didn't pay it much attention. I still don't know if it's related to my current problem or not.

The reason I reinstalled Windows last week was this very problem. I thought it was something of a freak accident, but now it's back, which suggests that something must be done, other than just reinstalling windows once again.

Does anyone have any clues?

[Play_The_0dds]

interesting, to say the least. what is the common link between the two problems? what was done on the computer just before the problem started? what might have auto updates for drivers and software, virus updates...ect. sounds a bit like a problem McAfee virus scan had a while back, dont know if you use it or not...have you tried turning on the computer power, tap the F8 key constantly untill the boot options appear and tried safe mode, or last known good config?

[jmatt]

You may be able to get more info from the Event viewer .
HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;308427

================================

Windows XP Events and Errors
Enter the message source and ID in the text field, then click G
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/support/ee

===================================

If you want to stop the blue screen auto reboot so you can read the error message from the screen:

Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System
Go to Advanced
Under the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings...
Under System Failure un-check "Automatically restart"

[losrivas]

yeah, if you find a solution, please post. I can't use my computer!

[tst]

hi guys...i have exactly the same problem--for just about 2 weeks i've been looking for a solution, which is how i found this thread. i had posted the following in computing net's forum so i figured i'd just share what i know so far hoping somebody can think of something i haven't tried yet. --must say right off-- I DO NOT have a XP CD-Rom -- outlined below:

i have no desktop, no taskbars, no explorer in my task manager. i can't right click on desktop-no menu pops up. am running what i can through task manager> file> run or within open dialog boxes. i have tried to open explorer.exe & i watch it popup in the task manager & just as quickly dissappear. the funniest thing to me is that i can run Internet Explorer but not Windows Explorer. but IE has it's problems even though...no java/not running scripts it seems. i can't get into my web-based email except for yahoo & i have to do that using yahoo's old layout. i've tried all four users and none of them have desktops. i tried them all in safe mode with the same result. Last Known Good Config didn't change anything. Every System Restore Point i had is gone! i don't have my XP disks to repair or reinstall-they were stolen along with my briefcase. also i have no backup abiities--no tape or zip or cd burner...i know...i know. so, as you can see, i'm really worried for myself? any help anyone can spare would be greatly appreciated. i'm running windows xp home on a hp pavilion N3310 laptop, 500mhz, 184 ram. thxs tst :-(

followup...just remembered...i can't 'search' or 'find' within an IE page either. when using IE the favorites button bong's when clicked - can't add or access them - but they're there. have been able to bring up the sndvol.exe & adjust volume. haven't tried any control panel functions cuz i haven't figured out how to get to it. have verified that the items on the user's desktops are in the actual folder & can "open" those i've tried-they're just not showing on the desktop. i can't get anything in the 'explorer bar'-the panel popups up on the left side but it's empty...so no folder tree, nor history, nor media player, etc. thought i'd add what i, of course, conveniently remembered after i had posted. want to give y'all as much info as possible to best help me. thxs so much in advance...tst

someone asked me about what i'd done right before and I answered:

as far as: "did you just install any program just before this happened? If so remove it..."--no i believe i had downloaded an mp3 after which i shut her down completely & left the house to run some errands. when i came back quite a bit later, i started up, booted no problem that i could see, then when i clicked on user icon on welcome splash i saw a dialog box briefly flash on screen that said something like "...blah blah problem..blah..registry.. blah.. has been successfully replaced..." it all happened so fast & i wasn't expecting it so that's my best recollection. i didn't have to click anything to close this message, nor was i given a choice in the matter, which i wasn't very happy about. thxs..tst

another member replied with this:
This happened to me last week when I installed a program lost my desktop completely.
What I did is rebooted pressed f8 and selected safe mode.
then i went in to start run typed msconfig
i changed the start up to normal load all start up items, devices etc.
Applied and exited..
If you can get in that way I would run Adaware immediately and a virus scan.

i replied back that i tried his suggestion to no avail and ran adaware & spybot S&D and came up clean. i then posted:

just remembered stuff i tried that i should tell you about. i tried to setup a new user account to see if it would open normally. couldn't access the 'user account'...is it applet? i got the window to open but just like on the 'organize favorites' nothing is in the box. also like that on the 'explorer bar' no foldertree, etal. i seem able to open most of the control panel components separately...i know i was able to open the internet cpl & display cpls. tried changing the display settings like wallpaper & theme & such to see if that helped but in my heart i know this has got something to do with the shell...& maybe the java machine? whatever it is that runs these scripts. well that's all i can add from messing around with it earlier today.

ok...now that brings us up to today right before i found y'all here. i was so amazed when i read the original post because it is so right dead on. exactly the same from what i read. if you've read this far down, i think you probably agree with me. one of the reply's said to check the event viewer. which blew me away cuz i just got into it last night and was about to post about that to the other forum. it indicates the entry about the "registry problem...successfully replaced" verbage but i couldn't see anything else that set off any flags. one difference from mine & the original poster's is that when that notification appeared after i clicked on a "user" icon on the welcome screen, there the problem was...no desktop...no taskbars, etc. i think the first poster said that they enjoyed a few more days of functionality before the dissappearance of desktop, etal. i know all of this is disjointed but unfortunately for y'all i put it down as my poor fryed brain thinks of them & there it's not very organized i'm afraid so i apologize. wanted to share that once i click on a "user icon" on the welcome splash...it appears to be loading as normal but then it 'hangs' for an inordinate amount of time. i mean very very noticeable from how it always has. i've been trying to find out exactly what windows does step by step through the boot process & then entering windows but haven't had any luck yet. like, when exactly does windows explorer shell load? ok, now back to the event viewer, i had thought i had found another way into "user accounts" from an article & followed the instructions which got me into the event viewer but the instructions said to go to "local users/groups" or something like that i can't remember exactly but that was not listed. i've tried checking the microsoft site but unfortunately i can't access most of what they have to offer support-wise cause they use scripts or whatever it's called & most urls come up with blank pages. i searched the knowledge base using google site: feature ...i'm nothing if not resourceful! lol...workarounds my specialty! but not having windows explorer is a real drag--i am used to working with the folder explorer bar's tree view. i shouldn't complain cause it could be worse...i could be stuck with a blue screen/white letters and a C: prompt! been there & done that!

any help y'all could spare would be greatly appreciated. if nothing else i wanted to share my situation to acknowledge that this poster's situation is not unique to him...that there is more than one of these incidents. unfortunately, probably more to come. thxs everyone...tst

[slick1]

I had the same problem and I seemed to fix it.

I copied explorer.exe from my work computer and then I booted up my home computer (Which is the one that wasn’t working) in safe mode with command prompt (F8 key from memory while PC is booting up) and copied it from my USB stick to C:\windows directory.

Next time I logged on my taskbar was there and stayed there.

Try that and let me know how you go.

Slick1

[tst]

i appreciate your suggestion. i will have to try to get my hands on a copy of explorer.exe from a friend that has XP...as i said i don't have the disks. i do have 98se on disk...i could use that explorer but the versions wouldn't match and although xp is more tolerant of those types of incompatibilites than other os's i really fear muddying the waters...if you know what i mean. can anyone tell me what's the deal with the xp disks...how many are there and what are they named. i have a very computer iliterate friend across the country from me that has the exact build as my xp but she says there are about 11 or 12 cd's. my research indicates that i can get a 6 floppy set of boot disks at MS but that i'll still need the "XP CD Rom". the way they talk it's one disk. i'm also a little perplexed on the issue of creating copies. can i have this friend burn the xp cd rom for me...and then i use the 6 boot floppies from MS and the burned cd to do a reinstall/repair. does anyone know whether this will this work. i have a legitimate copy of XP on my computer...it was upgraded from win98se but unfortunately soon after it was installed my briefcase with the disks in them was stolen from my car...along with the receipt and i doubt microsoft will replace them without the receipt as proof.

i can tell you that another forum was saying that by changing .exe to .com they were able to get explorer to run. so i duplicated explorer.exe & changed the extension to .com and ran it and it did bring up explorer. BUT it did not bring back desktop...and the biggy is still no scripting capabilities. as in...my explorer opens with the explorer bar "folders" panel opened up and it's there but its blank. no folder tree view. a few other new oddities to share with y'all...no zip abilities, can't open zip files nor is the "extract" command on the panel on the left side of the explorer window. also...nothing happens when i try to open "folder options". there's gotta be a correlation here that i just don't know enough about the functionality to put 2 & 2 together. i'm hoping that by giving y'all all the information i come by while working within the debilitated system that a light bulb may go off.

this one's a real head scratcher...came upon something strange yesterday. when i look in the "desktop" folder of the user i'm currently logged in as, there is a folder there with no name/title and when i right click on it i only get a couple 3 or 4 options. as i recall, 'cut' is one...but no properties. can't figure out what the folder is or what, or what it contains, if anything. for all i know it could be something important so i fear just deleting it...as i said...the waters are muddy enough. my gut says not good but i'm on the second week of this nightmare & fear grasping at straws to my own detriment. any thoughts on this oddity?

again, thxs for the suggestion...i'll give it a try.

[tst]

i'm adding another oddity i just realized. in working in IE when you hover over a link it shows the url down on the status bar where when you click on it it'll say "Opening page http://...". and when you're not opening just hovering it shows you the destination of the item you are hovering over...say a picture or graphic or a link/url. well when i hover over a link it shows the url...but not when i hover over a picture or a graphic. curiouser & curiouser!! when i hover over a picture it shows the little popup name of the file & when i right click & "save target as" it saves it...but it does show in the status bar. download files show though & links.

[slick1]

I have windows XP disk and as far as I know there is only one disk. There is no separated boot disk needed. When you boot from CD ROM, windows XP has its own boot up and when it starts, it asks you if you want to format your hard drive and install a fresh copy of XP.

Please let us know how you go.


Slick1

[Play_The_0dds]

this sounds like a virus, if not you are all installing something that corrupts the explorer.exe among other things. if you can try a on-line virus scan. i am not sure if you will be able to run the online from the problems you describe, but it's worth a shot.
http://www.pandasoftware.com/actives..._principal.htm
i have had several computers come in with the problems you describe, i have tryied disinfecting the drives and saving the info on them but xp did not survive the procedure. i was able to backup the files, and secure erase the drive,partition/format/reinstall and all was fine. i removed viruses from them i could find no info on, or very little. several varients of each were present on all the computers i worked on. stubby, downloader turown, downloader istbar,downloader.dyfica,backdoor.v.b.9.n
they were all very hard to remove. some of the computers were not able to boot at all, others did what you describe. norton would not detect several of the ones listed above, f-secure,avg, and panda on-line scan did the best at removing them.

[tst]

ok... i have two things. 1st & foremost--i have a file in my Windows/System32 folder titled "win.com" with the same 'created date' as the rest of the files at time of install of XP but the modified date is 3/10/04 which is the day of or before things went kaflooie. i ran a google search on "win.com" it doesn't show up...it comes up with no hits. and i have a "file list" of windows files & it is not on that list. Do y'all have a file in XP in win/sys32 folder called win.com?? if not...that little bugger may be my problem...if so...back to the drawing board. ok...2nd question...wpa.dbl is a file in the win/sys32 folder and i know that it is the file that holds the "activation" data. i had read where you can do a repair/reinstall & by copying that file (& .bak which i don't seem to have) and then changing it out once you repair/reinstall you can get by without having to Re-Activate by having to call microsoft. here's the question...mine has been modified the date it's reading is 3/22/04 created date same as install. how...why...i can't imagine...that it would be modified. can someone check theirs and tell me if the created & modified dates are the same or if they are different. well that's what i've come with this morning...heck it's afternoon sheesh...time flies. thanks for your help slick1 and for your concern. i just thought of another question i wanted answered and i'll throw this out to y'all. why are some of the system files all caps and some all lower case. the files dated install date seem mostly lowercase. thxs again y'all...tst

[tst]

KC...i tried a few and without scripting i couldn't accomplish a scan. didn't try panda though. tried pcpitstop & mccaffee & housecall. i'll tell ya though KC, you're not giving a girl much hope! lol lol...j/k what do you think about this win.com file i found...is it supposed to be there? and the wpa.dbl file. does it get modified? i can't imagine. thxs for helping. damn the man...tst

[Play_The_0dds]

win.com and the others you listed are supposed to be there. mine, even though i just intstalled this xp and updated it about 2 weeks ago the date modified is august 23, 2001. it is the same on the 4 other machines i looked at just to double check. i am fully updated, i have office xp, publisher xp, cool edit pro ,paint shop pro, ms c++, most all chat messengers, photo shop, a bunch of programming tools, adaware, most everything you can think of and all updated, you would think if this was normal that my win.com would be updated too. i work on computers for a living, then come home and deal with what people bring me, or want me to setup. when they get like this, i secure erase the hard drive, reinstall and put all their stuff back on. i have a computer i can add someone's hard drive to so i can disinfect the drive, save the files and erase the drive. when i am done they dont know i erased the drive because all their stuff is the way they had it. 3 hours and i am done. i have tried to "fix" this kind of problem many times and it take so long i cant possibly justify the time, or charge for it, and they still have problems pop up from time to time after.

[tst]

i hear what you're saying and i agree with you most whole-heartedly! but unfortunately, i am an idiot!! well not really...i'm just constrained to work with what i have or rather what i don't have. i don't have the install disks for XP...and i'm not, if i can help if, going back to win98se...talk about problems sheesh! i don't have a cd burner...i don't have tape backup...i don't have a second hard drive...etc..etc...etc... i should know better but i'm working with a laptop and i haven't been able to find a decent price on an external usb burner...which i find ridiculously priced at around $100 while internal ones i can find as low as $19.99. i have a 100mb zip drive but that's a whole nother can of worms. it's got the 'click of death' syndrome & it just gives me fits whenever i try to use it. i, also like you, have my system loaded with goodies like cool edit pro (space hog!) works, encarta, adaware, spybot s&d..& the like. as i said...you're not giving a girl much hope...but you have definately given me a shot in the behind. i think i'm just gonna have to bite the bullet & get something to put my drive onto. but then i'm still without the xp disks. oh i so dread dealing with 98 again! now back on the win.com file again. you say you have it but it's date has not been changed from the install date...so it's never been modified? is that correct. if that's the case, & mine has been... it still may be part of my problem. what about the activation file wpl.dbl (? i think that's right?) ?? does that file have differing create/modify dates? you know though, again we sound alike in that i'm the computer goto man for all of my friends. i don't work with them for a living like you...but i might as well with all that i do for all of my peeps. thxs for the good info/input. i really do appreciate your time & effort. keep the flow, tst

[tst]

after i posted that last one i went back & re-read your post. i think there's something fishy going on! you say you checked four different systems and all of them had win.com & they all had the same Modified date ...something 2001. well as i said, mine is dated 3/10/04 which IS the day of or right before i booted up to No desktop. win.com is then either the suspected culprit or it has been modified by the, as yet, unknown culprit. check on that w--.dbl file for me will ya. when i originally posted it i made sure the name was right but i can't remember it exactly right now. i'm sure of the extention...dbl & it's type reads 64 bit double file or something along those lines. but i know for sure it is the file containing the activation information microsoft assigns to that machine. i really can't imagine it being modified after installation and that date is 3/22/04 ...which btw is the last day i booted up the system. been afraid to on & off it cuz if it goes down i can't access wonderful forums like this with wonderful people to help like you. thxs...tst